The BBC seems to have an endless supply of security experts. I watch them, one after another, day after day and I never see the same one twice.
Tonight’s was questioning the idea the bombers were intending to die in the blasts. They brought credit cards and driving licenses with them - not usual for people who are expecting to die soon. There was explosive remaining in their car - suggesting, perhaps, they had somewhere else to attack afterwards?
None, so far as is known, have left any kind of message for family or friends - as is usual with suicide bombers.
So the suggestion is that they believed the bombs were on timers but were told they would explode later than they actually did.
This might explain why one was killed on a bus instead of being underground. Maybe, believing he had time, he was on his way somewhere….
And one bomber is unaccounted for. Did he just dump his bomb and run? If he did I bet he’s absolutely seething with whoever set them up. Maybe he’ll spill the beans if he’s caught….
Hi,
You have asked a question that has been bumping around in my mind for a couple of days - and I have to agree wholeheartedly with you. I doubt very much if they were suicide bombers. But maybe we should also ask the question if they were bombers at all. From what I have read (ignoring rumours which were quickly quashed), none of teh four people were extremists, active in politics … None fit the model of a bomber (suicide or not). I have a sneaky suspicion that they were all duped by another person. They were all of the age that could be duped into partaking in a stunt adn maybe they were innocently carrying bombs without realising it. It will be interesting to see what the forensic evidence eventually throws up - were there timers involved, were there transmitters/receivers.
I remember only too well the IRA boms of England, the fast response of the police and the sigh of relief when ‘the bombers’ were caught. How often were ‘the bombers’ innocent - the awful truth being that the real bombers got off with their terror because everyone breathed that sigh of relief.
Comment by Oliver — July 15, 2005 @ 7:35 am
Oliver,
I feel reasonably sure they knew what was in their rucksacks. I mean, it’s a question you’re going to ask when you’ve been told to leave your home in the north to bring these things down to London. Further, I suspect they’d have guessed anyway.
It was mentioned somewhere though that Muslim suicide bombers tend to hold their bombs in front of themselves and, also, that they shout ‘God is great’ in Arabic just before detonating. Neither of these occurences were reported by survivors on the trains or bus.
I recall that some of the 9/11 terrorists were not aware the planes were going to be crashed into the towers and the Pentagon. There might then be a ‘need to know’ factor in the planning of these operations.
Perhaps Arab terrorist planners don’t trust their British operatives to go through with suicide missions…
GM
Comment by Administrator — July 18, 2005 @ 10:35 am