Special forces operations on UK soil

The first thing that I need to make clear with this post is that I am not necessarily opposed to the proposition put forward here, but simply at odds with the Governments decision to conceal the facts from the public. I believe that this is at odds with open Government principles and suggests a fundamental lack of trust in the British public on the part of the Government. Having made that statement, what is being referred to here is the deployment of well armed and highly trained special forces soldiers on British streets to work with police and intelligence agencies in anti-terror operations. This is something which has been considered to be going on since the 1980's but two events offer strong evidence, one overt and one covert. The overt use of special forces personnel was the operation to free hostages taken during the Iranian Embassy siege in 1980. Here members of 22^nd squadron Special Air Service were used to storm the Iranian Embassy in London after it had been taken over by six armed terrorists, a group of hostages being taken in the process. The SAS assault was a success and the event is well documented. What is less well known that then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher personal visited the SAS after the mission and thanked them over a beer.

As a direct consequence of this mission the Thatcher Government, along with subsequent governments have prepared contingency plans for the use of special forces in domestic settings. A decision is taken on an ad hoc basis as to whether such missions should be overt or covert. The second example is of the covert type and occurred in the aftermath of the July 7^th 2005 London Underground bombings. In the weeks after the bombings security in and around London was naturally heightened, and on July 22^nd Brazilian electrician Jean Charles De Menezes was shot and killed on an underground train, allegedly by officers of SO19 firearms unit after information was received that he was carrying explosives and intended to blow up the train he was travelling on. There are several reasons that it appears that SAS assets were the real shooters in this case, but primarily the number of shots, the target areas and the ammunition used all suggest this. Menezes was shot seven times in the head with jacketed hollowpoint bullets at a range of approximately 25 feet. Witnesses reported hearing double shots in close association, familiar to special forces operatives as the trained “Double-tap” method of ensuring an instant kill in dangerous situations. Further evidence came to light at the inquest into the shooting, but as yet no official confirmation has been forthcoming.

With the enormous profile of London this summer hosting, as it is, the Olympic Games, attention once again turns to the defensive, anti-terrorist role the SAS and SBS will play in security. What is known is that there have already been at least three live round exercises in and around the London Olympic site, and it is thought highly likely that these highly trained men are already in place waiting for the games to start. It could be a very interesting Summer here in the UK.