It remains unclear what happened with the arrest of five men outside a U.S. Air Force base in the United Kingdom late Saturday.

We do know that there has been a terrorist plot targeting RAF Fairford since at least early September. Still, some observers have theorized that the men may have simply been fuel thieves who only appeared to be engaged in more nefarious activity. Alternatively, as I noted on Monday, there are other indications that the men were detained prematurely due to failed deconfliction between a covert surveillance operation and local police.

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