Fox News just showed newly released pictures of the 4 perpetrators of yesterday's isolated incident in London. I'll link, or post when they get it up on the website.

***Update: CNN has them already, for you lazy bums out there I'll post them here in a minute.

***Update 2: Here ya go:

***Update 3: Fox has fuzzy close ups.

***Update 4: Fox is reporting via Sky News that the man shot this morning was NOT affiliated with yesterday's bombers.

Posted by: Vinnie at 10:05 AM | Comments (31) | Add Comment
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From the Courier-Mail:

OOZING rucksacks, harmless puffs of smoke and the failure of the latest apparent attempted bombings in London suggest a link between this week's attacks and the July 7 atrocities, experts said today.

The four bombs that apparently failed to explode on Underground subway trains and a double-decker bus yesterday bore similarities to the type of Al-Qaeda-style devices used in the suicide attacks earlier this month, which killed 56 people, explosives specialists said.

Witnesses spoke of seeing a lard-like substance oozing from one of the would-be bombers' backpacks after it failed to go off, suggesting the presence of an explosive mixture such as acetone peroxide which was used on July 7, the experts said.

That substance - made from household items such as sulphuric acid, hydrogen peroxide and acetone - deteriorates over time and becomes harmless if it passes its use-by date.

"If the bombers from July 7 and yesterday all loaded their rucksacks together two and a half weeks ago, you might expect a substantial amount of the explosive to have disappeared by this week," chemist Andrea Sella of University College London said.

Posted by: Mike Pechar at 08:10 AM | Comments (12) | Add Comment
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Police have shot a suicide bomber at the Stockwell Tube station in south London:

BBC—A man has been shot at Stockwell Tube station by armed police officers.

Passenger Mark Whitby told BBC News he had seen an Asian man shot five times by “plain-clothes police officers” with a handgun. [. . .].

The Brits have taken off their gloves folksÂ…

Cross-posted at OpinionBug.com

Update (7/22/2005 6:51am):

BBC: Scotland Yard confirms the man was shot dead

Update (7/23/2005 9:02pm):

The BBC says Scotland Yard has identified the man as Jean Charles de Menezes, a Brazilian electrician:

BBC—A man shot dead by police hunting the bombers behind Thursday's London attacks was a Brazilian electrician unconnected to the incidents.

The man, who died at Stockwell Tube on Friday, has been named by police as Jean Charles de Menezes, 27. [. . .].

Posted by: OpinionBug at 06:43 AM | Comments (43) | Add Comment
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I was going to respond to Rob's response to Rusty's response, but that was before I went below the fold on Rusty's post. He addressed the same things I was going to there.

So, instead, and just for the sake of argument, I'll answer Rusty's challenge to come up with a logical reason not to retaliate against Mecca in the event of a nuclear attack on the U.S. Mind you, I have no problem with it.

The Nuke Mecca, Kiss Israel Goodbye Scenario:

Al-Qaeda, or a reasonable facsimile thereof, lights off a smuggled nuke or two in a major American city.

We nuke Mecca.

Pakistan nukes Israel. Out of existence. Would India care if the missiles were headed the opposite way?

Oh, I forgot, Pakistan is our ally. How much of an ally would they be if Mecca were a smoldering crater?

The Nuke Mecca, Kiss Israel, Iraq, and Afghanistan Goodbye Theory

Pretty much the same as above, except replace Pakistan with Iran. Let's face something here. We think we know how far along Iran is with their nuke program, but we sure as hell don't really know for sure. What we do know for sure is that they don't have missiles capable of reaching the U.S. yet, but they can damn sure put a hurting on our military, and wipe out Israel, with the ones they have. And I doubt they'd care, with Mecca gone, about their fellow Muslims in Baghdad and Kabul getting vaporized along with America's finest. Hell, they're sending them in now to kill their fellow Muslims.

The Why Nuke Anyway? Theory

If the U.S. is the recipient of a nuclear terrorist attack, it would be fairly pointless to nuke Mecca. The heart of Mecca is a rock. One that a couple of 2,000 lb. conventional bunker busters would vaporize with no problem.

But I would advocate unleashing nuclear Hell on the Tehran and Damascus.

Finally, I will seriously take issue with Rusty's use of the term MAD:

Everyone is approaching this as a tit for tat. They nuke this, we nuke that.

No, that's not what MAD is. Mutual Assured Destruction is just that. While Islamofascist scum may get off a nuke in one, two, or even ten American cities, they don't have anything even remotely resembling the nuclear power of the Soviet Union.

So the word "mutual" doesn't even apply here. The term should be IHOP. Islam's Holiest Obliterated Permanently.

