July 24, 2005
The cold blooded murder of Jean Charles de Menezes, in the Stockwell
underground was no accident. London Metropolitan Police had approved a
policy of "shoot to kill":
"a controversial tactic deployed only in the
most extreme circumstances but one police have been preparing to use
for the last two weeks.".
The shoot to kill policy was undertaken under the
auspices of "Operation Kratos", named after the mythical Spartan
hero. It was carried out by the London Metropolitan's elite SO19 firearms unit
often referred to as the Blue Berets. The latter are described as
the equivalent to the US SWAT teams, yet in this particular case, they
were not wearing uniforms.
The training of the S019 marksmen was patterned on
that of Israel. They had been briefed "by officers who had been
to Israel to meet their counterparts there and pick up tips gleaned
from the experience of dealing with Hamas bombers".
"During the Kratos briefings, the Met team were told
that, contrary to their normal arms training, they should fire at the
head rather than the chest. Although the chest is easier to hit, it is
not as reliable in causing instant death, giving a bomber a chance to
detonate his device.... "(The Scottish Daily Record, 23 July, 2005).
The "Israeli counterparts" refers to Israel's
National Police (INP), Shin Bet (the Israel Security Agency) and
Israel's Ministry of Internal Security. But the police antiterrorist
operations conducted by the INP against Hamas and Islamic Jihad are
carried out in close coordination with the Military (Israeli Defense
Force) and Mossad. Israel has also collaborated in the training
of members of the FBI and the LAPD. Top law enforcement officers of the
FBI were trained in Israel under a program sponsored by the The Jewish
Institute for National Security.
see http://www.jinsa.org/articles/articles.html/function/view/categoryid/2168/documentid/3020/history/3,2359,2166,2168,3020
SO13: The Anti-terrorist Branch
Of
significance in setting the antiterrorist policy under "Operation
Kratos" is the so-called SO13 or Antiterrorist Branch. .
The various special operations units including SO13, Special branch and SO19 of the Met police are overseen by Andy Hayman, the recently appointed assistant commissioner. The SO19 is one of several entities under the jurisdiction of the Met police. (see below)
Once SO13 and Special Branch decided to
carry out Operation Kratos, specific guidelines were
provided to SO19 to carry out the "shoot to kill"
agenda.
Essentially what we are dealing with is the
formation of a death squadron mentality under the auspices of
what is stilled officially considered a "civilian police force".
Despite the controversy surrounding the
shoot-to-kill operations, London mayor Ken Livingstone "had nothing but
praise for the police".
Rather than condemning the killing and calling for
an investigation, he casually laid the blamed for the death of
Jean Charles de Menezes on the terrorists:
"The police acted to do what they believed necessary
to protect the lives of the public... This tragedy has added another
victim to the toll of deaths for which the terrorists bear
responsibility." (BBC, 23 July 2005)
