Leak Reveals Official Story Of London Bombings

The Guardian (UK) ^ | 4-9-2006 | Mark Townsend

[blam]

Leak reveals official story of London bombings

· Al-Qaeda not linked, says government
· Internet used to plan 7/7 attack

Mark Townsend, crime correspondent
Sunday April 9, 2006
The Observer (UK)

The official inquiry into the 7 July London bombings will say the attack was planned on a shoestring budget from information on the internet, that there was no 'fifth-bomber' and no direct support from al-Qaeda, although two of the bombers had visited Pakistan. The first forensic account of the atrocity that claimed the lives of 52 people, which will be published in the next few weeks, will say that attacks were the product of a 'simple and inexpensive' plot hatched by four British suicide bombers bent on martyrdom.

Far from being the work of an international terror network, as originally suspected, the attack was carried out by four men who had scoured terror sites on the internet. Their knapsack bombs cost only a few hundred pounds, according to the first completed draft of the government's definitive report into the blasts.

The Home Office account, compiled by a senior civil servant at the behest of Home Secretary Charles Clarke, also discounts the existence of a fifth bomber. After the bombings, police found an unused rucksack of explosives in the bombers' abandoned car at Luton station, which led to a manhunt for a missing suspect. Similarly, it found nothing to support the theory that an al-Qaeda fixer, presumed to be from Pakistan, was instrumental in planning the attacks.

A Whitehall source said: 'The London attacks were a modest, simple affair by four seemingly normal men using the internet.'

Confirmation of the nature of the attacks will raise fresh concerns over the vulnerability of Britain to an attack by small, unsophisticated groups. A fortnight after 7 July, an unconnected group of four...

[Enchante]

"The London attacks were a modest, simple affair by four seemingly normal men using the internet."

If that's really true that's even more worrisome than tentacles of Al Qaeda plotters, since it indicates how easily jihadist suicide-homicide bombers can spring up anyplace that has MUSLIMS.

Still, I would not be confident that the Brits know all there is to know about the "visits to Pakistan" and other aspects of the lives of these young terrorists. Ultimately, whether or not Al Qaeda and similar groups have planned or ordered any particular attack, that debate is secondary to what really matters: nearly every western nation is STILL, 4.5 years after 9/11, far too lax about laws, policies, and intel related to the jihadist menace. When we still have to waste so much time and energy debating about the so-called 'rights' of 500 jihadists locked up at Guantanamo, rather than tracking down and killing every last jihadist and terror-enabler, then it is obvious that no western nation is really serious enough about combatting this menace.

[Southack]

The above storyline isn't credible. First, there was more than one abandoned backpack bomb. Second, the 7/7 London and 7/21 subway blasts coincided with attacks using the same explosives in Egypt.  Third, Mohammed Atta's dad claimed responsibility for the attacks on behalf of Al Qaeda.

 

http://counterterror.typepad.com/the_counterterrorism_blog/2005/week29/index.html

 

Unexploded Backpacks Leading to Swift Investigation of Attackers' Links (Updated with picture)

As the CT Blog Experts and others predicted after the 7/21 attacks (Steven Emerson here and here and Evan Kohlmann here), the unexploded backpacks appear to be leading to a swift investigation of the links between the 7/7 and 7/21 attackers. The July 24 Guardian reports that "Police now believe some of the men they are pursuing for last week's abortive attacks...attended a whitewater rafting trip at the same centre as two of the 7 July bombers, Mohammad Sidique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer. Evidence discovered in the rucksacks left behind by the failed bombers led police to three addresses in London. When investigators cross-referenced them with the electoral register they discovered names that tallied with those of individuals who attended the outdoor adventure course in Snowdonia last summer. Scotland Yard has confirmed the explosive used in the 21 July bomb attempts bore a similarity to that used in the earlier attacks."

UPDATE, 7/24: Third Arrest Made in Botched London Bombings - and "Analysts: Al-Qaeda behind attacks: London, Egypt blasts mirror group's tactics" - The back-to-back nature of the attacks in Egypt and London, as well as similarities in the methods used, suggests that al-Qaeda might have ordered both operations and is a clear sign Osama bin Laden and his deputies remain in control, according to counterterrorism analysts and government officials in Europe and the Middle East."

London Daily Mirror photo: "Mohammed Sidique Khan (middle right showing V-sign) and Aldgate bomber Shezad Tanweer (bottom right leaning forward)"

[SirJohnBarleycorn]

It's important to the lib/left "narrative" that the attacks not be the work of al-qaeda.

Now the attacks can be spun as a spontaneous outburst of terrorism triggered by Bush/Blair's unprovoked attack on the peace-loving muslims of Iraq. The lib/left has been claiming that the Iraq war is creating more terrorism than it is quelling.

If al-qaeda had a connection to the London attacks, then it could be seen as a part of the pre-Iraq war islamo-fascist onslaught against the west, thus vindicating to some extent Bush/Blair's policies.

[james500]

"According to the report, the attacks were largely motivated by concerns over foreign policy...although the four men were also driven by the promise of immortality."


Yeah, that's a tough one to beat

[Jeff Gordon]

The Guardian (UK), much like the New York Times, is famous for self invented leaks and false stories. They, much like the NYT, have an agenda for which they are willing lie, cheat and steal.