British MI5 Swamped with 20 Terror Investigations

Attesting to 20 Islamist terror plots, surely MI5 has its hands full. Nonetheless, victims of the London bombings want security forces to be diverted toward public inquiries.

From TimesOnline.co.uk:

Twenty "major conspiracies" by Islamist terrorists in Britain have been uncovered by the security services, John Reid, the home secretary, has disclosed.

Reid said that the existence of so many plots means that the police and MI5 are fully stretched and cannot divert their precious counter-terrorism resources to a lengthy public inquiry into last year's London suicide bombings.

Reid revealed the existence of the plots -- far more than have previously been reported -- at a meeting with some of the victims' relatives and survivors of the attacks last week.

He failed to give further details but the claim appears to fit in with briefings by MI5 which suggest that as many as 1,200 potential terrorist suspects may now be in the UK.

The revelation of the work load of MI5 came in a meeting where the victims of the London suicide bombings were seeking investigative help in bolstering their cases for compensation. Reid did not appear to be complaining, rather, he seemed to just matter-of-factly say that MI5 already has a full plate and could not afford to devote resources to any endeavor other than chasing terrorists. In summary, MI5 is handling a full work load and they won't farm out resources to shore up victims' compensation claims.

Personally, I'd be interested in knowing the quantity of terror plots the FBI is chasing. No details, mind you, just a general ballpark idea. I'd speculate that hundreds of people, or maybe more, are under surveillance.