https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/oct/17/uk-most-severe-terror-threat-ever-mi5-islamist


Head of intelligence service says more attacks are inevitable as Britain sees ‘dramatic upshift’ in Islamist terrorism

MI5 chief warns of 'unprecedented' UK terror threat – video
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Vikram Dodd Police and crime correspondent
Wednesday 18 October 2017 05.11 AEDT First published on Wednesday 18 October 2017 04.00 AEDT
Britain is facing its most severe ever terrorist threat and fresh attacks in the country are inevitable, according to the head of Britain’s normally secretive domestic intelligence service in a rare public speech.

Andrew Parker, the director general of MI5, said the UK had seen “a dramatic upshift in the threat” from Islamist terrorism this year, reflecting attacks that have taken place in Westminster, Manchester and London Bridge.

The spy chief said: “That threat is multi-dimensional, evolving rapidly and operating at a scale and pace we’ve not seen before.”

He added: “It’s at the highest tempo I have seen in my 34-year career. Today there is more terrorist activity, coming at us more quickly, and it can be harder to detect.”

MI5 is under pressure to demonstrate its effectiveness after four Islamist terrorist attacks escaped its detection this year.

Parker’s speech to specialist security journalists on Tuesday was his chance to frame the debate about Britain’s battle against Islamist terrorism at a time when the agency’s staff numbers are already expanding from 4,000 to 5,000.


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This month the government will receive reports on whether chances to thwart the atrocities were missed and what lessons could be learned. Ministers and the National Security Council wanted independent oversight of the review, in essence not allowing MI5 or counter-terrorism police to assess themselves. Oversight is being provided by the barrister David Anderson QC, a former government appointment as independent reviewer of terrorism legislation.

Parker said MI5 had stopped far more terror plots than those that caused mass casualties this year. He said 20 plots had been thwarted in the last four years.

Seven plots had been stopped before jihadists could strike in the last seven months alone, Parker added. “The threat is more diverse than I’ve ever known. Plots developed here in the UK, but plots directed from overseas as well. Plots online. Complex scheming and also crude stabbings; lengthy planning but also spontaneous attacks. Extremists of all ages, gender and backgrounds, united only by the toxic ideology of violent victory that drives them.”

He also defended the decisions made by his staff about which suspects posed the most danger to the public. “They get up and come to work every single day to make terrorist attacks less likely and to keep the country safe. They are constantly making tough professional judgments based on fragments of intelligence; pinpricks of light against a dark and shifting canvas. That is the job of MI5.”

The flurry of Islamist attacks this year claimed 36 lives. As well as the atrocities at Westminster, Manchester and London Bridge a bomb was left on a tube train at Parsons Green, west London, but failed to fully explode. On top of that was the Finsbury Park attack, which is blamed on an extreme rightwing motivation.

Parker added that military defeat in Syria and Iraq for Islamic State did not mean its threat would wane. “Meanwhile, Daesh [Isis] itself is under military pressure and is rapidly losing ground in its heartland in Syria and Iraq. So much so that it’s now advising would-be fighters to choose other countries … At the same time the Daesh brand has taken root in some other countries where areas of low governance give it space to grow.”

He said 100 Britons were believed to have died fighting for Isis and fresh danger was posed by the potential return of 850 more who had travelled to its territory, although a large influx had not yet materialised.

Asked if a future attack in the UK was inevitable, Parker said: “I think we have to be careful that we don’t find ourselves being held to some sort of perfect standard of 100% because that just isn’t achievable.” He said it was likely attacks would occur.

The formal terrorism threat level remains at severe, meaning an attack is highly likely. Twice this year it has been raised to its maximum level, meaning an attack could be imminent, after the Manchester and Parsons Green attacks. In both cases there were fears among officials that suspects or bomb related materials could be at large.

Amid concerns that Brexit could damage security cooperation, Parker said working with European partners remained crucial to MI5’s mission. “We share intelligence. We run joint operations. Every single day.”

