No BBC journalist has so much as drawn a connection between the British occupation of Afghanistan and the installation of such a high level of security for the Olympics.

UK personnel controlled armed drones in Libya last year – despite the repeated government insistence that the UK has only ever operated armed drones in Afghanistan.

That a Saturday night in central London, the Olympic Games or any other public space can come to look as if it was a militarised zone must disquiet more than the usual civil liberties campaigners.

The Olympics, as with sport in general, holds up a mirror to society and what is being played out in London reflects a legacy of the war on terror and deregulation of unbridled corporate power.

"They will add anything to security. If they are going to be used they will explode over some of the most densely populated areas in London."

According to Armed Forces Day, the UK army is "busy working around the world promoting peace" rather than fighting losing wars, slaughtering thousands, in other people's countries.

This architecturally crass pavilion is like the nervously loud voice of someone trying to shout down opposition, forgetting the thousands of victims of the carpet bombing of German cities.

The terror bombing of Germany involved the deliberate targeting of civilians and destruction of their homes, with a total disregard for human life that is quite breathtaking.

As the Olympic torch bearers approach London there is a military shadow lurking in the background that runs counter to the spirit of both the ancient and modern games.

The sham concern over the risks of nuclear proliferation when discussing Iran is in high contrast to the media's portrayal of the UK's nuclear ambitions.

For all his rhetorical flexing of patriotic muscles, David Cameron -- like Blair and Brown before him -- has shown himself to be a meek and docile servant to US interests.

As London is militarized for the Olympics, protests are being called against the £24bn cost and marketing bonanza for corporate sponsors like BP, McDonald's and Dow Chemicals.

It is vital that we reject NATO for what it is, and the NO TO NATO protest at the US Embassy in London on 19 May is the place to do that, says ex-soldier Joe Glenton, jailed for refusing to fight in Afghanistan.

The government has allowed the London Olympics to be hijacked by a monster that is out of control, driven by paranoia, budgetary incontinence and corporate greed.

At the same time that the UK government admonishes regimes like Syria and Bahrain for cracking down on peaceful protests, it is attacking our own demomocratic rights.

Could this be the moment when Jack Straw's career of lies that helped take Britain into illegal wars puts him in the dock? Don't hold your breath.