The bus bomb puzzle.
Author Archives: Edward Hugh
Let Me Take You By The Hand….
“You think you will defeat us?”
then –
“Let me take you by the hand
and lead you through the streets of London
I’ll show you something
to make you change your mind”
These lyrics from well-known folk singer Ralph McTell are on a handwritten note which is to be found among the many offerings commemorating the dead at London’s Kings Cross station.
These days we have seen a lot of bravado going the rounds. I’m no hero, I’ll settle for this. I think I’ll save the whooping and the whirling for when we have won.
Clues
This is not an analytical “perspectives” type post. Just a number of bitty threads that seem in one way or another worth noting (small pieces loosely joined). They could basically be grouped together under the following headings: photos, suicides, explosives and origins.
Maybe I should also point out the obvious: that living in Spain while coming from the UK gives me a rather unusual perspective on what is happening. I lived the days surrounding the Madrid bombings intensely, now I am doing the same with London (where I had my home for many years). In some ways I can’t help but see this in terms of similarities and differences.
The big difference is of course in the government reaction, and the way that this is transmitted to a wider public. The British official reaction is one of ‘containment’ in every sense of the word. I think this is a good approach, since I think that excessive shock and panic only serves the purposes of the terrorists. The overall sensation was that London was as prepared for this as it could have been, and that many of those working in the crisis management and emergency services areas were following through on already well rehearsed roles.
Things in Spain couldn’t have been more different.
Continue reading
Change Of Strategy Needed?
Now this is interesting, and quite to the point. As is this.
Blair Points The Finger
Tony Blair tonight indicated that in his opinion the bombings were the work of Islamic radicals. I – and I suppose most other people – had reached a somewhat similar conclusion, but since Tony has access to police and forensic material, his opinion may be worth a bit more than mine is. This would seem to give rather more credence to this earlier report. Whilst London’s Olympic victory does form a backdrop, the fact it was a surprise result makes it unlikely to have been a prime mover for the attack. It is hard to imagine an operation which was this complicated being set-up just on the off-chance. The G8 obviously seems to form a much bigger part of the picture. And I had forgotten entirely about this, until reading Juan Cole woke me up to the possible connection. The trial started on Tuesday.
Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri has appeared in court at the start of his trial on terrorism charges. The 47-year-old, who denies any involvement in terrorism, has been held at Belmarsh prison since May 2004.
BoE and ECB: No Change
It may seem relatively trivial to be reporting on this after what has happened today in London, but, as they say, life goes on.
First the Bank of England.
The Bank of England left its benchmark interest rate unchanged after a series of explosions hit London buses and underground stations. The central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee kept the repurchase rate at 4.75 percent.
And now the ECB:
The European Central Bank kept its key interest rate unchanged at 2 percent Thursday despite worries about growth and the unsettling news of apparent terrorist attacks in London.
Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said he did not believe the attacks “will have any serious impact” on markets. London’s benchmark stock market index was down 2.3 percent by early afternoon after sinking as much as 4 percent earlier in the day.
Butt-Out Putin
Vladimir Putin is a guest on UK soil today as a participant in the G8 summit, in which case he should behave like a guest, respect and follow the local customs, and refrain from trying to use this tragedy to push his own political agenda.
“But what happened today demonstrates yet again that we are doing too little to unite our efforts in the most effective way in the battle against terrorism,” he said.
He also called for an end to double standards ? an appeal he has made before to his fellow world leaders, some of whom he has criticized for underestimating the terrorist ties of Chechen separatist rebels.
Putin expressed “not only hope but also certainty” that the international community will do everything it can to confront terrorism, but stressed there must not be “any double standards whatsoever in assessing bloody crimes similar to those carried out today in London.”
There are many things which could be said about what has happened in London today, but the above is not one of them. Let me be (given my own views and values) terribly politically incorrect: as Condoleeza Rice said, “we have to get it right every day, they only have to get it right once”. Maybe there were questions about whether or not the US was sufficiently prepared for ‘new style’ international terrorism before 09/11, certainly there are such questions about Spain and 03/11, but is anyone seriously suggesting that the UK police and security services haven’t been totally focused on trying to prevent this kind of tragedy. So, number one I resent the insinuation, and number two I resent any attempt to use this to drag the UK into the scandalous war Putin has been waging in Chechenia.
The dead are not only not yet cold, they are not even counted. Again chosing a voice I would not normally identify with, I can only re-iterate this point from Tim Worstall:
“May I just remind you of one of those little rules that we have in our civilised society? We bury the dead and console the bereaved before we start making asinine political points.”
Bus Bomb May Have Been Intended For Tube
Brian Paddick, assistant deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan police has just explained to a press conference that the bomb which exploded on a London bus in Woburn place may have gone off early.
“British police said a bomb that blew the roof off a London double-decker bus on Thursday morning may have been destined for the capital’s underground network, which was rocked by three explosions earlier.
“The fourth bomb may have been intended for an underground train,” Brian Paddick, the assistant deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan police told a press conference.
The bus blast occurred about an hour after the first underground explosion. At least 33 people were confirmed dead from the blasts in the capital. ”
I’m not *sure* what we can deduce from this conjecture on the part of a senior police officer, although lots of possibilities are flying round my head.
London Update V
As the dust settles, more and more of the details become clearer. The BBC have a good summary of three tube station bombs and the bus bomb (thanks for link to perfect.co.uk). The three tube bombings were on the Picadilly line between Kings Cross and Russell Square, at Edgware Road station, and in a tunnel at 100 metres from Liverpool Street. The bus was in Woburn Place.
The Independent also has a good summary, as does the Financial Times.
Updated 16:15 UK time
Interestingly one of the ‘strange ingredients’ has just been explained: the sudden power surge story. Neil McIntosh at Guardian blog gives the story behind the facts from London Tube boss Tim O’Toole:
Tube boss Tim O’Toole says the sudden succession of blasts caused the earlier “power surge” rumours – the tube control room thought that was the only thing that could cause such a co-ordinated set of failures across the network. In fact, the tube’s power supply is intact – they could run a full service now, although that’s not likely to happen for some time yet. He also says he’s enormously proud of his staff, who “did a difficult job and did it well”.
London Update II
Der Spiegel is reporting that a group of radical islamists is claiming responsibility:
A group calling itself “Secret Organization ? al-Qaida in Europe” has posted a claim of responsibility for the series of blasts in London, a German magazine reported Thursday.
Der Spiegel magazine reported that the group posted its message on a Web site popular with Islamic militants, which it did not name. It said the group claimed the explosions were in retaliation for Britain’s involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Update (by Nick at 1pm): Just to let folks know that myself and Matt Turner are fine, and it seems so far that various London bloggers have avoided being caught up in it. Until last week, I had to travel through Liverpool Street station on a regular basis, and Matt normally passes through Edgware Road station every day.
Update 14:15 UK time.
Associated Press Cairo office continue the story, elaborating a bit more. The caim contains details worthy of note insofar as it mentions Iraq *and* Afghanistan (Qaeda and Taliban activity seems to have been increasing of late) and secondly it directly threatens Denmark and Italy. The second source citing this may be more significant than Der Spiegel since it is Elaph, a secular Arab-language news website. Elaph suggests that the site were the claim was posted is one typically used by islamic militants. Of course this confirms nothing. It is simply one possible lead, the only one we have to date.