Britain Bomb Plot: Updates Galore
First, the MSM coverage courtesy of Matt Drudge:
Plan to blow up 6-10 planes in mid-flight over ocean...
'Mass murder' bomb plot...
May have been 'the Big One'...
'Suggestive' of al-Qaida...
UK police hold 21...REPORT: Citizens of Pakistani Descent...
Britain on highest alert...
USA raises air security alert to red for first time...
And now onto blogosphere reaction:
Captain Ed starts us off with a report from BBC News:
A plot to blow up planes in flight from the UK to the US and commit "mass murder on an unimaginable scale" has been disrupted, Scotland Yard has said.
It is thought the plan was to detonate explosive devices smuggled in hand luggage on to as many as 10 aircraft.
Police are searching premises after 21 people were arrested. Home Secretary John Reid said they believed the "main players" were accounted for.
High security is causing delays at all UK airports.
The threat level to the UK has been raised by MI5 to critical after the arrests in London, High Wycombe and Birmingham.
Critical threat level - the highest - means "an attack is expected imminently and indicates an extremely high level of threat to the UK".
Three US airlines are believed to have been targeted.
Mr Reid said had the attack gone ahead it would have caused a loss of life of "unprecedented scale".
He said they were "confident" the main players were in custody, but neither the police nor government are "in any way complacent". ...
... BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera said the plot was thought to have involved a series of "waves" of simultaneous attacks, targeting three planes each time.
He also said the plan "revolved around liquids of some kind".
"Officials say the explosives would have been sophisticated and extremely effective," our correspondent said. ...
Thomas, prior to coming to bed last night, mentioned Operation Bojinka when he read the preliminary reports. It certainly seems as though this might have been a plan similar to the original idea cited by the 9/11 Commission. Captain Ed was tipped off to similar suspicions from a reader named Sam Pender.
* * * * *
Michelle Malkin, Allah Pundit, Counterterrorism Blog, and Pajamas Media all have a comprehensive list of links, blog opinion, analysis, and news stories regarding this particular story.
* * * * *
But, Captain Ed pointed to It Shines For All who picked up on a discrepancy in news reporting:
Police arrested 21 people in London, its suburbs and in Birmingham as part of a major covert counterterrorism operation that had lasted several months, Deputy Commissioner Paul Stephenson said. Searches continued in a number of locations ...
... A senior U.S. counterterrorism official said authorities believe dozens of people -- possibly as many as 50 -- were involved in the plot, which "had a footprint to al-Qaida back to it." The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.
If this report is true (and it is hard to tell at this stage. To state that information is a bit chaotic right now is an understatement) then that means that Scotland Yard has only caught about half of the people involved. That also means that this mission for the jihadists might have had back-up teams should the original teams be caught. If you do the math, fifty people divided by four (the number of people in a terror team, usually) that makes roughly twelve planes. Operation Bojinka, according to Wikipedia, was an operation with two stages:
The term can refer to the "airline bombing plot" alone, or that combined with the "Pope assassination plot" and the "CIA plane crash plot". The first refers to a plot to destroy 11 airliners on January 21 and 22, 1995, the second refers to a plan to kill John Paul II on January 15, 1995, and the third refers a plan to crash a plane into the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia and other buildings. Operation Bojinka was prevented on January 6 and 7, 1995, but some lessons learned were apparently used by the planners of the September 11 attacks.
Operation Bojinka was to have used eleven jetliners AND would have used liquid explosives, as well. From Wikipedia, again:
The "Mark II" "microbombs" had Casio digital watches as the timers, stabilizers that looked like cotton wool balls, and an undetectable nitroglycerin as the explosive. Other ingredients included glycerin, nitrate, sulfuric acid, and minute concentrations of nitrobenzene, silver azide (silver trinitride), and liquid acetone. Two 9-volt batteries in each bomb were used as a power source. The batteries would be connected to light bulb filaments that would detonate the bomb.
This plot seems to have many similarities to the failed 1995 plot that al-Qaeda was planning to pull off. A quick news update from the Boston Globe shows that Mitt Romney is taking no chances. He has order National Guard troops to the airports to serve as extra security.
* * * * *
ABC News has some more information related to some action in Pakistan that may have sped up Scotland Yard's raids last night:
More than 20 suspected terrorists were arrested in England by early Thursday morning, in an operation that involved British intelligence, Scotland Yard and assistance by a number of other law enforcement and intelligence agencies, including those in Pakistan.
