Spy chief: We risk a police state
Dame Stella Rimington, the former head of MI5, has warned that the fear of terrorism is being exploited by the Government to erode civil liberties and risks creating a police state.

By Tom Whitehead, Home Affairs Editor
The London Telegraph
16 Feb 2009

Dame Stella accused ministers of interfering with people’s privacy and playing straight into the hands of terrorists.

“Since I have retired I feel more at liberty to be against certain decisions of the Government, especially the attempt to pass laws which interfere with people’s privacy,” Dame Stella said in an interview with a Spanish newspaper.

“It would be better that the Government recognised that there are risks, rather than frightening people in order to be able to pass laws which restrict civil liberties, precisely one of the objects of terrorism: that we live in fear and under a police state,” she said.

Dame Stella, 73, added: “The US has gone too far with Guantánamo and the tortures. MI5 does not do that. Furthermore it has achieved the opposite effect: there are more and more suicide terrorists finding a greater justification.” She said the British secret services were “no angels” but insisted they did not kill people.

Dame Stella became the first woman director general of MI5 in 1992 and was head of the security agency until 1996. Since stepping down she has been a fierce critic of some of the Government’s counter-terrorism and security measures, especially those affecting civil liberties.

In 2005, she said the Government’s plans for ID cards were “absolutely useless” and would not make the public any safer. Last year she criticised attempts to extend the period of detention without charge for terrorism suspects to 42 days as excessive, shortly before the plan was rejected by Parliament.

Her latest remarks were made as the Home Office prepares to publish plans for a significant expansion of state surveillance, with powers for the police and security services to monitor every email, as well as telephone and internet activity.

Despite considerable opposition to the plan, the document will say that the fast changing pace of communication technology means the security services will not be able to properly protect the public without the new powers.

Local councils have been criticised for using anti-terrorism laws to snoop on residents suspected of littering and dog fouling offences.

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Anders Bjorkman, Naval Architect and Marine Engineer , joins ae911truth.org petition effort.
from ae911truth.org.

Anders Bjorkman, with more than 40 years experience in steel structural design and structural damage analysis, joins petition effort.

AE911Truth is proud to add Anders Bjorkman to its list of petition signers. Bjorkman, M. Sc. Naval Architect and Marine Engineer, is the managing director of Heiwa Co. of Beausoleil, France, specializing in ship safety and ship management audits. Bjorkman has more than 40 years experience of steel structural design including structural damage analysis.

Bjorkman is most noted as the leading critic of the official investigation and report concerning the M/S Estonia disaster. He has authored two books to this end, Lies and Truths about the M/V Estonia accident (1998), and, in eBook form, Disaster Investigation (2001).

Bjorkman is now bringing the same critical thinking, the same skills in analyzing structural damage, and abilities as a writer to the destructions of the WTC buildings. As he explains, “having investigated the structural destructions of many ship collisions, the WTC1 destruction is in many respects similar to a collision between two steel ships.” Check out his recent writings on WTC1 at The Case for Collapse / Crush-down Arrest and Clear Thinking.

Post Update – 6-8-09 2009, thus far has proven to be a benchmark year for 9-11 Truth.  Many significant developments toward truth have already been accomplished this year and there are more to come.  Unfortunately, the campaign of disinformation has also ramped into full gear in attempts to discredit our legitimate work.  One odd development in the apparent campaign of disinformation has been the almost simultaneous emergence of 3 “professional” 9-11 organizations which purport to be working toward truth and accountability with regards to the events of September 11th.  In my zeal to report good developments in our movement, I posted this blog and one other.  I did, however, smell a rat and did not blog about the “medical professionals” which seem to be part of this cadre of disinfo.  I am currently researching these three organization and their ties to know disinformation and will be publishing an essay on this topic in the days to come.  I decided to leave this post intact in order to document these events, however, Visibility 9-11 DOES NOT recommend these sites as reputable groups or sources of solid information.  –Michael

Religious Leaders for 911 Truth…because 911 Truth matters

A new organization called “Religious Leaders for 9 /11 Truth” has been formed. A small group of charter members has posted a statement of concern and a petition for a new investigation of 9/11 at rl911truth.org. (David Ray Griffin has been serving as an advisor to this organization.)

These religious leaders—who include lay as well as professional religious leaders—have recognized the significant moral challenge posed by the discrepancy between the official account of 9/11 and extensive evidence, based on independent research, that has shown this official account to be false.

Just as religious leaders have historically spoken out against previous forms of morally unacceptable practices based on lies, the charter members of Religious Leaders for 9/11 Truth recognize that we cannot acquiesce in a cover-up of the truth about an event that has served as the basis for the “War on Terror,” especially when this so-called war has produced so much oppression, including the killing and maiming of millions of innocent persons, the use of torture on detainees, the portrayal of Islam as an inherently violent religion, and the view that Muslim countries have no right not to be attacked.

The charter members of Religious Leaders for 9/11 Truth are now issuing a call for religious leaders from all religious traditions to sign our petition, which ends by “ask[ing] President Obama to authorize a new, truly independent, investigation into the attacks of 9/11.”

Although the Web site is oriented around this petition, it also provides several resources, including a set of articles about 9/11 written from Christian, Jewish, and Muslim perspectives. (These are all first-rate essays. Those written from a Christian perspective, for example, are by four of America’s leading theologians: John B. Cobb, Jr., David Ray Griffin, Catherine Keller, and Rosemary Radford Ruether.) We hope soon to have essays from members of other religious traditions as well.

We encourage all religious leaders—defined as people who exercise (or have exercised) a leadership role, whether in a lay or professional capacity, in or on behalf of some religious community or organization, or who teach (or have taught) religion from a faith perspective—to visit our website (rl911truth.org), read the statement and, if you agree, sign the petition.

—Lou Stolzenberg, on behalf of the charter members of Religious Leaders for 9/11 Truth.

Truth & Deception: An Interview with Kevin Ryan on 9/11

Beverly Eckert, widow of 9-11 victim, was aboard Flight 3407