MI5 target activists who could stoke “summer of discontent”
The Army is on standby to deal with rioting on UK streets as a result of the economic crisis according to a newspaper report, which states that MI5 is targeting political activists who could help create a “summer of discontent”.
“The “double-whammy” of the worst economic crisis in living memory and a motley crew of political extremists determined to stir up civil disorder has led to the extraordinary step of the Army being put on standby,” reports the Daily Express.
“MI5 and Special Branch are targeting activists they fear could inflame anger over job losses and payouts to failed bankers.”
One of the prime concerns is not that anarchists will escalate the riots, but that the disenfranchised middle class will become involved, a precedent that will no doubt make it harder for riot police and the Army to crack heads without stoking anger amongst a significant number of the usually docile British population.
Another contributing factor that may lead more of the middle class to become involved is rising resentment over uncontrolled immigration and British jobs being given to foreign immigrants.
The prospect of soldiers being drafted onto the streets is a “last resort” according to the report, but with major police departments publicly complaining that they will not have the resources to deal with widespread unrest on the scale of the 1980’s poll tax riots, a contingency plan to deploy troops is in place.
A senior source told the Express, “This is a very real, and very serious, problem….I can tell you there have been crisis talks in Whitehall about this”.
The protest season is set to begin on April 1st at the G20 summit in London.
The prospect of widespread rioting at some stage this year is a scenario feared by many.
Police in the UK are preparing for a “summer of rage” and mass protests against the mishandling of the economic crisis by the government, according to reports.
Meanwhile, in the U.S., urban warfare training drills are taking place across the country as numerous public figures, including Senator Christopher Dodd, leading economist Nouriel Roubini, top trend researcher Gerald Celente, the head of the International Monetary Fund, the head of the World Trade Organization, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, former national security director Zbigniew Brzezinski, and Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair have all warned of coming civil unrest and global instability.
The U.S. Army War College in November released a white paper called Known Unknowns: Unconventional ‘Strategic Shocks’ in Defense Strategy Development. The report warned that the military must be prepared for a “violent, strategic dislocation inside the United States,” which could be provoked by “unforeseen economic collapse,” “purposeful domestic resistance,” “pervasive public health emergencies” or “loss of functioning political and legal order.” The “widespread civil violence,” the document said, “would force the defense establishment to reorient priorities in extremis to defend basic domestic order and human security.”
Prison Planet.com
Monday, March 2, 2009