ABC News has learned that two "significant arrests" in Pakistan in recent days may have significantly accelerated the pace of the investigation.
Many of the alleged terror plotters appeared to be of Pakistani descent. It appears that they were probably "homegrown" terrorists with strong links to al Qaeda and Pakistani operatives. This new generation of terrorists have figured significantly in plots in the U.S., London and Canada in recent months.
In this case, the plotters apparently intended to assemble small but powerful bombs in flight and use them to take down flights from England to the United States.
Obviously the ones arrested in Pakistan were likely the ones either giving the orders, or handling the logistics; that being the travel papers, the explosives, the money for the tickets, etc. But I am curious as to why these people fell back on a plan that was already a failure in 1995. Now it is a failure again. The terrorists have to understand that if law enforcement and intelligence agencies do not catch them on the ground, in the air, they will fair no better. After 9/11, after Flight 93, no one on an airplane is going to allow terrorists to hijack another airplane again. And that is even if the terrorists kill any possible air marshals on board (they do tend to stick out like a sore thumb). The passengers will deal with those terrorists. 9/11 woke us up, and the public knows that the government can only do so much. If it is the difference between being shot down by a fighter jet, or taking a chance that the plane can be retaken, I would go with the latter. To quote Todd Beamer, "Let's roll."
* * * * *
BBC News is also reporting that all international flights are now grounded, except for those already in the air. And I am quite sure that those flights are being watched carefully.
* * * * *
Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs is watching to see if the British will roll over to placate the Muslims living in their country. The Times Online gives a hint to the veiled threats leveled by Khurshid Ahmed, leader of the British Muslim Forum:
Mr Ahmed said that he felt the operation had been handled well but he warned that if the police failed to find any evidence to incriminate the people concerned then relations between the government and the Muslim community would deteriorate further.
The audacity of this man is appalling. Britain is doing what it can to gather more information on this plot, slated to be carried out by Pakistani nationals, and his idea of cooperation is to hand out threats to the government? I wonder if he is among the population of Muslims who believe the 7/7 bombings in London were justified. Remember, one-quarter of the British Muslim popuylation believes they were.
Keep an eye on this one, and keep a close eye on the those following this. We will be covering updates as they come down today (when we have time) with commentary, maybe, later tonight on this.
Marcie
First, the MSM coverage courtesy of Matt Drudge:
Plan to blow up 6-10 planes in mid-flight over ocean...
'Mass murder' bomb plot...
May have been 'the Big One'...
'Suggestive' of al-Qaida...
UK police hold 21...REPORT: Citizens of Pakistani Descent...
Britain on highest alert...
USA raises air security alert to red for first time...
And now onto blogosphere reaction:
Captain Ed starts us off with a report from BBC News:
A plot to blow up planes in flight from the UK to the US and commit "mass murder on an unimaginable scale" has been disrupted, Scotland Yard has said.
It is thought the plan was to detonate explosive devices smuggled in hand luggage on to as many as 10 aircraft.
Police are searching premises after 21 people were arrested. Home Secretary John Reid said they believed the "main players" were accounted for.
High security is causing delays at all UK airports.
The threat level to the UK has been raised by MI5 to critical after the arrests in London, High Wycombe and Birmingham.
Critical threat level - the highest - means "an attack is expected imminently and indicates an extremely high level of threat to the UK".
Three US airlines are believed to have been targeted.
Mr Reid said had the attack gone ahead it would have caused a loss of life of "unprecedented scale".
He said they were "confident" the main players were in custody, but neither the police nor government are "in any way complacent". ...
... BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera said the plot was thought to have involved a series of "waves" of simultaneous attacks, targeting three planes each time.
He also said the plan "revolved around liquids of some kind".
"Officials say the explosives would have been sophisticated and extremely effective," our correspondent said. ...
Thomas, prior to coming to bed last night, mentioned Operation Bojinka when he read the preliminary reports. It certainly seems as though this might have been a plan similar to the original idea cited by the 9/11 Commission. Captain Ed was tipped off to similar suspicions from a reader named Sam Pender.
* * * * *
Michelle Malkin, Allah Pundit, Counterterrorism Blog, and Pajamas Media all have a comprehensive list of links, blog opinion, analysis, and news stories regarding this particular story.
* * * * *
But, Captain Ed pointed to It Shines For All who picked up on a discrepancy in news reporting:
Police arrested 21 people in London, its suburbs and in Birmingham as part of a major covert counterterrorism operation that had lasted several months, Deputy Commissioner Paul Stephenson said. Searches continued in a number of locations ...
