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Authors: Christopher Bartlett
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one of those people who believed revenge
was a dish best served cold?
Chapter 7
Terrorist Ways
One
cannot go into detail regarding Holt’s initial training and secondments to the
various security-related departments. Far less exciting than one might imagine,
most of it consisted of briefings on all aspects of terrorism.
Disappointingly, it was more l ike being back at
school than at university.
Celia accompanied him to
some of the lectures. This was allegedly to make her a better sounding-board,
though Holt did wonder whether it was to enable her to keep an eye on him and get
him used to being in her presence in situations where he could not compromise
her.
Briefings on particular
terrorist incidents included videos and photos not deemed by the media to be
suitable, other than for the occasional glimpse, for public consumption. Two of
the worst incidents in that regard were at schools. The recent one in Pakistan,
where seven Taliban came into a school at Peshawar and opened fire, killing 132
children and 145 people in all. And the Beslan school hostage crisis, in the
Russian Federation in September 2004, which lasted three days and ended in a
bloodbath, with 380-plus deaths as the school was stormed by security forces.
More than 1,100 hostages had been taken, of whom 777 were children, with the
rest mostly staff. The militants were threatening to blow them all up if their
demands were not met or the authorities intervened.
Conditions became
horrendous as temperatures soared inside the school, with many of the younger
hostages taking off their clothes and sitting in their underclothes, if that.
The exact order of events when the authorities did intervene after three days
is disputed, with some alleging that the authorities tried to make it seem the
militants started the explosions that prompted them to intervene, and hostages
were incidentally killed by those who were ostensibly rescuing them.
While bombs were of
constant concern, firearms scenarios such as the Mumbai siege of 2008, where
the terrorists outgunned the police and SWAT teams led to the British
authorities carrying out secret exercises throughout the country codenamed
Operation Pride to ensure mobile response units had the necessary firepower and
would not have to wait for the army to arrive from their barracks.
Then there were the
lectures on how terrorists’ minds were supposed to work and what made them,
apart from their bombs, tick. What made them become terrorists and even suicide
bombers in the first place. These and the reading material that accompanied
them were fascinating.
Holt was told time and
time again that though terrorists could mostly be pigeonholed according to
type, there were always the dangerous exceptions. From the perspective of
Holt’s mission, they really told him there were no simple answers. Terrorists
came in all shapes and sizes. Even the under-tens could be a threat.
Halfway through the
course, Sir Charles called him in to review his role.
‘Remember, your job is to
think up techniques and modi operandi before the terrorists think of them.
While the lectures covering the way their minds work may help you do that, it
is not your job to go looking for them. Leave that to the established
departments. So far, Five, Special Branch, Six, and GCHQ have done a great job
thwarting attacks year after year, but we cannot expect them to pre-empt every
one, so any possible scenarios you come up with could be invaluable.’
Chapter 8 The
Loughty
In
preparation for their overseas
trip, Holt and Celia w ere scheduled to spend a night together at a hotel called The Loughty as a dry run . ‘ Dr y ’ was the operative word, though luckily that did not apply
to alcoholic beverages. H e would have to prove himself beyond reproach .
What they did not know
was that the service had an ulterior motive, apart from facilitating the taking
of photos, for pushing the honeymoon/happy-couple scenario. The country’s glory
days
was a dish best served cold?
Chapter 7
Terrorist Ways
One
cannot go into detail regarding Holt’s initial training and secondments to the
various security-related departments. Far less exciting than one might imagine,
most of it consisted of briefings on all aspects of terrorism.
Disappointingly, it was more l ike being back at
school than at university.
Celia accompanied him to
some of the lectures. This was allegedly to make her a better sounding-board,
though Holt did wonder whether it was to enable her to keep an eye on him and get
him used to being in her presence in situations where he could not compromise
her.
Briefings on particular
terrorist incidents included videos and photos not deemed by the media to be
suitable, other than for the occasional glimpse, for public consumption. Two of
the worst incidents in that regard were at schools. The recent one in Pakistan,
where seven Taliban came into a school at Peshawar and opened fire, killing 132
children and 145 people in all. And the Beslan school hostage crisis, in the
Russian Federation in September 2004, which lasted three days and ended in a
bloodbath, with 380-plus deaths as the school was stormed by security forces.
More than 1,100 hostages had been taken, of whom 777 were children, with the
rest mostly staff. The militants were threatening to blow them all up if their
demands were not met or the authorities intervened.
Conditions became
horrendous as temperatures soared inside the school, with many of the younger
hostages taking off their clothes and sitting in their underclothes, if that.
The exact order of events when the authorities did intervene after three days
is disputed, with some alleging that the authorities tried to make it seem the
militants started the explosions that prompted them to intervene, and hostages
were incidentally killed by those who were ostensibly rescuing them.
While bombs were of
constant concern, firearms scenarios such as the Mumbai siege of 2008, where
the terrorists outgunned the police and SWAT teams led to the British
authorities carrying out secret exercises throughout the country codenamed
Operation Pride to ensure mobile response units had the necessary firepower and
would not have to wait for the army to arrive from their barracks.
Then there were the
lectures on how terrorists’ minds were supposed to work and what made them,
apart from their bombs, tick. What made them become terrorists and even suicide
bombers in the first place. These and the reading material that accompanied
them were fascinating.
Holt was told time and
time again that though terrorists could mostly be pigeonholed according to
type, there were always the dangerous exceptions. From the perspective of
Holt’s mission, they really told him there were no simple answers. Terrorists
came in all shapes and sizes. Even the under-tens could be a threat.
Halfway through the
course, Sir Charles called him in to review his role.
‘Remember, your job is to
think up techniques and modi operandi before the terrorists think of them.
While the lectures covering the way their minds work may help you do that, it
is not your job to go looking for them. Leave that to the established
departments. So far, Five, Special Branch, Six, and GCHQ have done a great job
thwarting attacks year after year, but we cannot expect them to pre-empt every
one, so any possible scenarios you come up with could be invaluable.’
Chapter 8 The
Loughty
In
preparation for their overseas
trip, Holt and Celia w ere scheduled to spend a night together at a hotel called The Loughty as a dry run . ‘ Dr y ’ was the operative word, though luckily that did not apply
to alcoholic beverages. H e would have to prove himself beyond reproach .
What they did not know
was that the service had an ulterior motive, apart from facilitating the taking
of photos, for pushing the honeymoon/happy-couple scenario. The country’s glory
days
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