There was a thread about this some months ago but I just cannot find it. An American woman and her Turkish fiance were arrested in Germany when they were suspected of plotting to blow up an American base. Some voices here called for the immediate and worst punishment.
Well, as often happens in witch hunts, it now seems the evidence is less than solid and this couple may just be your garden variety leftist pot smokers who were accused by a coworker who disliked them and who has a history of lying. The couple are still in jail after several months waiting trial.
The worst danger to our freedom is not terrorism but mass hysteria. I just wanted to follow up on that thread which I could not find
Yeah, but weren’t they arrested by, and face charges in Germany? I agree that mass-hysteria is a bad thing, but this looks like Germany being hysterical.
Or are you just talking about those here who called for their heads?
A police officer was stabbed to death and several others injured in Manchester last night in follow-up raids on terrorist suspects following the discovery of ricin in London the other week.
I am not sure what you are asking. Yes, it happened in Germany. So? My point is that mass hysteria leading to expeditive arrests and punishments are not the way to go. Anywhere. And those who defend those practices anywhere are making a big mistake. The stories of people whose lives were wrongly destroyed by overzealous governments will come out later and we shall be ashamed to have done such things just like we now recognize that interning the Japanese during WWII was a bad thing. It is in times like this when it is most essential to preserve the rule of law and individual rights to due process.
Brutus - was that sarcasm? (honestly; I wasn’t sure)
Traces of ricin have already been found in London; the Manchester raid was following up on additional suspects who were not arrested in London. I’m usually the first to complain about press hysteria, but this one is a little more grounded than most stories.
I still don’t get it. It seems, in Germany, two people who may be innocent have been falsely accused and spent time in jail. Are you telling me this is OK because a cop was killed in the UK? I’m afraid I don’t follow you.
Don’t be so fucking obstinate. You are whining about ‘witch hunts’ and hysteria; Obviously, there are terrorists in Western nations, getting ready to do God know what. Your shaky story shows nothing; The Britian arrest story shows that the danger is real, and is not some abstract political construct.
How exactly does jailing innocent people in one country prevent a cop being killed in another country? I don’t get it. Your position seems to fit into the “mass hysteria” definition pretty well.
My apologies all. I read too much into sailor’s thread title and didn’t spend enough time actually understanding the gist of the OP. My “UK arrest” post was not entirely relevant to this specific thread - sorry.
I am not going to prejudge the outcome of the trial but the case now seems to me more based on the police trying not to have to admit they made a mistake in the first place. Note that they have admitted
1- a bomb could not be made using what they found in the partment
2- that possessing black powder is not illegal
3- the guy has a history since he was a kid of making his own fireworks (with black powder)