Servile government ruined liquid bomb case

It's not just counter-terrorism officials who are dismayed at the difficulties in the 'airline bomb plot' trial which resulted in the conviction yesterday of three men for conspiracy to murder persons unknown.

We all should be. What many felt was a 'slam dunk' case has ended raggedly with an English jury unconvinced by much of the evidence.

One of the most complex and well-handled surveillance operations ever mounted by the British security services (codenamed Operation Overt) has failed - so far, at least - to secure the convictions that the Crown Prosecution Service hoped for.

There is broad and noisy agreement in the intelligence community that the evidence, although strong, would have been stronger if MI5 and Special Branch had been allowed to spring the trap later. Because President Bush in Washington insisted that individuals

connected to the plot in Pakistan should be arrested, Britain's arrest operations in the UK had to be conducted at very short notice. Not only was all the evidence not quite ready, but we cannot be sure we picked up everyone we should have. Timing is not just about evidence: the intelligence services like to be confident that all the main players are on the scene before the police strike.

As a soldier in Northern Ireland in what was called the Green Army ­ - the bit you could actually see and the bit that got wet, cold, tired and blown up - we were well aware that the checkpoints, sweeps, searches we conducted day in day out provided a 'framework' around which swirled an array of covert intelligence-led operations. We had to trust the RUC Special Branch, MI5 and the SAS ­ above all on timing.

At times it was an uncomfortable feeling. But at least we knew that the difficult decisions would be made in Hereford or on the Albert Embankment or even in Downing Street. If we had suspected that our safety might be put at risk by the reckless actions of a foreigner, let alone a reviled one like