LONDON (AP) — U.K. police said that five men arrested in the early hours of Sunday near an air base used by the United States during its war against Iran are being held on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act that appeared to involve three trucks.

London’s Metropolitan Police, which takes the lead on potential terrorist activities, said police received a call at 12:45 a.m. related to the three suspicious vehicles that appeared to be traveling toward RAF Fairford, a U.K.-owned base that is operated by the U.S. under an agreement dating back to the Cold War.

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[–] 16 points 1 month ago (2 children)
  • [–] 6 points 1 month ago (4 children)

    Attacking. Military. Bases. Is. Not. Terrorism. FFS

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  • [–] 5 points 1 month ago (3 children)

    Terrorist is an identity, not an action.

    You can blow up hospitals and schools if you're wearing a uniform and flying a sexy jet. Terrorist is someone who wears a "Free Palestine" T-shirt, or gets born in Gaza.

    Terrorism doesn't have a coherent definition because every State is a sponsor and every military is perpetrator.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 month ago (2 children)

    I thought identities were things that people chose for themselves - not labels given to them by their enemies.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 child)

    Probably how it should work but frequently not how it actually does work.

    Speaking of how things should work - yeah, I have always understood the word "terrorism" to mean "attacking civilians in the hopes of terrorizing them into demanding their government change policies," so yeah, attacking a military base shouldn't be called terrorism, it's espionage or something like that, but national security type people have done a lot of sloppy thinking over the last twenty five years and journalists still treat them like experts, so here we are.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 month ago

    They called them terrorists so they could deny them the rights normally afforded to people accused of a crime (for instance, they can be held 14 days without charge instead of only 24 hours).

    That's always been the end game for the term. At first this legal grey zone was mostly applied to people outside the imperial core so fewer Westerners gave a shit. Now it's coming home baby.

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  • [–] -1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

    Title has too many potential readings of its prepositional phrases

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  • 5 comments in c/world view that post
    [–] 5 points 1 month ago (4 children)

    Iran is correct that any base from which the US conducts its illegal raid on iran is a legitimate military target.

    It remains to be seen if that's what this is, or if it's yet another russian funded attack on europe.

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  • [–] [S] -1 points 1 month ago (3 children)

    Maybe it's just leftist idiots getting caught for trying to spill paint 😂😂😂

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  • [–] 5 points 1 month ago (2 children)

    What's that futurama quote: that one was less stupid, though you said it very stupidly?

    I do agree that a protest action is a legit possibility. If so, early reporting falsely calling it terrorism would indicate the government plans a draconian response.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 month ago

    Doesn't sound like a protest action like that. The previous one had more people, not just five guys in a van. Evacuations and EOD are more likely to be legit than a cover for special counterprotest operations.

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  • [–] [S] 0 points 1 month ago

    Bruh, the UK government has labeled the previous guy terrorists over some paint. You think they won't again? It's illegal to have paint within 10 miles of a military base now. 😂😂😂

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