I personally think that we should threaten to lay waste to it all. If even one American city suffers a nuclear attack, we waste Mecca, Medina, Qom, we hit Najaf (only because we worked so hard there) and the Al-Aqsa Mosque (nuking that would hurt Israel) with conventional weapons. And the aforementioned capitals.

Oh, and we nuke France too.

Yes I thought of that. First we pretend to cut and run, pulling our troops out of every single Islamic nation beforehand.

Wait...we need a place for the pulled out troops to go. So we don't nuke France, we invade France, and liberate it for the third time!

Posted by: Vinnie at 12:43 AM | Comments (19) | Add Comment
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Started reading Blowback by Brad Thor. Thanks to the good folks over at Atria books for sending it to me here at the Shackleford summer home on the beautiful banks of the Rio de Los Angeles gratis.

Read a chapter on the treadmill. Yeah, I know, freakin pathetic.

Argued with Hugh Hewitt. He e-mailed me saying to call him back and we'll duke it out again. Nice try Hugh, there's a reason I write. He'd clean my clock in a verbal debate. Hands. Down.

You know that the college town that I live in doesn't have talk radio? Seriously. The first day in town I asked a local where I could tune into Rush Limbaugh. He said, Rush Lim-who? And I'm not even a big Rush fan, but every podunck town gets Rush, right? Hell, I spent half of me drive through Missouri trying to find an AM station that wasn't Rush Limbaugh. Much of the day found me blubbering like a baby, so overjoyed by the fact that Dennis Prager was on.

High point of the day: Fox 11 in Los Angeles plays the Simpsons twice a night. Twice! With King of the Hill wedged between the two episodes!! Lawdy, how I do miss LA.

Posted by: Rusty at 12:33 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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I understand that Rep. Tom Tancredo recently said that in the case of a WMD attack against the US by al Qaeda forces we should respond by nuking mecca. Since I have not been watching much TV or reading any blogs on my vacation, let me just respond to a couple of things Hugh Hewitt said on his show today and which I just did not have time to tell him on the air. He points us to this screed by one of my heroes, Lileks, on his blog today.

He also mentioned this post by DafyDD over at Captain's Quarters. It's really a silly post. Seriously. What his post really comes down to is he thinks the case for nuking Mecca is based on hatred of Muslims, what he calls "Moslem Derangement Syndrome."

I guess those that called for nuking Moscow in case they nuked us were really victims of "Russian Derangement Syndrome"??

He makes a good point that there are many who want to see Muslims dead. This is sick, just as he suggests. But trying to argue against the MAD strategy by trying to associate it with a bunch of racists is a straw man--something I see was noticed by Pierre LeGrand. It's like arguing that the war in Iraq is wrong because it is motivated by racism. Sure, there are some racists cheering for us in Iraq, but so what? Do not ascribe others sick motives to those wishing to deter the unthinkable from happening on our soil.

The second part of his post is equally silly. Nuking Mecca would not kill 1 billion Muslims. Last time I checked Mecca was little more than a medium sized tourist town. It would kill a lot of people. But so would taking out Moscow. Yes, very vary bad thing.

Nobody advocating the MAD strategy wishes to see any one dead. That's kinda the whole point of Mutual Assured Destruction. It deters.

The case for nuking Mecca, then, is very similar to the case for nuking Moscow. It is based on the notion that rational people would not dare start a nuclear Armageddon.

The only potential flaw in the case for nuking Mecca is the underlying premise of rationality. If Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda are rational, threatening to nuke Mecca would deter them from using WMD against the United States. If Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda are not rational, then the threat would have no deterrent effect.

That is a very debatable point, and one on which honest discussions are made.

As I pointed out in my original post on nuking mecca:

Let me make a couple of points first. One: I do not advocate using nuclear weapons. Two: I do not advocate killing Muslims or any other follower of any religion. Three: I do not imagine in any way possible the US government actually doing this--or even thinking it. Four: These are rudimentary thoughts. This post is used as a sounding board only. Much of what I say may be wrong and all is subject to revision. The purpose of this post is to start a conversation.

First point: Bill's major argument about deterring terrorists is well taken and mostly on the money. I think he's right, for the most part: you cannot deter these guys, only defeat them. And if incinerating Damascus were the only threat we could use to deter terrorists then certainly a MAD scheme would not work in this new Cold War we find ourselves in.

However, Mecca is not Damascus. It plays a central role in Muslim worship. Five times a day Muslims pray toward it. All Muslims who have the means are expected to make the Hajj--a pilgrimage to Mecca which revolves around the Kaaba stone. The Kaaba stone is really the reason Mecca is considered holy. Muslims believe the site was used for worship as far back as Adam and that the shrine around the stone was first placed there by Abraham (Ibrahim). There is a 12 mile zone around the stone that infidels are restricted from entering. It's that holy. No non-Muslims near it. In fact, without Mecca and the Kaaba stone, Islam would be very different.

