Specialist Tactics Under Fire

Like most Londoners, residents of the Peabody housing estate in the west of the city have become accustomed to seeing more cops on the streets, reminders that the capital has been under threat. Two of the four men wanted for trying (unsuccessfully) to bomb the London transport system on July 21 were arrested without bloodshed in a Peabody apartment last Friday, thanks in large part to what Peter Clarke, head of the counter-terrorist operation, called "specialist tactics." Londoners are relieved that the suspected terrorist cell has been rounded up, but the police methods — which include the use of semiautomatic rifles,...