ProStockJunkie
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Tireless Terrorists
Posted Friday, June 29, 2007 4:20 PM PT
Homeland Security: The London bomb plot reminds us that terrorists never rest. Like gnats, they keep coming in the hopes we'll tire of swatting them. They have to get lucky just once. We have to be lucky all the time.
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Related Topics: Global War On Terror | Europe & Central Asia
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In Piccadilly Circus, only a stroke of good luck prevented an explosion that could have toppled a three-story nightclub and killed hundreds. Authorities had no inkling terrorists planned to blow up cars packed with petro bombs and nails. An ambulance crew tipped off police after noticing vapors building up inside one of them, a Mercedes parked outside a popular nightclub.
Inside the car, police found 60 liters of gas in containers, propane gas canisters and hundreds of nails — enough firepower to spread carnage across two football fields. The area at the time was buzzing with thousands of people patronizing restaurants, bars and theaters.
Several blocks away, police found a second car containing the same bomb components, commonly used in Baghdad. Other suspicious vehicles are being investigated.
Most disturbing, the MI5 had no prior intelligence such a multiple attack was under way. The plot came from nowhere. The Brits had "no indication that we were going to be attacked this way," conceded Peter Clarke, head of Scotland Yard counterterrorism.
The British terror threat level had not been raised, even with the anniversary of the 7/7 London subway bombings a week away.
On this side of the pond, Homeland Security officials say there's no need to panic, as it is aware of "no credible threats" of terrorism. How is that comforting, when the Brits knew of no credible threats themselves?
Not long ago, the Brits foiled a similar plot that targeted both London and New York. The al-Qaida plan involved using limos packed with gas canisters to attack the New York Stock Exchange.
Some experts speculate al-Qaida may be behind the London car-bomb plot. It comes at the same time U.S. authorities are worried about terrorist activity in the tribal areas of Pakistan, where al-Qaida has carved out a safe haven.
A threat from that region would not be new to London. Investigators linked the 7/7 bombings back to Pakistan.
Still, the latest incident does not have all the hallmarks of an al-Qaida attack. The bomb devices used were relatively crude and, in the case of the Mercedes, may have been a dud. Also, major al-Qaida plots typically involve suicide attackers.
The London threat simply may be related to the recent uproar in the Muslim world over Britain's knighting of Salman Rushdie, author of a book critical of the Muslim prophet Muhammad.
Regardless, we have to take such threats seriously. New York wisely is beefing up security, towing cars, installing more bollards.
And Homeland Security is urging all Americans to be vigilant about suspicious activity ahead of the Fourth of July. That means reporting such behavior without fear of being called Islamophobic.
Democrats and their Islamist allies dismiss the war on terror as merely a "bumper sticker" used by the Bush administration to scare citizens into supporting the war and spying on Muslims. But as Scotland Yard's Clarke said, "The threat from terrorism is real."
The latest London threat is more proof the left's denial about the Islamist threat isn't just wrongheaded. It's suicidal.
Posted Friday, June 29, 2007 4:20 PM PT
Homeland Security: The London bomb plot reminds us that terrorists never rest. Like gnats, they keep coming in the hopes we'll tire of swatting them. They have to get lucky just once. We have to be lucky all the time.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Related Topics: Global War On Terror | Europe & Central Asia
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In Piccadilly Circus, only a stroke of good luck prevented an explosion that could have toppled a three-story nightclub and killed hundreds. Authorities had no inkling terrorists planned to blow up cars packed with petro bombs and nails. An ambulance crew tipped off police after noticing vapors building up inside one of them, a Mercedes parked outside a popular nightclub.
Inside the car, police found 60 liters of gas in containers, propane gas canisters and hundreds of nails — enough firepower to spread carnage across two football fields. The area at the time was buzzing with thousands of people patronizing restaurants, bars and theaters.
Several blocks away, police found a second car containing the same bomb components, commonly used in Baghdad. Other suspicious vehicles are being investigated.
Most disturbing, the MI5 had no prior intelligence such a multiple attack was under way. The plot came from nowhere. The Brits had "no indication that we were going to be attacked this way," conceded Peter Clarke, head of Scotland Yard counterterrorism.
The British terror threat level had not been raised, even with the anniversary of the 7/7 London subway bombings a week away.
On this side of the pond, Homeland Security officials say there's no need to panic, as it is aware of "no credible threats" of terrorism. How is that comforting, when the Brits knew of no credible threats themselves?
Not long ago, the Brits foiled a similar plot that targeted both London and New York. The al-Qaida plan involved using limos packed with gas canisters to attack the New York Stock Exchange.
Some experts speculate al-Qaida may be behind the London car-bomb plot. It comes at the same time U.S. authorities are worried about terrorist activity in the tribal areas of Pakistan, where al-Qaida has carved out a safe haven.
A threat from that region would not be new to London. Investigators linked the 7/7 bombings back to Pakistan.
Still, the latest incident does not have all the hallmarks of an al-Qaida attack. The bomb devices used were relatively crude and, in the case of the Mercedes, may have been a dud. Also, major al-Qaida plots typically involve suicide attackers.
The London threat simply may be related to the recent uproar in the Muslim world over Britain's knighting of Salman Rushdie, author of a book critical of the Muslim prophet Muhammad.
Regardless, we have to take such threats seriously. New York wisely is beefing up security, towing cars, installing more bollards.
And Homeland Security is urging all Americans to be vigilant about suspicious activity ahead of the Fourth of July. That means reporting such behavior without fear of being called Islamophobic.
Democrats and their Islamist allies dismiss the war on terror as merely a "bumper sticker" used by the Bush administration to scare citizens into supporting the war and spying on Muslims. But as Scotland Yard's Clarke said, "The threat from terrorism is real."
The latest London threat is more proof the left's denial about the Islamist threat isn't just wrongheaded. It's suicidal.
