But I am still a bit confused on timing here..."last autumn?" So why are we hearing about this now? And if this was handled, why do we need to know about it? Let me put it this way, my father would never want to alarm me for any reason.  I never knew that my parents were frightened when we first came to this country or for many years after. They never showed their fear to me. When my mother was in the hospital several years back, my father did not tell me right away because he did not want to worry me.

In general, information that may cause panic is not put out to the public (rightly or wrongly) because in panic comes chaos.

But here we have a case where a threat from last year was neutralized, that is, posing no threat now, and yet the information is relevant how?

So what purpose does it serve to tell the public that they were going to be killed? I could see if the threat of an attack was looming (but wait, that is coming below), that would be one thing.  But why create panic when it serves no purpose at all, that is, outside of fear? Precisely.

Fear is the story that is being sold here, not some plot of dubious origin (Iraqi Al Qaeda leaders?).

But it also serves another purpose, a more alarming purpose than just the selling of fear:

"The revelation explains the recent deployment of a permanent SAS unit to London. The unit has been placed on 24-hour standby to respond to a terrorist attack in the capital. It would aim to carry out a hostage rescue mission within minutes of being alerted."

Ah,  it gives a reason for more paramilitary on London streets, in case anyone might be wondering.

"After learning of the alleged Birmingham plot to behead a British Muslim soldier returning from Iraq or Afghanistan last autumn, the Ministry of Defence spent several months trying to establish how many soldiers fitted into this category.

After focusing on soldiers in the regular army, the Royal Marines and the Territorial Army, officials whittled the list of potential targets down to fewer than 10."

So why all the need for extra boots in London streets? Remember, this does not have to make sense. It just has to frighten you. And really, since when is it news that Muslim-American or Muslim-British soldiers are extra vulnerable to attacks? This is common knowledge and should have been of concern before the war started.

But what, get this:

"The decision to arrest the nine suspects is said to have been made after one of them was seen buying a video camera in an electronics shop last weekend."

Well there you have it, the "go shopping" mantra of our own dear leader might need to come with a caveat: don't buy video equipment.

The article then goes on to claim brewing plots still in the works (because a good counter-terrorism officer knowns that the best way to stop such a plot would be to out his agents on the inside?):

"Despite intelligence about the new UK strategy security sources say that Al-Qaeda has not entirely dropped more traditional terrorism tactics.

At least two cells are believed to be preparing attacks using cars packed with fertiliser explosives to cause mass casualties."

If there is such a plot and the UK authorities really were so concerned, why the hell would they supply this level of detail and possibly risk exposing a mole? Either the British authorities are in need of counter-terrorism schooling or this piece, once again, is total propaganda. I choose the latter for obvious reasons.

You can, however, be sure that the right wing - who is less interested in reason and fact-based discussion - will spread this latest story far and wide. Remember, they too sell fear - for maybe different reasons - but that is their goal.