... A senior U.S. counterterrorism official said authorities believe dozens of people -- possibly as many as 50 -- were involved in the plot, which "had a footprint to al-Qaida back to it." The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.
If this report is true (and it is hard to tell at this stage. To state that information is a bit chaotic right now is an understatement) then that means that Scotland Yard has only caught about half of the people involved. That also means that this mission for the jihadists might have had back-up teams should the original teams be caught. If you do the math, fifty people divided by four (the number of people in a terror team, usually) that makes roughly twelve planes. Operation Bojinka, according to Wikipedia, was an operation with two stages:
The term can refer to the "airline bombing plot" alone, or that combined with the "Pope assassination plot" and the "CIA plane crash plot". The first refers to a plot to destroy 11 airliners on January 21 and 22, 1995, the second refers to a plan to kill John Paul II on January 15, 1995, and the third refers a plan to crash a plane into the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia and other buildings. Operation Bojinka was prevented on January 6 and 7, 1995, but some lessons learned were apparently used by the planners of the September 11 attacks.
Operation Bojinka was to have used eleven jetliners AND would have used liquid explosives, as well. From Wikipedia, again:
The "Mark II" "microbombs" had Casio digital watches as the timers, stabilizers that looked like cotton wool balls, and an undetectable nitroglycerin as the explosive. Other ingredients included glycerin, nitrate, sulfuric acid, and minute concentrations of nitrobenzene, silver azide (silver trinitride), and liquid acetone. Two 9-volt batteries in each bomb were used as a power source. The batteries would be connected to light bulb filaments that would detonate the bomb.
This plot seems to have many similarities to the failed 1995 plot that al-Qaeda was planning to pull off. A quick news update from the Boston Globe shows that Mitt Romney is taking no chances. He has order National Guard troops to the airports to serve as extra security.
* * * * *
ABC News has some more information related to some action in Pakistan that may have sped up Scotland Yard's raids last night:
More than 20 suspected terrorists were arrested in England by early Thursday morning, in an operation that involved British intelligence, Scotland Yard and assistance by a number of other law enforcement and intelligence agencies, including those in Pakistan.
ABC News has learned that two "significant arrests" in Pakistan in recent days may have significantly accelerated the pace of the investigation.
Many of the alleged terror plotters appeared to be of Pakistani descent. It appears that they were probably "homegrown" terrorists with strong links to al Qaeda and Pakistani operatives. This new generation of terrorists have figured significantly in plots in the U.S., London and Canada in recent months.
In this case, the plotters apparently intended to assemble small but powerful bombs in flight and use them to take down flights from England to the United States.
Obviously the ones arrested in Pakistan were likely the ones either giving the orders, or handling the logistics; that being the travel papers, the explosives, the money for the tickets, etc. But I am curious as to why these people fell back on a plan that was already a failure in 1995. Now it is a failure again. The terrorists have to understand that if law enforcement and intelligence agencies do not catch them on the ground, in the air, they will fair no better. After 9/11, after Flight 93, no one on an airplane is going to allow terrorists to hijack another airplane again. And that is even if the terrorists kill any possible air marshals on board (they do tend to stick out like a sore thumb). The passengers will deal with those terrorists. 9/11 woke us up, and the public knows that the government can only do so much. If it is the difference between being shot down by a fighter jet, or taking a chance that the plane can be retaken, I would go with the latter. To quote Todd Beamer, "Let's roll."
* * * * *
BBC News is also reporting that all international flights are now grounded, except for those already in the air. And I am quite sure that those flights are being watched carefully.
* * * * *
Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs is watching to see if the British will roll over to placate the Muslims living in their country. The Times Online gives a hint to the veiled threats leveled by Khurshid Ahmed, leader of the British Muslim Forum:
Mr Ahmed said that he felt the operation had been handled well but he warned that if the police failed to find any evidence to incriminate the people concerned then relations between the government and the Muslim community would deteriorate further.
The audacity of this man is appalling. Britain is doing what it can to gather more information on this plot, slated to be carried out by Pakistani nationals, and his idea of cooperation is to hand out threats to the government? I wonder if he is among the population of Muslims who believe the 7/7 bombings in London were justified. Remember, one-quarter of the British Muslim popuylation believes they were.
Keep an eye on this one, and keep a close eye on the those following this. We will be covering updates as they come down today (when we have time) with commentary, maybe, later tonight on this.
Marcie
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 9:02 AM
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