There are some indications that the bomb that exploded on the London bus was not intended to go off there. If so, the wrong explosion could have saved a lot of lives in other Underground trains or even large numbers of American tourists. There is even more reason to believe that the “terrorists” may have been a very small group or even only one person.
At first sight the London bombs are superficially similar to the Madrid bombs however there are significant differences:
The Madrid bombs were large and contained in rucksacks. There is every indication from the extent of the injuries and compartively small loss of life in crowded underground trains that these were much smaller. Rucksacks are difficult to leave on a London tube train but a smaller device concealled in, say a folded newspaper left on the windowsill (not an unusual sight) is easier to conceal.
The Madrid bombs were left on trains going into central Madrid from several suburbs. Evidence is that the London bombs could have all been planted in one station.
The Madrid bombs were carefully timed to go off at the same time, the London bombs went off over a period. There is a possibility that at least one bomb went off early and certainly not in the location intended.
It is probably fair to assume at this stage that there was an “Islamic” motive behind these bombs. This does not mean that the bomber(s) were members or trained by any particular organisation and certainly they could have been British muslims influenced by numerous grievances and whipped up by fundamentalist Imams distorting the Koran. We saw groups of youths with such views during the General Election when even George Galloway’s election meetings were disrupted by youths telling people that elections are anti-Islamic. During that campaign several of the candidates including Galloway received threats.
I understand from what the BBC security correspondent says he has been told (sorry about that roundabout way of putting it but I wanted to be precise) that the bomber(s) could be home grown and are British born muslims. The co-incidence of the first day of the G8 meeting cannot be dismissed and Bush’s presence in the country, even hundreds of miles away, would provide more publicity.
He also reported that they are looking at whether the tube bombs were placed on the trains at Kings Cross. All the trains passed through that station and the bus No30 which blew up leaves from outside that station. The bus however was not on its normal route and had been diverted down the road where it exploded. Apparently someone was heard asking what road it was. Could that have been a single bomber going to plant further bombs who then panicked and set off more he was carrying? If the target was the tube network, the bus diverted just before it got to Euston station where two lines run through that do not serve Kings Cross. Another possibility is that the bomber was headed for the London Planetarium/Madame Tussauds Waxworks which are very popular with US tourists.
Apart from a nebulous “tube network” could there have been more specific targets? The Aldgate station is a few hundred yards from the big East London Mosque and is just in Galloway’s constituency. Could it have been a punishment for voting against their interpretation of the Koran? Alternatively, two of the bombs started on routes that would have taken them under Westminster and the third near to Trafalgar Square. Planting more at Euston would hit the Northern Line through Charing Cross (Kings Cross is on the wrong branch) and Victoria, close to Westminster and a route away by tube.
While all this is speculation, there is at least a strong possibility that this is not analogous to the sleeper cell organisation in Madrid but much more like a British version of Timothy McVeigh.
