Broadcasting beheadings: Impact?

I am interested in the logic or non-logic of the terrorists that were arrested in Birmingham last week on allegations that they wanted to kidnap a muslim soldier in the British army and broadcast his beheading on the Internet.

The purpose of such a plot would be to stir public sentiment rather than cause large-scale destruction on the scale of say 9/11. Perhaps it would have to some extent brought the war in Iraq closer to home in Britain. But I fail to see any major consequences of such an attack, but that might depend on how it would have been implemented. If the attackers were muslim it might only temporarily have caused a growth in anti-muslim sentiments in Britain, with nothing else following.

I'm not so sure,

I think it would have got people all in a panic, The thinking would be that maybe next they would start plucking non army members of the street,

i.e. look at Iraq, Army men and women first, then media workers,

I think people start to think, " what if?" Also people start to worry about copy cat killings, I mean how long would it be till random acts of murder where used in that way,

Its all about causing fear,

The fact that they are even sending the "alleged" target of this beheading to Iraq so that he will be more safe and less of a target in the UK really does play with the mind some,

But... I do think also that if this "alleged" beheading would have happened, then the affect may have turned out different, Us Uk people tend to get scared then get angry, Just look at the London bombings, 1 day we are all freaked out 3 days later 1000's of us Londoners turn up to a massive poppy day even in central London,

All of this is in my own opinion so hey I can always be wrong,

I think it would of had a decent affect.
I mean when I was in england, the younger population seemed to want a reason to hate the 'paki's' as they called them.

Anti-muslim mentality would of gone through the roof.

Plus it would of heaped amazing amount of pressure to pull the english out of iraq