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Britain Names Suspects in Alleged Airline Bomb Plot; British
Muslims Skeptical, Fear Backlash
Broadcast Exclusive...AWOL Army Sgt. On the Run for a Year
Speaks Out for the First Time
Britain Names Suspects in Alleged Airline Bomb Plot;
British Muslims Skeptical, Fear Backlash
Britain has named 19 of the 24 people arrested yesterday
on suspicion of plotting to blow up passenger jets flying
to the United States and has frozen their assets. We go to
Britain to look why many British Muslims are skeptical of
the plot and fear a backlash on their communities. [includes
rush
transcript]
Britain has named 19 of the 24 people arrested yesterday
on suspicion of plotting to blow up passenger jets flying
to the United States and has frozen their assets. Police said
the plan was to take liquid explosives disguised as drinks
on up to 10 planes with detonators hidden in electronic devices.
All of those arrested are British citizens, aged seventeen
to thirty-five, and lived in areas of east London, High Wycombe
and Birmingham. Most are believed to be of Pakistani descent.
One of the suspects was said to be a young mother, though
Scotland Yard has not officially confirmed this. British authorities
say that they have been investigating the group for "about
a year."
Under new anti-terror laws, police have up to twenty-eight
days to question the suspects before deciding whether to charge
or release them.
Pakistan said it played a role in thwarting the suspected
plot. A senior Pakistani government official said that two
British nationals arrested in Pakistan last week provided
key information. While British authorities said all the main
figures had been caught, ABC News quoted unnamed U.S. officials
as saying five suspects were still on the loose.
Authorities said the airlines to be targeted were United,
American and Continental, bound for New York, Washington and
California. Hours after news of the arrests broke, President
Bush spoke about the alleged plot.
- President Bush: "The recent arrests that our fellow
citizens are now learning about are a stark reminder that
this nation is at war with Islamic fascists who will use
any means to destroy those of us who love freedom, to hurt
our nation."
The suspected plot sparked chaos at Britain's airports at
the height of the summer holiday season with hundreds of flights
canceled as airlines imposed strict security measures. Armed
police have been deployed in many airports and passengers
are no longer allowed to take their hand luggage into the
cabin.
- Milan Rai, co-founder of the groups Justice
Not Vengeance and Voices in the Wilderness. His latest
book is "7/7: The London Bombings, Islam and the Iraq
War."
Broadcast Exclusive...AWOL Army Sgt. On the Run for
a Year Speaks Out for the First Time
In a Democracy Now! broadcast exclusive, we speak with Sgt.
Ricky Clousing, an Army interrogator who served in Iraq from
December 2004 until April 2005. He became a war resister after
witnessing how the war was being fought. Within months after
returning home, he went AWOL and remained in hiding for a
year. We speak with Sgt. Clousing just hours before he plans
to go to Fort Lewis to turn himself in to military officials.
[includes rush
transcript]
The Pentagon is now estimating that as many as 40,000 troops
have deserted the U.S. Armed Forces over the past six years.
Many have refused to fight in Iraq.
Today, we are joined by an Army sergeant, who chose to serve
in Iraq as an army interrogator with the 82nd Airborne Division
out of Fort Bragg. But he became a war resister after witnessing
how the war was being fought.
His name is Sgt. Ricky Clousing. He is a 24-year-old from
Sumner, Washington. He served in Iraq from December 2004 until
April 2005. Within months after returning home, he went AWOL.
In June 2005, Sgt. Clousing sneaked out of Fort Bragg in
the middle of the night. He left behind a quote from Martin
Luther King. It read, "Cowardice asks the question, "Is
it safe?" Expediency asks the question, "Is it politic?"
But conscience asks the question, "Is it right?"
And there comes a time when one must take a position that
is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but because conscience
tells one it is right."
Today Sgt. Ricky Clousing plans to go to Fort Lewis to turn
himself in to military officials. But first he joins us live
from Seattle.
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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