Thursday, July 07, 2005

London terrorist attack could have been worse

Union Jack


NEW YORK (Dow Jones)-[off the wire, no link]-ABC News reported the two unexploded devices were recovered from the "scene of the terror attacks in London" but said it wasn't immediately known at which sites the devices were found.

U.K. investigators said parts of timing devices have been recovered from the bomb blasts on subway trains, and this could provide clues to determine who was responsible for the attacks, sources told ABC News.

Since I haven't had a chance to post anything else today, my heartfelt sympathies and prayers to the British. Hopefully this strengthens your resolve to fight the GWOT and I'm sure our country will fight with you against terror until all are brought to justice.

UPDATE:

AUSTIN, Texas, July 7 /PRNewswire/ -[off the wire, no link]- The private intelligence organization Stratfor said today that the "sheer scale" and pattern of the London bombings suggested that they were almost certainly orchestrated by al Qaeda -- and intended to boost declining morale among its followers.

"The goal appears to have been to create maximum embarrassment for Tony Blair and George Bush in order to impress al Qaeda followers in the Middle East and elsewhere," said Stratfor's Director of Geopolitical Analysis and senior analyst Rodger Baker.

Baker noted that many recent statements from al Qaeda leaders indicate that the movement has been suffering from poor recruitment and low morale.

They have needed another major media event.

"The London bombings clearly give them renewed credibility in the Muslim and Arab world. They demonstrate that al Qaeda is still active and able to make its presence known in the major capitals of the world.

"Al Qaeda is very media savvy. Headlines and pictures around the world about the London bombings will be used as a tool by al Qaeda to flex its muscles and boost recruiting. They will probably be successful." Baker said the bombings do not mean that similar attacks are likely to follow in the United States or other western countries anytime soon. "Al Qaeda -- if it is al Qaeda -- does not rush these things. It plans meticulously. The London bombings were clearly well planned and coordinated over a period of time and successfully evaded the normally very effective UK counterintelligence." However, another attack on the United States at some point is "almost guaranteed," Baker said, noting that it may follow the pattern of attacking transportation infrastructure in order to wreak maximal damage on the nation's economy.

I know Cheney got lots of crap for his "death throes" but despite today's tragedy, perhaps it's not that farfetched. We continue to capture and kill terrorists in Iraq, fewer and fewer of whom are actually Iraqi. Intelligence gained from these captures leads to more arrests internationally. Perhaps al Gaeda is losing their luster among the young Muslim community.

More disturbing though is Stratfor's claim that al Qaeda monitors media worldwide. Conservatives have been complaining since the beginning of the war about Democrats anti-military comments bolstering the enemy. Sounds like we're being proved right... again.

Unfortunately these aren't the circumstances we wanted to be proven right under

UPDATE 2: LGF links to live blogging at Europhobia. It really is like 9/11 all over again.

UPDATE 3: Blair vows to stay the course:

Dow Jones Newswire -[off the wire, no link]-Blair later returned to the G8 summit. Before leaving the summit to go to London, Blair declared that "It's important ...that those engaged in terrorism realize that our determination to defend our values and our way of life is greater than their determination to cause death and destruction to innocent people in a desire to impose extremism on the world."

The prime minister said "Whatever they do, it is our determination that they will never succeed in destroying what we hold dear in this country and in other civilized nations throughout the world."