{
    "byline": "by\n                                                   Dr Binoy Kampmark",
    "charset": "UTF-8",
    "dir": null,
    "excerpt": "The evacuation of a dozen B-1B bombers of the US Air Force from the RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire is another instalment in the latest rippling of the Iran war that began as a pre-emptive, illegal assault by the US and Israel on the Islamic Republic in late February.\u00a0 This, arguably, came in two parts, the first scripted with the detention and arrest of five men on 27th September in the vicinity of the base on suspicion of committing offences under the Explosives Act and suspicion of preparation of a terrorist act.\u00a0 (Another was arrested on October 1.)\u00a0 All were British nationals based in London and speedily released on police bail.\u00a0 At the time, Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, head of Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP), floated the suggestion that \u201cthis may be activity committed by proxies, or individuals either knowingly or unknowingly, working on behalf of a foreign state.\u201d\u00a0 The dust had barely settled before the finger pointing at Iran began.\u00a0 The men in question, according to the police, remained under investigation, with their release \u201csubject to stringent conditions on their movement and contact with others\u201d.",
    "lang": null,
    "length": 8427,
    "publishedTime": null,
    "siteName": null,
    "title": "Flying scared: The evacuation of US bombers from RAF Fairford"
}