Thwarted car bombing in London
One additional link
"On the plains and mountains of the American West, the United States Army had once learned everything there was to learn about hit-and-run tactics and guerrilla warfare."
T.R. Fehrenbach This Kind of War
In Hunt for Bomb Plotters, Britain Sees a Qaeda Link
2 July NY Times - In Hunt for Bomb Plotters, Britain Sees a Qaeda Link by Alan Cowell and Raymond Bonner.
2 July Washington Post - 5 Suspects Held in British Bomb Attempts by Mary Jordan and Craig Whitlock.With their investigation moving at breakneck speed, the police expanded their hunt on Sunday for the plotters of attempted car bomb attacks in London and Glasgow that the British government called the work of terrorists linked to Al Qaeda. Officers raided homes in three cities and arrested another suspect, bringing the total to five, including at least one identified as a medical doctor.
The police said they had recovered a rich trove of evidence from the vehicles and from video surveillance after two car bombs failed to explode in London on Friday and two men rammed a Jeep Cherokee into the entrance of Glasgow Airport on Saturday. The events prompted the British authorities to raise their terrorism threat assessment to its highest level — “critical,” meaning another attack is imminent...
2 July London Times - Hunt for Terror Cell by Michael Evans and Adam Fresco.British police arrested a fifth person Sunday and raided homes in three cities in connection with attempted car bombings that officials say are connected to al-Qaeda.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who took over from Tony Blair on Wednesday, said in a nationally televised interview that "we are dealing, in general terms, with people who are associated with al-Qaeda."
On Friday, police in London found two Mercedes sedans packed with propane gas, gasoline and nails and said the drivers had intended to detonate them and kill as many people as possible. On Saturday in Glasgow, two men crashed a Jeep containing propane gas into the main terminal of the Glasgow Airport, setting it on fire. Those two men are in custody...
The terrorist group behind the latest wave of bombing plots has not yet been neutralised and other attacks could hit cities in the United Kingdom, security sources told The Times yesterday.
As the head of Scotland Yard’s Counter Terrorism Command confirmed that the two car bombs discovered in London and the blazing Jeep incident at Glasgow airport were linked, a source said: “There is a group of individuals out there who have the capability and the intent to carry out attacks in the UK.
“In our judgment it is very likely there will be further attacks.”
The alert status was raised to “critical” at the weekend and will stay there until MI5 and the police are sure that there are no further attacks being planned by the cell. Those responsible for parking two bomb-primed cars in the West End are still on the run...
Hands That Heal, Hands That Bomb
MSNBC is reporting two (2) doctors have been arrested:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19522388/
-not your average underprivliged, oppressed, poor angry young man lashing out in frustration and hopelessness. That just happens in France where they torched a couple thousand vehicles. I wondered about the use of Mercedes Benz cars.....
Originally Posted by goesh
It struck me that the UK terrorist organization (and AQ for that matter) is similar to white supremacists in the United States--a few well educated sociopaths organize and run the thing, but most of the foot soldiers are buffoons, incompetents, and losers.
Excellent analysis! This was a most amateurish attempt. The bombs were very similar to the 7/21/05 amateur bombers... not like the 7/7/05 SPBIEDs who hit the subways ... the bombs are similar too. We call these guys Class 5 terrorists ... amateurs.
Putting Foot to Al Qaeda Ass Since 1993
Own goal - UK CT policy decisions
In today's Daily Telegraph, under the title 'Repressive law turns terrorists into martyrs', a guest opinion column by Col. Tim Collins (of Gulf War fame for his message before war commenced): http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/m.../03/do0304.xml
Pungent as one would expect from him; draws upon his Northern Ireland experience and the UK governments proposal for 42 days detention before charge (passed first legislative stage).
davidbfpo
Thanks David, I read Collin's op-ed this morning and linked to it from the SWJ daily news roundup. Good read and food for thought. I also remember his message just prior to crossing the LOD during OIF I. Great stuff and spot on in my most humble opion.
Indeed.
It would seem that the Government misses few opportunities to ignore the sound advice of experienced professionals in such matters. Is it simple incompetence, bad advice, or a reflection of a particular mentality?
A mixture of all three factors plus some others. So much of the government's policy on counter-terrorism, plus many other areas of policy, is theatre: make an announcement that appears effective, introduce new laws (often badly worded to the point of being worthless) and then wonder why no-one uses them. The Financial Times is the only UK paper to ask a year on, after one Tony Blair statement what happened to the announced policies.
The classic was deploying light armour, tanks to London Heathrow airport a few years ago in response to a perceived threat to aviation; loved the footage until someone asked what value were they and then blamed the Army for giving them only one response option.
davidbfpo
Hi David,
And pretty bad theatre, too! That was certainly my impression upon reading "Promoting Good Campus Relations, Fostering Shared Values and Preventing Violent Extremism in Universities and Higher Education Colleges" - schlock that wouldn't have more than a two night run if it wasn't financed by the Gov't!
