Bush’s visit to London: Is a state provocation being prepared?

...

The state visit was first planned in September last year, but recent events have amplified its political importance for both leaders. Mounting resistance by the Iraqi people and the rising number of casualties have fuelled domestic opposition to the colonial takeover of Iraq, causing Bush’s itinerary to be heavily curtailed.

The visit has reignited popular anger towards the war in Britain, which saw two million people gather in London as part of the international protests held last February 15. Relatives of British troops killed in Iraq have condemned Bush’s visit and tens of thousands are expected to join protests against the two leaders.

The response of the US and British governments has sinister overtones. Media reports are filled with warnings of the possibility of terrorists using the protests as a cover for their activities. Most significantly, British police have made an explicit link between the protests and a possible attack on Bush by Al Qaeda.

...

In such circumstances, and with tensions already running high, it would be entirely possible for the police or some other British or US state agency to create a security incident—possibly through the use of provocateurs in the crowd. This would serve the dual purpose of identifying opposition to the war with the activity of terrorist groups and lending a veil of legitimacy to the occupation of Iraq and the general offensive against democratic rights that has been mounted under the pretext of the pursuing the “war against terrorism.”

more: http://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/nov2003/bush-n18.shtml


I sure hope nothing like this happens... this is very disconcerting..

I wish him no physical harm. The last thing we wanna have to deal with is him being portrayed as a martyr for this so-called war on terror. God help us!

is the Bush statue in Trafalgar Square. They are talking about it on NPR, and CNN even showed protestors building the thing in Suffolk. If there are no violent clashes (and I hope there aren't), the toppling of the Bush statue should get a lot of press, and will be the photo of this trip that is remembered.

...provocateurs are probably not needed. British governments have for years adopted the policy of turning a blind eye on extremist groups that actively advocate and organize violence outside Britain's borders... meaning there are a number of very well established terror "outlets" operating openly in Britain. This policy didn't start to change until many months after Sept. 11. But even today, the Brits are not cooperating fully in the fight against these groups, for example they continue to allow terror suspects to escape extradition (I'm thinking of one case in particular in which a suspect has been held in Britain since the late 90s and has yet to be delivered to French authorities for his alleged involvement in a series of deadly bombings in Paris in 1995).

To be fair, France, too, had a similar policy with regard to terrorist groups... until bombs started exploding in the French capital in the early-, mid-80s.