Mecca, then, is quite unlike any other place in the world for Muslims. It is an entire city dedicated to Muslim worship. A place set apart. A holy place. It is an entire city that is thought to be the Temple of God.

Islamist terrorists also consider Mecca the holiest place in the world. It is central to their mode of worship. They face it when they pray. They too believe they must make the hajj. If we take them at their word, then the reason they commit terrorist acts is because they take their religious convictions so seriously. When they kill us, it is because they believe that this is what their God wants them to do.

So, ask yourself the question again: Can terrorists be deterred from using WMD against American targets?

Maybe they can. If Islamic extremists really love their religious institutions in the way that they claim they do, then pointing an ICBM at Mecca may not be the most irrational thing to do. They may not care if the rest of the world goes up in a nuclear mushroom cloud, as Bill points out, but Mecca is not the rest of the world. Would they really risk blowing up New York City if they believed the consequences of such an action would be a 30 kiloton nuclear explosion over the Kaaba stone? After all, the nuclear destruction of Mecca would end Islamic forms of worship as they presently exist.

If I might misquote Sting for a moment, "Is it such a crazy thing to do, if the Terrorists love their Mecca too?"

have numerous problems with the specifics of Atkins proposal--starting with the inhumanity of killing millions of innocent people because a handful of states support Islamic terrorists--but agree that MAD could be used to deter Islamic terrorism. It seems to me that a much more reasonable form of MAD would be to limit the target list to one city, Mecca. The terrorists really don't care if we nuke the capitals of Pakistan, Bangladesh, or Syria.

UPDATE: Rob at Say Anything responds here. Let me just make a couple of observations.

Is al Qaeda full of a bunch of madmen? No. No more than, say, the Kremlin was. The ideology of the Kremlin was mad, and the worldview shaped by that ideology was mad, but it was not irrational. It had a coherent internal logic. The MAD logic does not need sanity to work, what it needs is rationality. more...

Posted by: Rusty at 08:37 PM | Comments (13) | Add Comment
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1 >>>"I guess those that called for nuking Moscow in case they nuked us were really victims of "Russian Derangement Syndrome"??" Exactly. Tancredo is right. Targeting Mecca for destruction isn't about killing muslims-- it's about saving New York. We don't want to nuke Mecca anymore than we wanted to nuke Moscow, but MADD kept both parties from doing anything stupid. There's only one thing islamic terrorists really care about and that's their holy sites. Targeting Mecca will guarantee New York's safety. This whole "moslem derangement syndrome" just shows how stupid and illogical these wannabe intellectual Libs are. We did the exact same thing to the Soviets, but these braniac Libs have already forgotten. They're OBSESSED with race.

Posted by: Carlos at July 21, 2005 08:44 PM (8e/V4)

2 Ok, back to lounging around the pool. If you're at the pool with either a double-double or a carnitas burrito at hand, I will nuke the nine-oh-nine.

Posted by: Leopold Stotch at July 21, 2005 09:10 PM (l9XSL)

3 Got news for you, an ICBM contains 10 warheads and each one is 300 Megatons a far cry from a single warhead of 30 Kilotons. And that information is all that is de-classified. For example, no one really knows how much of a punch a Trident missile fired from a US Boomer submarine can carry. I think we should put together some tests and film the thing, then broadcast it all over the Muslim world in their own language. They simply have no idea just how destructive a single warhead can be and we have thousands upon thousands of these warheads and if need be can produce as many as we want. Basically, there would a crater many miles across and perhaps as deep as 500 feet. There would be nothing left. When we stopped testing atomic weapons above ground, we continued testing for decades underground and I am sure the explosions were increased in size and magnitude. Apparently, we learned all we really needed to learn from those tests and super computers can now be effectively used to simulate atomic explosions. BTW, I heard that the US has either just started up warhead production or is planning to do so very soon. Smaller tactical nukes could prove to be rather useful to avoid killing millions in a single strike. But I don't see the point, every single time the enemy is amassed in a large enough force to be confronted by the Army or Marines, they swiftly get their butts kicked and they end up scurrying away like cockroaches. We still need to maintain MAD (mutually assured destruction) because of the Chinese and soon the North Koreans and perhaps the Iranians. Russia still has nukes and what happens if there is another collapse of government and a psychopath takes over Russia? It happened in Germany, Hitler rose up politically and simply eliminated the competition and took over.

Posted by: JBrickley at July 21, 2005 09:16 PM (OyXzs)

4 You do realise that Mecca has been destroyed before right? did it stop them then? The Koran contains a prophecy that identifies the destruction of Mecca in the final days, the days when they believe all will be converted or die. Yeah, radical Muslims believing America just started the prophecy, to kill all the none believers -- let's do that.

