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On Sunday, three “suspicious vans” – whatever that means – were spotted speeding toward the Royal Air Force airfield in Fairford, England. One of the drivers or passengers called the police to inform them of what they were doing. Shortly after, five masked men, later identified as British nationals, were detained under the Terrorism Act of 2006 and the Explosives Act of 1875. Had a bomb attack just been foiled? If so who planned it, and to what end? All academic – because on Monday the five suspects were abruptly released on bail.
President Trump seemed nonplussed by the move. “I would not have released them,” he told reporters, but was full of praise for the conduct of the British authorities. The safety of RAF Fairford is a matter for the American President – it is operated by the US Air Force, the only airfield in Europe that can accommodate its heavy bombers. When the Iran war began, then-Prime Minister Keir Starmer denied Trump use of the base, but soon relented; in a characteristic fudge he said that the US could use it for “self-defense” operations. Every war since 1914 has been launched in ostensible “self-defense,” so in practice this meant little: the squadrons based out of Fairford have been merrily bombing Iran ever since.
Marco Rubio has said that the incident “clearly involved the hands of a foreign actor” – namely the mullahs of Tehran. To Congressman Randy Fine the decision to release the men on bail showed that Britain was now “no longer a reliable ally of the United States.” This seems premature. The British state could certainly have kept these men in its custody had it needed to. Thanks to Tony Blair, an individual can be held for 28 days without charge on the mere suspicion of plotting a terrorist act.
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