We cannot ignore the threads linking the clandestine activities of UK and US foreign intelligence serves to this mayhem. To do that would be stupid. It is costing lives, and we are paying for it.
Hoisted on Her Own Petard
The truth was something far more shocking. The bomber was home-grown in every sense; he was British born, a UK citizen, aided by MI5 to go to Libya as a fighter when he was 16 to fight in an insurgency funded and trained by MI6 and the CIA.
State of Emergency: A Godsend for Theresa May
It has been this assumed connection that has empowered Theresa May to upgrade the state’s terror warning level to “critical” – indicating that another terrorist attack is “imminent” – thus allowing her to activate Operation Temperer.
Boots on the Ground: Theresa May’s British Coup
Operation Temperer, for those new to it, was a highly secretive terror response strategy drawn up by the UK government in light of the Paris attacks. It was never meant to be known by the public, and so was never put before parliamentary scrutiny.
Manchester
A concert venue packed to the gunwales with kids, teenagers, and parents having the time of their lives, targeted and bombed. Twitter was full of images of happy looking youngsters, pictures taken from their social media profiles, with words begging a helpless internet to help find them; asking us to tell them to call home, to check in.