I hadn't the faintest idea that the country had moved into that sort of territory, that sort of place, condition, situation where ugly people place devices designed to kill.Does the government now believe that the country already faces such dangers or is it merely anticipating matters? If at least one bomb disposal unit is in being, what other chilling counter terrorism measures are already in place? The country's age of innocence is, it seems, long past. What a remarkable coincidence it was to be asked by a London based researcher my views about the DIS and the country's security situation. How can anyone sensibly answer sensible questions on such a topic when there will be very few who have a grasp of the kinds of security threats now facing the country. My fumbling conclusion was twofold -that the extent and nature of the security threat in its widest sense, now probably universal, is new and probably multiplying and that neither you nor I are ever likely to fully comprehend it.
My second line of thought was that the DIS may now understand that to achieve better results it desperately needs public support. Unfortunately when the draft bill to establish the DIS was rushed through the National Assembly the government professed to be concerned about peoples' concerns, doubts and reservations.It promised that a revised draft would take account of these concerns - but in the event, the bill was presented unchanged and duly approved. I imagine that at the time, the lead figures would have believed that the major measures proposed were entirely government focused and that the general public needed to be consulted only as a routine, but without any intention that these should prompt any change. The outcome has obviously been unexpected but in retrospect must now appear unsurprising.