The spy chief was careful in his tone towards technology companies such as Google, Facebook and YouTube which have been accused of not doing enough to help thwart criminals and terrorists using their technologies.

Parker said that as technology advances, social media companies have an “ethical responsibility” to do more to help suppress terrorism. He warned that “an unintended side-effect is that these advances also aid the terrorists, whether it’s the ease of online purchasing, social media content or encrypted communications. No company wants to provide terrorists with explosive precursors.

“Social media platforms don’t want to host bomb making videos. And communications providers don’t want to provide the means of terrorist planning, beyond the sight of MI5.”

AnonyNymous:
I doubt it. Islam itself as a religion isn't really shrouded in secrecy and stuff like Christianity. Its plain and straightforward. A guy thought he saw an angel, the angel told him stuff, and he wrote it down. We might not agree with their beliefs, especially the violent parts, but Islam is pretty much the same everywhere. The only differences are in the interpretations of the meanings of the passages, which hadith's should be taken seriously or not, who should've succeeded Mohammed, etc. "Surface" disagreements.

Christianity on the other hand has been through a lot. Secret societies, cults, so many conspiracy theories regarding the formation of the bible, and importantly, magic and miracles are an important part of Christianity. Special emphasis on the supernatural in Christianity is probably part of what led to Satanism. "If we can't get our supernatural power from god, we'll get it from his enemy". I mean, in the Bible itself, Satan is shown to possess real power.

If you're a Muslim satanist I don't think you'd really have anything to gain from it. You'd just be an infidel waiting to get his head chopped off.

This isn't necessarily true. There have been plenty of branch-off muslim societies in the past and in the present day, notably Sufism and the Alevi (both of which focus upon the supernatural), among others. And the 'emphasis on the supernatural in Christianity that lead to satanism' is pure conjecture on your part.

I'm not sure, but both the Non-Arab and Arab Non-Muslims are definitely better than any Muslims!

STUPUDTHEISTS:
Most Christians are aware of the bully they called a god, but they can't question because of fear - you know Yahweh got a long rap for gratuitous killings, so getting on his black book is not a good idea. Lol

I should say this without equivocation, should the Bible god turned out to be real - the possibility is less than 0.1, I'd stick up my middle finger and flip him off. I'm fully aware he'd kill me afterwards, but I'd rather die than worship him for all the atrocities he committed in the Bible.

One of early founding fathers while Christianity doctrines was being drafted argued for the removal of the old testament god from their religion. Sadly, he lost the argument, and that happened to be their bane today - having to defend a malevolent dick like Yahweh daily.

Yes, the Old Testament version of the Abrahamic god is definitely the most vile, worse even than Allah I think.

Agreed. The Islam for Muslims section should get removed. It's unfair and impedes discussion and debate. Muslims are the kind of devouts who will just shun or ignore anyone who questions their beliefs, and they won't engage in discussion with people of other faiths unless they have to. Removing Islam for Muslims and having them talk about Islam in Religion makes it so they have to.

To be honest from what I've seen, they're all just a bunch of Salafi dogs anyway, they share the ideology of ISIS and Al-Quaeda. Some guy was posting links to Zakir Naik, an Islamist psycho who's banned in the UK and Canada, and another was attacking sufism - one the most persecuted forms of Islam that is attacked in raids and suicide attacks by Salafi apes throughout the middleast.

You know when people say stuff like "Not all Muslims are like that, only the nasty ones"? That's what they are. They are the nasty ones.

MrOlai:


Liar!

It's easy to forget! Remember you once told somebody that you've never done mut'ah with a virgin but that you've done it with non-virgin women!

Committing fornication/adultery with other people's wives!

Shameless human being!

Says the moronic rotblood filth who thinks that people who leave their religion must be condemned to death! You have no right to talk of shame, you stupid Mussulman!

