News:
More than a week after British and American authorities foiled plans to detonate explosives on trans-Atlantic flights, the first formal charges have been filed in the case. British officials charged a total of 11 people with terrorism related charges, while another 11 remain under investigation.

The suspected terrorists, mostly from the London area, were charged with crimes including conspiracy to commit murder, possession of articles that could be used to prepare a terrorist attack, and failure to report information which could have prevented a terrorist attack.

Also revealed were numerous details about the investigation, including a listing of many objects taken in the search. Among these: suppliers for creating bombs and liquid explosives, 200 cell phones, 400 computers, thousands of pieces of digital storage media, suspicious books, suicide notes, and martyrdom videos.

(Source: The Associated Press)

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Views:
I can?t get over the amazing job that British and American security and intelligence officials did in foiling this terrible plot. It may be getting old, but such a true victory over terrorism seems to make all the extra added security over what has been almost the last five years truly worth it.But I digress. IT does not really come as much of a surprise that these charges were coming ? after all such a big bust is going to lead to a gamut of charges - but I was interested by some of the details of the investigation. I fully appreciate that something like this is going to take some planning, but the seizure of 400 computers and 8,000 pieces of digital storage media seems, perhaps, a tad excessive. I just hope that the authorities in the United Kingdom can find the evidence they need to bring these inhuman villains to justice.

On the other hand, some of the charges have me wondering. Specifically, the 17 year old who was charged with ?possession of articles that could be used to prepare a terrorist act? ? what the heck is that supposed to mean. More importantly, would those same items elicit similar changes if this person was not evolved in the plot? Not that it really matters, but one does have to wonder.

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Common Sense:
The biggest lesson to be learned from the charges is quite simple: if you have any information regarding a pending terrorist attack, report it to the authorities right away. Although it is not immediately clear how deeply involved the two charged with only failure to report the plot were, but it is possible that they would not have faced charges otherwise. Certainly, this is not something you want happening to yourselves, your friends, or your loved ones.