This morning after waking up I popped to the bathroom, switched on the light, brushed my teeth and got dressed ready to head out. The lights didn't fail to come on and the water ran freely.
The streets were quiet, people were walking their dogs, parents and their children were heading out to the park, another chap was washing his car, a few people jogged past me it was in essence a typical winter morning.
I popped into Starbucks as I have always done these past four years and ordered my Peppermint Hot Chocolate and settled down to read the papers that were consumed with nothing but violence and uprisings, murders and those seeking a
democracy being snatched from their beds in the middle of the night never to be seen again. Journalists were going missing too.
So who ensures our way of life, who has no doubt saved us a dozen times over without reward or thanks, who should be left alone and not pursued because the people or albeit be it a political agenda dictates the level of questions directed at them?
Leave our security services alone - they are in my mind and without doubt the best security services on the planet and I for one was personally angered and dissolutioned as to how the top three from MI6, MI5 and GCHQ were summoned to a hearing like naughty school children.
The media storm that followed that CIA chap who ran off with secrets, or the Wikipedia leaks served no good purpose. I personally didn't care. Anyone who reveals secrets and posts them online in my opinion deserves everything they get. The people that do this are terrorists and threaten our way of life as this CIA chap must have signed a secrets act of some kind and when he decided to break it he knew what he was doing and what did he reveal? That our phones and emails were being monitored by the security services? Was this such a shock? Facebook a site which encourages you to tell the whole world or your network of friends your thoughts, desires and wishes, to tell the world where you are going to be and what time you are going to be there and if you were a security force why spend money on tracking someone down when you can just look on their social media site to see where a person of interest will be, what their likes are, where they are from, what books they like to read - I'm sorry guys if we are stupid enough to post our most private and intimates desires online then who are we to moan and complain when that data is used by the intelligence services to ascertain your level of threat?
The irony of course in all of this is that the free press in this country were allowed at will to stir up empathy within the public domain which they wouldn't be allowed to do in another country for fear of reprisal from their government or army.
Our security services shouldn't have to answer to anyone - and for anyone who says that's a dangerous thing to say then I would ask what good will come from them being lambasted in a public arena, to reveal their actions, tactics and skills in a public domain - no one should need to know it's not our concern. Who cares what they do as long as they protect our way of life.
If I could I would send them a box of chocolates from one grateful citizen to an organisation that ensures that I get to live my life without fear or reprisal I would.
The clue is in the name of their organisation.
Security Intelligence.
When it goes right, we love them, when it goes wrong we hate them and question them, their methods and ask them to attend a meeting for the public good, but I doubt any Tom, Dick or Harry could just waltz into take a position there.
No doubt the brightest and best minds are protecting us and I hear the pay isn't exactly thrilling so why do they do it?
I would like to think they do it for the love of their country and their is no higher reason.
So leave them alone.
Please.
