Boston Marathon Bombing 2013: Will one of our cities be next to face 'lockdown'?

Talking on Sky TV, the U.S. charge d’affaires here, Barbara Stephenson, mentions the black ribbons worn by London Marathon runners as a mark of respect for the three killed and 170 injured in the Boston Marathon bombings.

Jolly-looking Ms Stephenson said an official at No.10 told her this demonstrated perfectly the ‘special relationship’ between Britain and the U.S.

Might the well-intentioned gesture also demonstrate our growing addiction to American-style public displays of sentimentality?

These are useful from an official point of view. They take away the focus from what happened before and after an act of terrorism.

American-style public displays of sentimentality: Black ribbons were worn by London Marathon runners as a mark of respect for the three killed and 170 injured in the Boston Marathon bombings

Such as, in this case, how were the Tsarnaev brothers able to bomb the Boston Marathon while the elder one, Tamerlan, 26, was supposedly under FBI surveillance? This is the kind of detail that forms the basis of conspiracy theories.

Their father, Anzor, told the Wall Street Journal he was present when the FBI interviewed Tamerlan in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 2011. 

He says they told him: ‘We know what [internet] sites you are on, we know where you are calling, we know everything about you. Everything.’

  More... 'It was never an option not to be here': Prince Harry praises London Marathon runners and brave Boston bomb victims as tens of thousands hit the streets to enjoy spectacular race in spring sun Caught just in time: Police reveal Boston bombers were about to plant MORE devices as video is released of grenade barrage that stunned wounded brother into submission Dramatic thermal imaging photos reveal how marathon 'bomber' was tracked by police as he hid in a BOAT in a Boston backyard

Of course, surveillance isn’t foolproof. Some of the 2005 London Underground terrorists were known to the security services. And there’s a vast range of suspicious individuals, from losers with a grudge to hardened terrorists.

Anzor sends a message to his wounded younger son, 19-year-old Dzhokhar — under armed guard in a Boston hospital — saying: ‘Tell police everything. Just be honest.’ 

Did the FBI, after putting Boston in lockdown, set out to execute both bombing suspects, knowing the fact that they (the FBI) had one of them under surveillance might emerge?

Boston was completely empty last week following orders of a strict lockdown in the area

If Dzhokhar is shipped to Guantanamo Bay — as some U.S. senators demand — we’ll probably never know for sure what lay behind this act of terrorism or if it could have been prevented.

We’re influenced by America when it comes to police and security affairs. There’s often talk of our Government hiring one of their police chiefs. 

How long before a police shootout here with terrorists or criminals results in the lockdown of a city?

Shootout and lockdown are nouns joined together for dramatic or descriptive purposes, just like manhunt, hamburger and the oft-mouthed American TV and movie obscenity mother******.

The joining together of nouns is a feature of the German language — a tongue we might hear more often in America today if the decision on their language had been based on the ethnicity of the majority at the time. (German-Americans still consider themselves the largest ethnic group in the U.S.). Is the American reaction to terrorism and crime more German than British in character? 

Do Americans share the unsettling (to us) predilection for violence and sentimentality once attributed to pre-war Germans?

The U.S.’s armed-to-the-teeth police have a reputation for brutality but are themselves often the victims of violence: a state trooper was shot dead during the Boston manhunt.

While their CIA conducts covert wars abroad — it controls the drone killing operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan — homeland security agencies such as the FBI and the lesser-known Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) are always geared up for shootouts with criminals, terrorists or violent political activists. 

In 1985, the mayor of Philadelphia ordered the bombing of one of his city’s streets — Osage Avenue — killing five children and six adults while targeting a small, radical collective called MOVE. They’re still arguing over compensation to property owners and relatives of the deceased nearly 30 years later.

Did the FBI, after putting Boston in lockdown, set out to execute both bombing suspects, Tsarnaev brothers Tamerlan (left) and Dzhokhar, knowing the fact that they had one of them under surveillance might emerge?

In 1993, the ATF and the FBI laid siege in Waco, Texas, to a compound belonging to a cult called the Branch  Davidians, led by David Koresh, who was suspected of weapons violations. After 51 days, the FBI assault caused a fire that devoured the Mount Carmel Centre, killing 76 men, women and children.

The enormous array of force possessed by U.S. state and federal officials is a reason why many Americans refuse to give up their own lethal weapons. Some say they own guns to protect themselves from the state, as well as from criminals.

Americans are our main allies, God bless them, hugely influential in our politics and popular culture. We speak the same language, more or less. But our differences are more important than our affinities. Long may it be so.

  Middletons rally round Uncle Gary The Duchess of Cambridge and her sister, Pippa, pictured in the Mail On Sunday at the 1997 wedding of their publicity-prone uncle, Gary Goldsmith, wear frumpy skirts, jackets and hats, looking as if they’ve been outfitted at some provincial charity shop.

