[Omah]

Originally Posted by joeysteele

There can be no price on security and protecting peoples lives.

Security

The security operation is led by the police, with 10,000 officers available, supported by 13,500 members of the armed forces. Naval and air assets, including ships situated in the Thames, Eurofighter jets and surface-to-air missiles, will be deployed as part of the security operation. The cost of security has also increased from 282m to 553m pounds sterling. This will be the biggest security operation Britain has faced for decades. The figure of 13,500 armed forces personnel is more than Britain currently has deployed in Afghanistan. The Metropolitan Police and the Royal Marines performed security exercises in preparation for the Olympics on 19 January 2012, with 50 marine police officers in rigid inflatables and fast response boats, joined by up to 100 military personnel and a Lynx Navy helicopter.

Presumably the tax-payer, not the promoters or sponsors, will be footing that bill .....

Security officials are exploiting the Olympics as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to multiply and militarise their weapons stocks, laminating another layer on to the surveillance state. The Games justify a security architecture to prevent terrorism, but that architecture can double to suppress or intimidate acts of political dissent. The Olympic Charter actually prohibits political activism, stating, "no kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas". What "other areas" means is open to broad interpretation. So despite Olympics human-rights rhetoric, the charter dictates – if indirectly – that local authorities squelch political activism. On cue, London police recently vowed to scour social media to sniff out any organised protests or disruptions.

The Olympics will militarise London, with surface-to-air missiles at the ready, a Royal Navy battleship moored offshore, and soldiers on patrol. After initially estimating 10,000 security guards would suffice, the London organising committee determined more than double that number would be required. The ministry of defence is filling the gap with about 13,500 military personnel, 4,000 more than are currently based in Afghanistan. Not placated, the US declared it will send its own security to London, including 500 FBI agents.

The Olympics afford an opportunity to test-drive high-tech equipment in an urban setting. Lightweight aerial drones will hover above while "combined firearms response teams" – elite police units replete with snipers – roam below. Thus London 2012 will tender a legacy not touted in bid materials: a repression-ready security state. The military-grade technologies secured during the Olympics-induced state of exception become normalised for workaday policing in the wake of the Games. And this repressive urbanism is expensive: a whopping £1bn and counting.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisf...ondon-olympics