Posted on 07/13/2005 6:08:48 AM PDT by MikeJ
This is speculation on my part, but after conversations with several people I have come to believe that the London bombers did not know they were on a suicide mission. Here's why:
1) At least three of the four bombers had their ID cards with them, leading police directly back to their homes.
2) The bombs went off simultaneously, strongly suggesting they were set off by either timers or remote control.
3) The bombs were unusually small and light, reportedly only ten pounds. They were carried in backpacks, not vests.
4) There were no boasting videos left behind, no suicide notes.
5) From what I have seen in the press, the bombers did not seem to fit the profile of suicide bombers we've seen in Israel - people with a personal score to settle, people with obvious jihadist ambitions, or people who have shamed their families and who are looking for redemption. Furthermore, bombers are typically nervous and quiet when approaching their targets; these guys "were captured on CCTV at 8.20am walking through a subway at King’s Cross. One security source said last night: 'They looked like they were going for a hike. They were chatting to each other and smiling.'"
This is not to say they were likely to be entirely innocent, either; one left his car behind, presumably with more explosives inside. However, if these guys were tricked into carrying these bombs I think it would be a fairly big deal. For one, it would suggest that the bad guys have less influence in London then we feared, and secondly, it might generate some backlash against the bomb plot leaders from fellow Muslims, and make future recruits less willing to trust their handlers.
I think he is right...some of the hijackers on 911 didn't know it was a suicide mission.
I think these guys either were just supposed to carry and place the timed bombs..or didn't even know they were carrying a real bomb.
Clever people these Sheet Heads...
Not to be funny at the expense of victims, but I can just picture the face of the guy fumbling in the satchel...bet he looked just like 'wily coyote' whey he realized that he was 'had'. But, he only was disappointed for a moment.
I would not be at all surprised if there are frequent "training" missions, where people are assigned to carry dummy packs from place to place, ostensibly to measure travel times to certain locations or the vigilance of security personnel or the like. It would be a simple matter to replace the dummy packs with the real thing on one of these "training" missions and the bombers would think it was just another milk run.
But that still presupposes a willingness to be involved in mass murder, even if only peripherally. These idiots were either evil or stupid, but quite probably they were both.
A fly in the ointment is why then did they all split up and each head on a different tube/bus? I think your points are valid but you must explain the splitting up.
That's what I think, maybe they were told they were going on "practice runs". Maybe they were told the backpacks contained 10 lbs of dead weight.
Could this be why the other 2 bombs were found undetonated? Maybe two other carriers found out the truth in time, dumped their bags and ran for the hills.
Might also explain why the bus bomber was frantically looking thru his backpack, maybe it dawned on him that he could have a real bomb.
by David Rose
The Observer
October 14, 2001
FBI investigators have officially concluded that 11 of the 19 terrorists who hijacked the aircraft on September 11 did not know they were on a suicide mission, intelligence sources in London said last night.
Unlike the eight “lead” attackers, who were all trained pilots, they did not leave messages for friends and family indicating they knew their lives were over. None of them had copies of the instructions for prayer and contemplation on the eve of the attacks and for “opening your chest to God” at the moment of immolation, which FBI agents discovered in the luggage of Mohamed Atta, the man believed to be the hijackers’ leader, who flew the first plane to destruction in New York.
It is understood the FBI has found evidence suggesting the 11 men expected to take part in “conventional” hijackings — with the planes flown to distant airports, and the passengers and crew taken hostage while the hijackers presented demands. Items found among the 11 men’s possessions suggest they had been preparing themselves for incarceration. One source said: “It looks as if they expected they might be going to prison, not paradise.”
Atta’s final instructions, with their pleas for divine forgiveness, indicate that even the most fanatical fundamentalist had to make considerable psychological preparations before setting off to cause thousands of civilian deaths. Selecting those ready to carry out such a mission would not have been easy. By keeping a majority of the hijackers in the dark as to their real purpose, these problems were avoided, the sources said.
If this were portrayed to the bombers as an exercise rather than the real thing, their ability to follow directions may have been a high priority item and they may have been told they were being observed.
The 1-2-3 thing may have been intended to send a message of absolute fanaticism on the part of the bombers, and the helplessness of the gubmint to prevent them from placing any device any where at any time, of the bombers' choosing.
It also points out that the operation had central planning.
The unintended message is that they are running low on willing suicide bombers, especially if these were duped.
Thanks for finding and posting it!
Maybe he had just found the bomb, which he previously did not know was in the bag, AND was then trying to shut off the timer.
I don't know though...they said the guys all came, with their "rucksacks" into the area at the same time. It's on video. Bomb, or not, they had planned some sort of violence.
"Can you hear me now?" (BOOM)
Thanks for the article.
If I were granted 3 wishes, one of them would be to see the faces of these fanatical killers when they realize they're not going to be spending eternity with a bunch of virgins. I've always been curious about the hereafter and this whole jihad thing is just bizarre to me.
Thanks, Quilla. Knew it was somewhere. Some of you all are SO GOOD. Needs to be postead far and wide and also by the MSM. "Recuits" need to know what's really in store for them. Can't believe there is really a groundswell for offing yourself.
Ping for later!
I think Islam is a cult. That article may just help prove it.
Looking around the world, it doesn't seem to me there is a shortage of idiot suicide bombers anxiously awaiting their 72 virgins. Are there any intelligent Muslims out there?
I also remember reading that the witness who saw the backpack rummaging activity reported a scream before the explosion. The scream might have been when the guy realized he'd been set up.
Yeah, that'd do it.
I wonder if one of these "martyrs" gets his "72 virgins" if he was duped into the event or if he gets "72 gals who really shouldn't be wearing white on their wedding day" as his reward.
I thought the same thing
Wishful thinking.
I also heard that suicide bombers were told to keep their ID and other papers on their person before they met Allah and the Virgins because it would identify them...i.e., their families, for purposes of collecting some unnamed reward for raising a martyr.
The stories are just flying.
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