In a lot of ways, I am reminded of the reactions that appeared in North America surrounding the Satanism Scare (Google, Amazon) of the 80's and early 90's. Bad theatre, bad social science, and just plain silliness all around.
Sic Bisquitus Disintegrat...
Marc W.D. Tyrrell, Ph.D.
Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies,
Senior Research Fellow,
The Canadian Centre for Intelligence and Security Studies, NPSIA
Carleton University
http://marctyrrell.com/
Campus theatre?
Yes, an amazing document, which the university heads appeared to accept, but was rejected by the main campus teaching union and national student union. 'Hate Crime' is an acceptable topic, not radicalisation / extremism. It does contain some good parts. Just to help things along there were two arrests at Nottingham University, when someone noted a "terrorist manual" had been printed off for a student (PM for more details, although on the Kings of War blogsite).
How do US / Canadian universities react to these issues?
davidbfpo
Most of the universities I've been around tend to ignore those issues, at least on the basic level. You'll see some pontification by administrators on one subject or another, but the student body on the whole ignores it and goes about their business. College athletics are the big money maker these days, along with research, and it tends to draw better if the school avoids taking a stand on anything until after something bad happens.
Sorry if that sounds cynical, but I've seen more ink spilled about the "need" for an indoor practice facility for the football team than I have any real examination of extremism or academic dishonesty. The standard answer seems to be to commission a committee to do a study, publish the report, and then go on as before unless there is potential for a lawsuit. Then some changes may be made, but they'll be small and not impact major activities in any noticeable way.
Of course, this also varies depending on the university in question. Land grant schools tend to be somewhat less excitable (and less prone to open political stances) than their state and private university relations. There's a certain regional factor that comes into play in many cases and with many situations. At least based on what I've seen. YMMV, as always with these things.
"On the plains and mountains of the American West, the United States Army had once learned everything there was to learn about hit-and-run tactics and guerrilla warfare."
T.R. Fehrenbach This Kind of War
Interagency Coordination: A Case Study of the 2005 London Bombings
NIJ, 15 Jul 08: Interagency Coordination: A Case Study of the 2005 London Train Bombings
NIJ, 27 Oct 08: Interagency Coordination: Lessons Learned From the 2005 London Train Bombings (Part Two)This article is based on our research regarding the multiagency response to the London attacks, including barriers and ways to overcome them. As part of that National Institute of Justice-funded study, we interviewed officials from law enforcement, fire and medical services, and public health agencies who were directly involved in the July 2005 London response. We asked about their role during the response, the strategies for coordination that facilitated it, the barriers they encountered and possible strategies for improving coordination among agencies responding to emergencies.
.....We found that although protocols followed by the multiple agencies that responded to the attacks largely minimized major problems, communication, leadership and legal difficulties did affect the coordination efforts.
The primary issues reported to us during our interviews related to communication and leadership.
UK Counter-Terrorism (merged thread)
The former Met Police national CT chief, Andy Hayman (2005 till December 2007), recently wrote a book on his experiences 'The Terrorist Hunters', that on 2nd July 2009 the day before public sale was hit by a civil injunction and banned (numerous newslinks, just one: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8130520.stm ).
On 29th June 2009 he was interviewed by the BBC hardtalk programme and in just twenty four minutes talks widely. Civil liberties, public safety and much more discussed: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode...k_Andy_Hayman/ A shorter interview on Sky: http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/vid...tegory=UK+News
His book was partly released in parts in The Times, with critical comments on the UK government stuctures: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle6552590.ece and supporting a 7/7 inquiry http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle6539369.ece
The book had been released for reviews and is commended in: http://entertainment.timesonline.co....cle6619300.ece
The legal case is back in court today and the grounds for the ban have yet to be given. The book is likely to be on sale outside the UK, similar to the 'Spycatcher' affair many years ago and became a bestseller.
davidbfpo
Hi
He fell out with the politicians. This will be interesting.
Puzzling - a silent court case
MajorMarginal,
In a very odd way this case has fallen out of view, even Andy hayman's own website: http://andyhayman.com/index.html has little to say about what has happened to the injunction. Previously the website referred to a court hearing last Friday, earlier his week it reported the case had disappeared from the listing. Today's update suggests Scottish politicians (not Labour, but Scottish Nationalists) are upset at his comments.
As befits a modern society some of his books were sold publically, aside from numerous review copies in circulation.
Puzzling start to a legal case.
davidbfpo
Hi
This should be good for sales when the book does come out. Could your courts silence him under libel laws or security procedures? This will be impossible now that some copies are out.
Why are the Scottish nationalists upset?
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