Filthy Salafi rodents! Sufis have contemplated issues of humanity and existence that your dirty mechanical Wahhabi minds could not even hope to contemplate!!

Burn and vanish!

policy12:

Hmmm so what is ur point Op?

My point is my point! Even supposing the existence of the god of Christianity or Islam, that god is still a vile, horrible, tyrannical creature that does not deserve prayer, worship or veneration!

I thought I had made that point clear in the opening post of this thread. Need I demonstrate my point any further?

princy80:
Anyone who thinks life is only about the physical is deeply immersed in an illusion. There are GODS.

WRONG! There are NO gods! The idea that gods exist is the illusion!

Death to Mohammad and death to Islam! Christianity's worst branches have been pruned by the modern era, but the thuggish tribal societies that endorse the ideological HIV that is Islam simply refuse to reflect or change!


Allah is not real and Mohammad is a filthy son of a donkey!

الله ليس حقيقيا

SuperSuave:
"His ways are divine and unfathomable" - That's what they always say.

Pfft. That's just weasel words for "shut up and don't question". It's certainly not a case for worshipping the bastard!

Hail satan!

I know of several satanist churches and historical satanist groups in the Christian world. Are there any known historical Satanists to be found in Islam? As in, followers of the religion of Mohammad and Allah but opposed to their teachings? Worshippers of Iblis?

I know that Sufi muslims see Satan in a good light, but they do not worship him, rather than they just perceive him as a tragic fallen angel and not as a failed creation and monster.

DanseMacabre:




You are you okay? All these your antichristly portrayal won't get you any unwarranted favours from the devil, shey you know?

I am not okay. I spit upon your filthy bronze age barbarian religion! There is no god, there is no devil! Jesus is dead!!!

This is something a lot of Christians and Muslims take for granted that has always weirded me out. I don't believe that a god exists, but in the scenario that one DID exist, particularly the Abrahamic/Semitic god of the Bible, Quran, etc. God, Bog, Allah, Yahweh, Elohim, Waaq, etc., Why on earth would it be a given that we Humans worship or follow them?

Think about it. The god of the Bible, particularly of the Old Testament, is a cruel, murderous, racist, hateful and unforgiving celestial tyrant. He (presuming, as above that "he" actually exists, and that "he" is not just the manifestations of the mind of a violent Bronze Age tribesman) commands the slaughter of entire tribes, entire nations. The God of the Bible and Quran endorses the vilest of wars involving massacre, raping and sex slavery, infanticide and cultural obliteration.

Just listen to this monstrous verse. I DARE any Christian, any Muslim who is not a member of fcking ISIS to defend this abomination:

Deuteronomy 20:10-14

As you approach a town to attack it, first offer its people terms for peace. If they accept your terms and open the gates to you, then all the people inside will serve you in forced labor. But if they refuse to make peace and prepare to fight, you must attack the town. When the LORD your God hands it over to you, kill every man in the town. But you may keep for yourselves all the women, children, livestock, and other plunder. You may enjoy the spoils of your enemies that the LORD your God has given you.

Enslavement, mass murder, raping, plunder. Is this revolting sky monster "god" worthy of worship by modern, sane, respectful and intelligent human beings? NO!

Christians have repeatedly pondered over the reasons for Adam and Eve eating an apple from the tree of Knowledge despite God's warning. What is never questioned is why god forbid them to begin with. In fact, why did God forbid half the things "he" did? Why did God forbid men from having sex with one another (Leviticus 20:13) but them demand that a rape victim must marry their rapist (Deuteronomy 22:28-29)? The reasoning is because "god said so". That's circular logic. "We follow god's commands because he said them" is completely stupid and servile. God did not specify any reason why Adam or Eve shouldn't have touched that apple. Should they have gone along with what he said due to his position of power over them? Then that's just tyranny. That just makes god no different from a dictator - an arbitrary, cruel overlord who maliciously punishes those amongst his creations who dare to show even the faintest inkling of intelligence.

