Who Planted the London Bombs?
Raids, arrests in U.K. — Suspects British citizens of Pakistani origin; all believed to have died
John Steele, Ben Fenton and Paul Stokes
The Daily Telegraph; Wednesday, July 13, 2005
LONDON and LEEDS – British police said yesterday that four men were responsible for the terror attacks that killed at least 52 people in London last week, and while authorities did not explicitly say they were suicide bombers, it was suggested they did not survive the explosions.
The major investigative breakthrough, which came as police also conducted a series of armed raids yesterday and made their first arrest in the attacks, was followed by reports that the suspected bombers included at least three British citizens.
“We have met the enemy, and they is us.” Walt Kelly’s Pogo
Psychological Profiling: A Beginning
More details about the 4 bombers, three of them from Yorkshire, and the fourth from Leeds. A neighbor of one of the bombers said the man told him he spent time in Afghanistan.
The three suspects identified by London’s Daily Telegraph were all believed to be of Pakistani origin and said by neighbours to have lived modest suburban lives in West Yorkshire. One has yet to be identified, while the others were not known to police or the intelligence services as terrorist suspects.
One was the son of a fish-and-chip shop owner. Another was only 18 years old and was reported missing by his worried parents on the day of the bombings.
Israel Sends Mixed Messages
Also, in the aftermath of yesterday’s suicide bombing in Israel, in which at least three people were killed, the Israeli ambassador to the UK has extended his condolences to the British people and has pushed ahead with the agenda to fight terrorism that is entirely in line with GW Bush.
Blair Israel’s “Greatest Friend” – Ambassador to UK
Excerpt from live telephone interview with Israel’s ambassador to the UK Tzvi Hefetz in London by Mikha Friedman, carried by Israel Defense Forces radio on 10 July
[Friedman] Israel’s ambassador to the UK is with us. Good morning.
[Hefetz] Good morning.
[Friedman] Was any form of politely worded protest registered about Tony Blair’s statement [linking the UK bombings with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict] via the diplomatic channels in London you are in touch with?
[Hefetz] Not at all. I suggest you keep things in perspective. We know one thing: Tony Blair is one of our greatest friends in Europe, and in the world. He always came out clearly and openly against terrorism. He has said that without a halt to terrorism the political process cannot move forward. His Foreign Secretary Jack Straw reiterated this policy only a few weeks ago when he visited Israel and met with the prime minister and the foreign minister. [RedNova Radio Interview]
Yet, just two days ago, Shalom and Netanhayu were quoted as saying that the bombing in London had nothing to do with Israel, and that the best thing was to “say nothing”
On Thursday, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu conveyed similar messages, but only to the Hebrew-language media.
In the international arena this time the message was the following: “It’s not a story with anything to do with Israel. It’s a story of international terrorism in Britain and therefore we should be quiet,” according to a government source. Report: Israeli missing in London in aftermath of attacks
The statement from Netanhayu and Shalom I found chilling…. this has nothing to do with Israel — this is your own affair.
There were four conflicting news stories, two from the same AP reporter, Amy Siebel in Jerusalem, that Netanhayu was warned before the explosions not to leave his hotel room.
Now the ambassador today was making great sense. These are the security experts of the world, in my opinion. No one boards a bus or a train in Israel without 1) body scan, 2) bag scan, and 3) ID check. I think Israel sets the standard here.
Yet for all of that, Israel was hit by another suicide bomb attack yesterday. Two of the victims, I think, were teenagers. And today there is expression of sympathy and solidarity with the British people that should have been there from the beginning.
This message brought to you by Big Brother:
Out Of Control? More Security!
Less Freedoms Equals More Safety To Enjoy Freedom!
More War For More Peace!
START MAKING SENSE!
Either this is a local problem, or a global one. It is a global problem. So the solution must also be global. Just as the victims in the trains were from all over the world, just as the population of London represents all the worlds nationalities, I believe any attempt to regionalize the problem, as was done in the first few days of speculation as to who might the bombers be… will only result in more hate crimes against Muslims and more divisions in society, and more animosity between countries.
This is a matter of concern for all Asian, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern people. All “people of color” as they are called, though I find this expression racist. This is a matter of concern for all peoples and all religions. The sooner we find ourselves member of one human family and welcome diversity, the sooner we recognize that all terrorists have a political agenda… and that the illegal war in Iraq is terrorism on a vast and expanding scale, the sooner we can start to cool down the situation and begin to negotiate peace between peoples everywhere.
“The war in Iraq is illegal,” Kofi Annan — September, 2004.
“The war in Iraq is illegal,” Elizabeth Wilmshurst, March, 2003.
