Home > So Many Theories — So Little Time — London Bombing
By Grace Reid
July 11, 2005
Today’s UK Independent is full of it... speculation about who might be responsible for the London bombings on the 7th of July. Today they are exploring not one, but FIVE theories as to who might be responsible:
1. HOME GROWN BOMBERS; British Extremist Anti-War Muslims
2. THE FOREIGN CELL; French, Spanish
3. THE MADRID TEAM; Moroccan
4. BRITISH AL-QA’IDA
5. WHITE "CLEAN SKINS"; (no criminal records)
There are a few more groups they have left out, and quite a few nations... but tomorrow is another day to sell more newspapers. Maybe they’ll get around to the Evil One(s). Given enough time B&B may yet swing it round to the "Axis of Evil" and bring it back to Afghanistan & Iraq. Will Blair find his "ratification" for the war in Iraq in the aftermath of the bombing?
The only thing I found especially interesting in all the speculation that has been done in the news is that they have NOT YET entertained the idea that a woman might have been involved. Listen to all the he’s and not a she among them.
They have NOT YET suggested that it might be the IRA. They have NOT YET... (fill in your favorite theory).
Read it here if you must:
Was It White Extremists?
Investigators Have Four Theories
At the same time that the Independent is straining its brain to figure out who might have done it, Tony Blair has said he will not hold a government inquiry.... not yet, anyways.
Blair rejects calls for probe into bombings
By James Blitz, Political Editor, and Jimmy Burns
Published: July 10 2005 20:55Tony Blair will on Monday reject Conservative demands for a government inquiry into last week’s London bomb attacks, insisting such a move would distract from the task of catching the perpetrators.
As police and security services continued searching for the bombers - thought to be Islamist terrorists - Downing Street said the prime minister believed an inquiry now into the outrage which killed at least 49 people would be a "ludicrous diversion."
Well, methinks Tony dost protest too much. Methinks a "massive intelligence failure" does not square with the information given to Netanyahu just minutes before the first? second? third? fourth? blast. There are now four conflicting reports about when he received the warning not to make his appointment. Definitely something the Blair government doesn’t want to look into at this time.
Israel Says No Warning Was Given
Netanyahu Changed Plans Due to Warning
Report: Israel Was Warned Ahead of First Blast
Netanyahu changed plans due to pre-attacks warning
Then there’s this gem:
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.
The rhetoric seems to be falling apart a bit here. Right after the bombings Blair said it was not an attack against Britain, but an attack on all nations. But Shalom (meaning peace in Hebrew) and Netanhayu are saying it has nothing to do with Israel. Well, how many Israelis have to be missing until it becomes Israel’s concern, too?
Report: Israeli missing in London in aftermath of attacks
So until the Prime Minister no longer finds it ludicrous, I expect we will see another batch of creative theories tomorrow as to who planned, financed, and carried out the London bombings last Thursday.... it’s anybody’s guessing game. Doesn’t this strike anyone but me as the lowest form of entertainment?
The bodies are still not yet recovered and accounted for. The forensics are not in, and speculation is thicker than are workable solutions to take care of people today. Part of taking care of people is to show that government is taking responsiblity for an investigation. Part of stopping panic and terror has to come up with a reasonable approach to accurately and responsibly report the news.
How is the Independent helping security? How is the Blair government helping prevention? How is this refusal to begin the process of a government inquiry serving justice? What consolation is this to the families of the dead? Small wonder that the people are saying the parallels to 911 are too close for comfort.
Blair rejects calls for probe into bombings
By James Blitz, Political Editor, and Jimmy Burns
Published: July 10 2005 20:55 | Last updated: July 10 2005 20:55
Tony Blair will on Monday reject Conservative demands for a government inquiry into last week’s London bomb attacks, insisting such a move would distract from the task of catching the perpetrators.
As police and security services continued searching for the bombers - thought to be Islamist terrorists - Downing Street said the prime minister believed an inquiry now into the outrage which killed at least 49 people would be a "ludicrous diversion."
Instead, in a statement to the Commons on Monday following last week’s Group of Eight summit, Mr Blair is expected to focus on the direction the government must take to ensure future terrorism is defeated.
In particular, the prime minister believes there must be far greater co-operation among European Union governments in the fight against terrorism - a view Charles Clarke, the home secretary, is expected to drive home at an emergency meeting of EU interior ministers this week.
He is expected to tell his counterparts governments must ensure operators keep data on telephone and internet exchanges for up to a year.
Investigators hint at promising leads
He also indicated on Sunday that he would consider granting further "control orders" if he thought they were necessary.
Mr Clarke said he was "very optimistic indeed" that last Thursday’s bombers would be tracked down. But he feared further attacks could take place until that happened.
"That is why the number one priority has to be the catching of the perpetrators."
Police continued to sift through the debris from Thursday’s four explosions - three in the London Underground and one on a bus - and to examine witness accounts and intelligence as part of their hunt for the bombers.
But police chiefs indicated that had yet to establish the identity or the whereabouts of the terrorists they suspect belong to an extremist Islamist cell in sympathy with the aims of Al-Qaeda.
Tension several cities remained high over the weekend. Police said they had arrested, under prevention of terrorism laws, three British nationals on an inward flight at Heathrow early on Sunday but insisted that any link with last Thursday’s bombings was speculative. The three were released later on Sunday night without charge.
But the arrests, the dozens of bomb alerts in the English capital and an evacuation in the Birmingam city centre over the weekend reflect the nervousness of both police and the general public at the prospect that the bombers were still at large and capable of striking again.
The police also revealed that there had been a few cases of attacks on British Muslims in the wake of the bombings - including one in which an individual was "seriously injured."
The revelation came as some government officials expressed irritation that an article in a Sunday newspaper by Sir John Stevens, the former Metropolitan Police commissioner, might stir up racial tensions. He said the bombers were "almost certainly" British - with many more born and bred here willing to attack.