The concept of God is so utterly archaic. The concept of an overlord, a big brother, who demands worship and adherence on the basis of power, violence and eternal punishment, is something that human ideologies have struggled ruthlessly against since the beginnings of civilisation Even if the Christian god or the Muslim god existed, what self-respecting, mindful, worldly person would get on their knees and prostrate before them? Not I.

I was never in a religion to begin with! To hell with you, "GOD"!

http://i.imgur.com/R4aIJvx.jpg

The treacherous murderous rapist paedophile almighty prophet of god, everyone!

Bans JWs, but kisses the arse of the Orthodox Church, who are just as bizzarro and looney.

Classic Russia.

Oscar4real:
go swing on high tension

Huh?

bolinjkezzy:
Am starting to not believe in religion anymore cos I believe prayer doesn't work

Don't listen to the fearmongers my friend. People like you are the future. Religion is a prison and free thinking and determination forge it's key.

chiedu7:
Paris gunman who killed police officer known to security forces, source says

Paris (CNN)A man who shot a Parisian police officer to death on the Champs-Elysees Thursday night was known to French security services for radical Islamist activities, a source close to the investigation told CNN.
The suspect, who was shot dead by French police, was the subject of a "Fiche S" surveillance file and was on the radar of the French domestic security service DGSI, the source said.

The source said French investigators now believe this was in all likelihood a terrorist attack. They believe there was just one attacker, and the danger is likely over, the source said.
ISIS issued a statement saying an Islamic State "fighter" carried out the attack. The ISIS claim comes via a statement released by the group's media wing, Amaq. The statement said the attacker is a Belgian national and cited "security sources."
CNN could not independently confirm that claim.
French President Francois Hollande said anti-terrorist forces are leading the investigation.
"The people who were present have been evacuated and we are convinced that the leads which point us to this case, and which will allow us to uncover the truth, are of a terrorist nature," he said.
Elections on Sunday
The shooting happened about 9 p.m. local time (3 p.m. ET) when a car stopped at 102 Champs-Elysees in front of a police van, Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre Henry Brandet said.
A man emerged from the car and opened fire on the van with an "automatic weapon," killing one officer instantly, he said. The man "then ran away, managing to shoot and wound two other policemen. Other policemen engaged and shot and killed the attacker," Brandet said.
Hollande also said a woman passer-by was wounded in the shooting.
Police union spokesperson Yves Lefebvre from Unité SGP Police said officers were raiding the suspect's residence in Chelles, Seine-et-Marne. He said police are operating under the assumption that there might be accomplices.
The shooting shut down the famed Champs-Elysees, one of Paris' top tourist attractions and home to the iconic Arc de Triomphe monument. The avenue was clear of residents and tourists but teeming with security officers Thursday night.
It comes three days before French voters start elections for a new president. Candidates went ahead with a debate Thursday night.
France has been in a state of emergency since the 2015 Paris attacks, which left 130 people dead. Parliament voted in December to extend the extraordinary provisions to ensure the protection of upcoming presidential and general elections.
Security has been tight because of the vote. Just two days ago French authorities arrested two men in Marseille who were allegedly planning an attack in a run-up to the election.

More below
http://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/20/europe/champs-elyses-in-paris-closed/

The vast majority of muslims of all branches do not support the Islamic State. I despise these religions, but conflating everyday sunnis with IS groups is ignorant and unfair.

ISIS does not represent Islam. Even hundreds of years ago, during the Arab invasion of Persia, islamic rule over the Zoroastrian Persians was not as cutthroat, racist and primitive as what the Islamic State does to minority ethnic groups and religions, and also muslim communities, within their sphere of influence.


On the topic of the shooting, it is saddening and disgusting to see this atrocity happen - especially so close to the French election this coming week, and I fear this will only add fuel to the fear campaign of Le Penn and the nazi thugs that she leads.