The Paramilitary Games

Will the 2012 Olympic Games be known as the Paramilitary Games?

Advertised as the greatest show on earth the area surrounding the Olympic stadium has become a militarised zone.

 There will be 17,000 military personnel, 12,500 Police and 55 guard/attack dog teams, and add on to that security guards employed by the G4S agency, the British Transport Police and the unknown secret, clandestine operations with the specialist forces such as the Anti-terrorist Units, the S.A.S and the S.B.S.

There will be more troops on active duty in London than there will be in Afghanistan.

 In the sky there will be Drones, Typhoons attack fighters, Lynx helicopters from Britain’s largest battle ship with sonic weapons. The H.M.S. Ocean berthed in the River Thames at Greenwich has the capability to carry and deploy 12 Lynx and Sea Kings Helicopters and up to 15 Sea Harrier attack aircraft. During the Olympic Games the helicopters will have a sniper or two on board.

The area surrounding the Olympic Stadium is being protected by an electric fence over 11 miles long, (18 kilometres).      

How will the troops operate?  Will they be armed? Will they have special powers or have the same authority as the Police? Maybe they will have the same authority as a security guard. I wonder how a soldier just back from duty in Afghanistan, as many of the soldiers will be, will feel checking tickets and searching bags and people to see if they are carrying prohibited food and water. The Government or the Ministry of Defence has made none of this clear.

From early June London has been in ‘Lockdown’. That means all the venues and associated areas, such as car parks, are now under the control of the Olympic authorities and are restricted areas protected by guards, Police, some armed, and troops. It has become common to see Police armed with a machine gun and side arms patrolling train stations such as Kings Cross.

I wonder what it is like to live around the Olympic Stadium with all the security and paranoia.

I thought the idea was not to let the threat of the terrorist spoil our routine and lead a normal life.  At the moment it appears to me that the terrorists have achieved something by having the people’s freedom in a so called free democracy thrown out.

Add to this the controlled V.I.P. road access where by only the V.I.P.s chauffer driven cars may use the designated lanes, many which were bus lanes will see the buses joining the normal traffic routes.

The advertised bill is close to £1 billion and may rise.

Maybe the Government should declare Martial Law and have done with it.

McTaggart