The war in Iraq is illegal. This is state-sponsored terrorism that has cost the lives of up to 125,000 people. The Pentagon’s own Defense Science Board Report said that the war in Iraq was not spreading democracy, but breeding terrorism:
From the Defense Science Board report to the Pentagon, November, 2004:
“American direct intervention in the Muslim world has paradoxically elevated the stature of, and support for, radical Islamists, while diminishing support for the United States to single digits in some Arab societies.”
“American actions have elevated the authority of the jihadi insurgents and tended to ratify their legitimacy among Muslims.” The result is that al-Qaeda has gone from being a marginal movement to having support across the entire Muslim world.
“We face a war on terrorism, intensified conflict with Islam, and insurgency in Iraq. Worldwide anger and discontent are directed at America’s tarnished credibility and ways the US pursues its goals. There is a consensus that America’s power to persuade is in a state of crisis.” (More than 90% of the populations of some Muslims countries, such as Saudi Arabia, are opposed to US policies.)
“The war has increased mistrust of America in Europe,” the report adds, “weakened support for the war on terrorism and undermined US credibility worldwide.” This, in turn, poses an increased threat to US national security.
America’s “image problem”, the report authors suggest, is “linked to perceptions of the US as arrogant, hypocritical and self-indulgent”. The White House “has paid little attention” to the problems.
“Thus the US has strongly taken sides in a desperate struggle … US policies and actions are increasingly seen by the overwhelming majority of Muslims as a threat to the survival of Islam itself … Americans have inserted themselves into this intra-Islamic struggle in ways that have made us an enemy to most Muslims.
“There is no yearning-to- be-liberated-by-the-US groundswell among Muslim societies … The perception of intimate US support of tyrannies in the Muslim world is perhaps the critical vulnerability in American strategy. It strongly undercuts our message, while strongly promoting that of the enemy.”
“Americans are convinced that the US is a benevolent ‘superpower’ that elevates values emphasising freedom … deep down we assume that everyone should naturally support our policies. Yet the world of Islam – by overwhelming majorities at this time – sees things differently. Muslims see American policies as inimical to their values, American rhetoric about freedom and democracy as hypocritical and American actions as deeply threatening.”
“In two years the jihadi message – that strongly attacks American values – is being accepted by more moderate and non-violent Muslims. This in turn implies that negative opinion of the US has not yet bottomed out.”
There are massive problems in the Middle East, whose epicenter is Israel/Palestine. This is the central conflict that needs to be resolved for the sake of the whole world.
Never before in its 60 year history has the world had more need of the United Nations. Yet the US has blatantly and arrogantly disregarded the UN… Bush has pushed forward a candidate for ambassador to the UN a man who said that the top ten stories could be removed with no harm. That man, Bolton, was talking like a terrorist when he said that. That man was described accurately as a “serial abuser” who said that the UN Security Council exists only insofar as it serves US interests.
And never before has the world more needed the thorough participation of all the nations in the International Criminal Court. That is the one that Bush un-signed. “Despite persistent pressure, the United States has failed to crack the will of many ICC states. Rather, the United States has succeeded in isolating itself, Human Rights Watch said. “The United States has already alienated many countries in its campaign against the ICC,” said Dicker. “At a time when it is complaining about lack of support from its allies, the United States is stomping on other states even harder to get what it wants”. This refers to the Nethercutt Ammendment which penalizes countries which are part of the ICC by withdrawing development funds from them.
CRIMINALS CANNOT CREATE JUSTICE
The United States is being run by war criminals. Rumsfeld, Gonzales have already been charged and charged again. George Bush is a war criminal. George Bush has committed impeachable offenses. The move to impeach Tony Blair was made in the fall of last year. Why is Israel such a great concern to me? Because I am now this minute listening to UK TV news and for the last two hours the discussion has been how to bring UK (and US) security measures up to the standard of Israel’s standards. This is the strip-search capitol of the world. Israel is the most militarized country in the world. Their children are trained to be soldiers. Israel has occupied territory illegally for 48 years. Sorry, but that’s the way I cut it.
When we get around to the agenda for the world and it’s people if we follow what Mary Robinson said in 2001 (before the US forced her out of the UN) JUSTICE NOT REVENGE then we will have the solution for ALL these problems. Get criminals out of the White House. Stop all illegal wars of aggression. Stop creating more hate. Stop allowing hate talk on Fox TV. Stop the war machine and its propaganda.
OPINION POLL
Is the world drawing closer to a new understanding of how to create and maintain peace between different countries, different forms of government, and different religious ideologies? Or are the superpowers convening on a “unitary” policy in the War On Terrorism that looks like the closest and most powerful alliance we have ever seen between Israel, Britain and the United States?