| Submit your comments on this article | |||
| Britain | |||
| How did car bombers slip through the net? | |||
| 2007-07-01 | |||
| For months, security services had been expecting a vehicle bomb in London. As the hunt continues, questions arise about whether the attack that came so close could have been stopped long ago As Jacqui Smith left the Cabinet Office yesterday afternoon, she must have pondered the question most Londoners have over the past 48 hours. How, almost two years after the 7 July attacks, had the capital's defences almost been breached by terrorists again? As the new Home Secretary left the meeting of Cobra, the government's emergency response committee, she knew that how many times, if any, al-Qaeda extremists strike again will define her record. She issued a statement urging that Britons 'must not let the threat of terror stop us getting on with our lives'. Meanwhile, hundreds of police officers patrolled rain-drenched streets in the investigation to ascertain how a suspected British-based al-Qaeda cell had infiltrated the heart of the West End. Two Mercedes primed with a potentially catastrophic stockpile of petrol, gas and nail bombs had been left in the city centre in the early hours of Friday morning. Fortunately, neither had detonated. With the vulnerability of the capital again exposed, focus has switched to the type and scale of the ever-changing terror threat facing the police and security services. Most worrying, concede police sources, is that despite close monitoring of hundreds of suspects nothing on the radar suggested central London, the prized target of al-Qaeda, was on the verge of fresh attack. Initial concerns suggest that the security services may have switched surveillance from the car bombers on to other suspects, leaving them at liberty to hastily create, plan and target London clubbers early on Friday morning.
Last week was the first time Islamic extremists have deployed car bombs in Europe, but MI5 and Scotland Yard had been expecting such an attempt on the capital for months. The 'viable' devices would have been relatively cheap and quick to construct. MI6 is examining if there is an international dimension by looking at travellers to and from Iraq, where car bombs have killed hundreds. In May, MI5 circulated a 42-page document to businesses detailing different types of car bombs and what to look out for. Documents disseminated just a fortnight ago by the National Counter Terrorism Security Service warned bars, clubs and pubs they were potential terrorist targets. As the manhunt continued for the cell responsible, attention focused on terror suspects on the run from control orders, which will raise fresh questions over the value of the government's controversial tool for trying to protect the public. Among those being urgently sought are Lamine Adam from London, who, it was alleged during the Crevice terror trial, discussed attacking a night club. His brother Ibrahim, 20, and Cerie Bullivant, 24, have also escaped their control orders and are now said to be 'people of interest' to the police. Others being sought are Zeeshan Siddiqui, 26, who, it was alleged also during the Crevice trial, has links to members of a cell jailed for plotting fertiliser bomb attacks in the south-east of England and which ihad connections to Dhiren Barot. Other suspects include Bestun Salim, who vanished from his Manchester flat last summer and is alleged to have links to Ansar al-Islam, a group linked to the Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Iraq's most notorious insurgent leader, who was killed in a US airstrike last year. Officers will also continue investigating claims on the al Hesbah chat forum, frequently used by al-Qaeda supporters, which had predicted 'London shall be bombed' hours before the discovery of the first car bomb in Haymarket.
As fears that there might be more car bombs parked in London receded, the two Mercedes will continue to be examined in the hi-tech forensics laboratory at Fort Halstead, Kent. | |||
| Posted by:lotp |
| #25 There is some valuable air-clearing going on, but I personally would be more comfortable if the temperature were lowered a bit. I take it on faith that we're all working toward the same goal (DON'T ANY OF YOU DISILLUSION ME, 'K?), and part of what's happening is vocabulary/concept/ego tangles. I watched my father the biochemist and my future husband the chemical engineering student get into a very, very, very polite discussion over dinner once, where they actually agreed completely, but chemists and engineers use the same words to mean slightly different things. And they were so sweet about not screwing up what was starting to look like a really good thing that I didn't dare laugh... nor have I yet asked my mother what she thought that night. ;-) However annoying Shipman's SHARK WEEK! thingy is, he seems to have triggered a discussion that needed to happen. I'm going to have to go to the O Club and apologize to him. Bright Pebbles, the Muslims have prayed in store fronts and basements before, and they can do it again if their fancy buildings are taken from them. The jizya, though, would definitely drive a large number -- even of the British born -- elsewhere where the pickings were better. Of course, then you'd have to kick a great many non-Muslim Brits off the dole, too, but that would not be a bad thing in the end, I think. It worked pretty well Stateside, some years ago. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-07-01 22:27 |
| #24 Remove their mosques and their jizya benefits and they'll have no reason or ability to stay. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2007-07-01 20:04 |
| #23 An internment camp, certainly, Zenster. As in a large, open air prison. Not a concentration camp, which term the Nazis redefined when theirs were set up for the physical extermination of the inhabitants. And it was the Egyptians that deliberately made and kept it so, starting in 1948. Thank you, tw. I truly appreciate your courage in making such a vital distinction. Especially in the recent prevailing climate of accusation and intimidation. Surveying other "venues", I am especially glad to have seen you express concern over such jackbooted histrionics there as well. Gaza is not a concentration camp and neither do I recommend the institution of concentration camps. Benign internment of America's natural born Muslim population may well represent one of the only ways to contain their proclivity for causing mayhem. SJS (Sudden Jihad Syndrome) alone is nearly reason enough to seek legal curtailment of their activities. I'd love to see some other viable alternatives present themselves. Sadly, Islam leaves us few, if any, other options. Its intransigence inevitably forces our hand no matter how much our politicians might deny it. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-07-01 19:55 |
| #22 Muslims rarely inform on their own. I have little doubt that all involved in the gas terror plot, should have been red flagged but benefited from Muslim obstruction of justice. Remember, 1 of 6 UK Muslims supported the bloody 7-7 murders. Muslims continue to pour into the West even though both their willingness to collect welfare and refusal to accept our laws, has been proven. |
