Philip Hammond, Liam Fox’s replacement as the UK’s Defence Secretary, announced to MPs that ground-to-air missiles would be deployed “to protect” the 2012 Olympic Games in London if deemed operationally necessary. This follows shortly after America announced intentions to send up to 1 000 security agents to provide protection for US contestants and diplomats.

So it’s not clear whether or not Hammond is just trying to calm American security fears, or if he legitimately thinks that what the London Olympics really needs to go off without a hitch is a suite of ground-to-air missiles.

Liam Fox, Hammond’s predecessor, asked whether or not there would be a  “full range of multilayered defence and deterrents” for the Olympics, ostensibly London’s biggest security operation in decades; Hammond responded,

I can assure him that all necessary measures to ensure the security and safety of the London Olympic Games will be taken including – if the advice of the military is that it is required – appropriate ground-to-air defences.

The UK’s Home Office presently considers the risk of attack from international terrorists to be “substantial,” which is apparently the third-highest level.

[Source: Independent.]