One big story from the weekend seems to be slithering away quietly, despite Administration attempts to goose it back.
Five British men in their twenties were arrested outside the RAF airbase at Fairford, which has been used by the US as a base for attacks on Iran. A farmer reported suspicious activity in the middle of the night, and the police moved in. A bomb-hunting robot was brought to search the suspects' vans. The reports I've heard do not mention that no bomb was found, perhaps out of embarrassment, only that the five suspects were released on bond. This police official confirmed to UK news that no bombs were found, only an "accelerant." That could mean anything from lighter fluid to cans of gasoline. According to that clip's description, it was "a quantity of petrol." A quantity? How much, exactly?
The Only President We've Got was not pleased. NPR's Morning Edition reported that Trump complained:
FRAYER: Well, President Trump initially said about the suspects, quote, "we had them under investigation," and, "we know everything about them," suggesting some sort of transatlantic intelligence collaboration.
INSKEEP: Yeah.
FRAYER: Then in the Oval Office last night, he expressed surprise when asked by reporters about the suspects' release.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Over there, I'm surprised that they released them. I wouldn't have done that. Look; they've been very good. They worked with us very closely. We know everything about them. We would not have released them.
FRAYER: Trump was also asked whether Iran is linked to these suspects. He said it might be, but he'd rather not say.
I suppose it's too much to ask of NPR to mention that Trump has established a pattern as a liar, but some skepticism is in order. It might conceivably turn out that the US knew the suspects and had been following them, but this is the sort of thing he says routinely and then forgets, and is eventually confirmed to be fantasy if anyone bothers to follow up on it.
Correspondent Lauren Frayer continued:
Secretary of State Marco Rubio was also asked about this. He told Fox News it, quote, "clearly involves the hands of a foreign actor" but did not name a specific country. Iran, for its part, denies any involvement. The embassy here in London calls that malicious speculation.
Rubio also has a long history of lying, even when he supplies more details. Maybe this time he wasn't, but I wouldn't count on it. Given the events of the past seven or eight months, I'm more inclined to believe Iran over Trump or Rubio or any other US official.
What those five guys with their quantities of petrol were up to, I don't know. I expect more facts will emerge in time, but for now the British police's comparatively (and uncharacteristically) cautious actions make it plausible that the whole thing is overblown.
I've previously expressed my opposition to free-lance guerillas taking up arms against the Machine. Accept for the moment that these men did intend to attack the Fairford air force base. It would not have been an act of terrorism, because military targets are legitimate targets for attack. I've upset liberal friends by saying this in the past, and I'll say it again. We live in a time when this is forgotten, and governments claim that the civilians they slaughter are actually not civilians at all, because they live within five hundred miles of a "terrorist" target. If the Fairford RAF suspects turn out to have had violence on their minds, they should suffer the consequences, just as if they were regular military who were captured or killed in action. But terrorists? No, not from what we know now.