| Posted by: McZoid 2007-07-01 19:22 |
| #21 Canada is only interested in immigrants with funds who are self-supporting. No "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses," for them. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-07-01 18:20 |
| #20 Most will leave for Canada. Or slip across the U.S. border via Mexico. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2007-07-01 18:10 |
| #19 It will be hard to deport British citizens. Take away their, TV's, internet, cell phones and video games - then they will have some legitimate greivances. Most will leave for Canada. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2007-07-01 18:06 |
| #18 Does Gaza represent a concentration camp? An internment camp, certainly, Zenster. As in a large, open air prison. Not a concentration camp, which term the Nazis redefined when theirs were set up for the physical extermination of the inhabitants. And it was the Egyptians that deliberately made and kept it so, starting in 1948. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-07-01 17:47 |
| #17 AP, I was really hoping you might address those questions at the end of post #12. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-07-01 17:12 |
| #16 AP - respect force. yes. See Gaza. So. let's play a little moral equivalancy. Does Gaza represent a concentration camp? |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-07-01 17:10 |
| #15 A few years back the wife and I noticed one or two carpenter ants in the house. At first we were fairly tolerant. Not knowing much about carpenter ants we took a live and let live kind of attitude. And then more started coming...and more...and then more...and still more. It got to the point where we started bashing them right and left. A little research indicated that these buggers were a problem and that the house was at risk. Shortly thereafter we dropped our live and let live attitude and had to call in the professionals. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2007-07-01 16:57 |
| #14 AP - respect force. yes. See Gaza. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2007-07-01 16:38 |
| #13 Uranium Anus |
| Posted by: RD 2007-07-01 16:24 |
| #12 If you are always on the defensive w/r/t terrorists, you will forever be behind the eight ball. The terrorists will always be one step ahead of you. When playing chess, copying your opponent's play will only allow you to checkmate him one move after he wins. The same goes for fighting terrorism. Police action and law enforcement are not adequate to the task. Subduing Islam is going to require some major military action. Terrorists caught need to be swiftly tried, convicted, and hanged. Their families need to be immediately rounded up, sequestered and deported immediately after the sentence is carried out. Alaska Paul, I agree entirely. Terrorism runs in the family and relies heavily upon kinship for concealment and financing. There is a lot of debate going on about what to do when those terrorists are American citizens. What specifically would you have happen when they are naturalized immigrants or born American citizens? |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-07-01 16:08 |
| #11 If you are always on the defensive w/r/t terrorists, you will forever be behind the eight ball. The terrorists will always be one step ahead of you. Terrorists caught need to be swiftly tried, convicted, and hanged. Their families need to be immediately rounded up, sequestered and deported immediately after the sentence is carried out. The terrorists have declared war on civilization. Their actions are an act of war, not a criminal offense. Responses need to be made to an act of war, not a criminal matter. Take out some of these chaps, and the rest will behave or leave. They respect overwhelming and concentrated force. They do not respect the rule of law. That is why it is important to deal with terrorists appropriately, in a military-style approach. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul in Kotzebue, Alaska 2007-07-01 15:59 |
| #10 Concentration Camps, is there anything they can't do? |
| Posted by: Shipman 2007-07-01 15:40 |
| #9 Most worrying, concede police sources, is that despite close monitoring of hundreds of suspects nothing on the radar suggested central London, the prized target of al-Qaeda, was on the verge of fresh attack. Only 1984 Orwellian-style levels of surveillance could come near being adequate. At that point free and open society would be a thing of the past. The West will need to thoroughly reconsider just what value there is in having Islam's practitioners live amongst them. The simple question remains: What redeeming features does Islam have? My own answer is, "none". The only way to stop such things beforehand is to exile or imprison everyone who is being watched, and then all their known associates... and then hope all were caught. I concur, although I would add several |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-07-01 15:20 |
| #8 Of course the MSM is on both sides of this - can't violate rights of anyone, but the police should've caught them much sooner. Bad police! How long before someone blames Bush, saying it was a Rovian plan to embarass Gordon Brown? |
| Posted by: Bobby 2007-07-01 15:10 |
| #7 "government's controversial tool for trying to protect the public." = government's multiculturally-inspired evasion of its constitutional responsibility to protect the public |
| Posted by: Thains Borgia1710 2007-07-01 14:30 |
| #6 "Around 50 Islamic extremist cells are 'active' in the UK, with about 300 extremists under constant surveillance." This really mean 50 cells have been detected, so the number of people really involved in "attack planning" is probably much higher. Al |
| Posted by: Frozen Al 2007-07-01 13:17 |
| #5 They keep using the number 2,000 known terror cell members that are under surveillance. I think it is much more. Remember those idiots that marched in Trafalgar cheering for Hizbollah. There were more than 2,000 there and remember the signs? Why the Brits didn't go in there then and round them up for deportation I don't know. You can't keep extending national identity rights to those intent on killing you and destroying your country - its called sedition, even in the UK. |
| Posted by: Jack is Back! 2007-07-01 13:15 |
| #4 Bright Pebbles, the journalist appears unusually dense. A net involves roadblocks, checkpoints and the kicking in of doors. I don't think London is ready for a net. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2007-07-01 12:12 |
| #3 All 300 suspects should be "exported" to their original families countries |
| Posted by: Theating the Elder2033 2007-07-01 11:19 |
| #2 The only way to stop such things beforehand is to exile or imprison everyone who is being watched, and then all their known associates... and then hope all were caught. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-07-01 09:24 |
| #1 What net? |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles in Blairistan 2007-07-01 09:16 |