In their teenage innocence, they were more endearing than their sophisticated, self- possessed modern selves. And those who criticise their mother  Carole will be surprised to learn how she reacted when Ibiza-based Goldsmith — her brother — was exposed as a cocaine sniffer. 

He tells the Mail on Sunday: ‘The minute that story broke, Carole was on the phone apologising to me on behalf of the family, specifically Kate, about me being suddenly thrust into the limelight.’

Despite intense scrutiny, nothing really untoward has been turned up about the Middleton family. 

And isn’t it to their credit that they haven’t been judgmental about the rackety Windsors?

  Knoxy foxed by Britain's censors

Why won't we be able to buy Amanda Knox's memoir, Waiting To Be Heard, about her prosecution, conviction, subsequent acquittal and upcoming retrial over the 2007 murder of her friend and housemate, Meredith Kercher? Because of 'libel fears', we're told. Since it isn't usually possible to libel the dead, I presume this is a reference to Ms Kercher's family.

They could sue if Ms Knox libels them, certainly. But she's unlikely to do that. So it sounds like another example of the Great Freeze caused by Lord Justin Leveson's inquiry into the Press.

Amanda Knox's memoir, Waiting To Be Heard, talks of her prosecution, conviction, subsequent acquittal and upcoming retrial over the 2007 murder of her friend Meredith Kercher. But we won't be able to buy it

This has caused whistleblowers to be prosecuted for revealing how Cumbria's Police and Crime Commissioner, Richard Rhodes, has charged £700 for two chauffeur-driven trips. It prevented us hearing about the arrest of Rolf Harris by the Operation Yewtree squad, and delayed for two weeks the news that one of the Leveson Inquiry counsellors, perky lawyer Carine Patry Hoskins, was involved in hanky-panky with Hugh Grant's barrister at the inquiry, David Sherborne. We're all enjoying the better weather. An end to the absurd Leveson Freeze would be welcome, too.

        More from Peter McKay...   In 70 years, have we gone from the greatest to the weakest? Silly spats prove how weak our leaders are 19/05/13   Is Cameron readying his lifeboat like Blair? 12/05/13   Don't panic yet, Dave. It's Red Ed who should be worried... 05/05/13   Sir, we are charging you with being a celebrity... 28/04/13   Grocer's girl who 'got above herself' 14/04/13   Ed needs a dose of the old Blair snake oil 07/04/13   Labour's addiction to welfare hurts us all 31/03/13   Now Dave's 'dog whistle' guru is calling the tunes 24/03/13   VIEW FULL ARCHIVE The compensation culture afflicting the police turns out to be flourishing in the Armed Forces, it’s reported. It is estimated that between 2005 and 2012, around 11,000 claims from serving and former Service personnel were rejected.

Meanwhile, we’re the whiplash capital of Europe, so-called because of the high number of neck injury claims. The truth is we’re increasingly a nation of whingeing, lazy, lying cheats.

Allowing lawyers to tout their no-win, no-fee services can’t have helped.

Elsewhere, I mention the German propensity for violence and sentimentality. They have other attributes worth mentioning. They work harder than we do, spend and borrow less — and fake fewer whiplashes.

BBC Trust chairman Chris Patten and the new Director-General he anointed, Tony Hall, will be questioned by MPs tomorrow about the paedophile activities of Jimmy Savile: who knew about them, why they remained covered up and related scandals. I am confident they will get nowhere. But before their waste-of-time session is over, perhaps they could ask Lord Patten why he felt entitled to appoint Lord Hall, whom he knew, without the Trust interviewing other candidates.

So far as I can see, there are no really big stories in Charles Moore’s official biography of Baroness Thatcher, out this week, though I am keen to read about the 18-year-old Dragoon Guards boyfriend she didn’t mention to anyone, and the wedding breakfast at which Margaret wore ‘a distinctive little hat’.

Surely, Moore could have provided the newsiest Thatcher story of all for this week — how her handlers over the past eight years managed to organise for her a near-state funeral.

Since this seems to have been fixed with Labour’s Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, does this mean this sorry pair will  enjoy the same distinction?

 

France’s former President Nicolas Sarkozy is accused of accepting £40 million from Libya’s then dictator Colonel Gaddafi to pay for his 2007 election. France’s laws say the limit for donations is £6,300.

Sarko is already under investigation for accepting money from frail, 90-year-old L’Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, for the same purpose. What’s particularly rich about the Gaddafi allegation is that Sarkozy led the international hue and cry that led to the toppling (and violent death) of the Libyan madman. Thus removing a major witness against him, say Paris conspiracy theorists.

The French certainly seem to know a thing or two about corruption. That’s why I long for the return to BBC4 of their down-and-dirty TV show about Paris cops, Spiral, and turned up my nose at our home-made whodunnit, Broadchurch.