Posted by: dave at July 21, 2005 09:22 PM (DO6vD)

5 In his recent sequels to Enders Game (The Shadow of... Series) Orson Scott Card has as part of the background that in response to nuclear terrorism Mecca has been nuked. It seems that this did have the effect of mostly eliminating Islamic terrorism, but did not eliminate Islam - instead it was said that the blasts had vaporized the Kaaba, sending it's atoms into the atmosphere where they dispersed across the entire earth, spreading a blessing. Interestingly, he posits that in order for Islam to reform, the central tenet that must be challenged is that apostasy is punishable by death - that until there can be ex-muslims, all other changes are cosmetic.

Posted by: Eric J at July 21, 2005 09:42 PM (5PRM2)

6 Rusty: I have two commentaries on the issue of Mecca and nukes on my site as well as on Moonbat Central. I would not make Mecca's Grand Mosque the target per se, but there are a host of targets in Mecca that should be taken down with conventional weapons in the aftermath of an Islamist WMD strike on the USA. What we're witnessing here is a meltdown among pretend "conservatives" that are in reality moderates who yearn for MSM acceptance, salaries, and access to the "cool" crowd in Dc and NYC.

Posted by: Michael Calderon at July 21, 2005 10:03 PM (x6TjU)

7 You don't have to necessarily nuke Mecca to deface it. Just air-dropping a bunch of infidels, oh say a few thousand heavily armed infidels, should get the same effect. They would see it as poisoning the hallowed ground. That would sure get them in a snit. And Lileks certainly has a point here: But do we really want to incinerate Tehran? You'll probably find more people in Tehran who dearly love America than you'll find in Berkeley. How true!

Posted by: Oyster at July 22, 2005 06:49 AM (YudAC)

8 I think that the target of a MAD strategy is NOT Al Qeada. I may not work on them as planed, i.e. thay may actually welcome it. The target of a MAD strategy should be the root cause of the Islamofacist philosophy, namely The Magic Kingdom. A clear announcement that Saudi Arabia (including Meccah) would suffer the response would cause the Saudis to rethink that whole "incitment to terror" policy they have been following for many years.

Posted by: Sinner at July 22, 2005 08:17 AM (f3h4P)

9 Hmm. Here's an alternate retaliation strategy: Bomb the hell out of every military installation in Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iran and maybe Egypt. At the same time, explode a nuclear device somewhere in the middle of the Sahara. Message: We can do more damage with conventional weapons than you can do with nukes. And this is what we could do if we decided to use nukes.

Posted by: Eric J at July 22, 2005 08:28 AM (hrQvk)

10 MAD won't work because they aren't rational from a normal point of view. They probably think Mecca is untouchouble, magically protected by the holy mudmaster Alluhah himself. If they got over nukes no doubt they'd used them, but that time everybody in the US would be so pissed that nuking mecca and invading Saudi Arabia would make very much sence. Nobody would care what the Muslims would think, in fact they'd be persecuted indiscriminately. War would be proclaimed on Islam.

Posted by: Cognito at July 22, 2005 08:52 AM (a9tRx)

11 Thank you very much for the links Rusty and thanks for showing some much needed sense after all the hysterics. Pierre Legrand

Posted by: Pierre Legrand at July 22, 2005 12:57 PM (znRfy)

12 Islam is in the heart, it is preserved in the heart. It will stay there till the day a muslim dies. The day America or anyone else bombs Mecca is the day muslims go to war against them. You can't even handle one Bin Laden, how can you handle billions of muslims...

Posted by: Khan at August 05, 2005 06:59 PM (lujqP)

13 The argument is basically flawed. If you notice Muslims pray facing the Qibla, they dont actually see it! IF its nuked they'll still face the same qibla (its not like geographically the qibla location will change!). So nuking mecca will basically turn lots of muslims in america turn against america, and lots of moderate americans against the government. Oh not to mention, the communists chinese and other smaller countries. So lets see.. you dont get any oil, everyone's against everyone else. The entire economic system breaks down! There is a global war.. and well it'll be fought on ur streets.. one day ur kid goes out playing and someone kills him (coz ur army killed his kid!)... and the war will be in ur living room. I do not think its a geat idea to think what you are thinking. In fact it's based upon your own biased facts... did u go to college btw? to have any idea about world cultures, religions etc doesn't sound like it at all..

Posted by: MR E at October 20, 2005 07:12 AM (7YwPP)

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Just in case you were listening, yes, that was me on Hugh Hewitt this afternoon. And, yes, I think their is a strong case to be made that pointing nuclear weapons at Mecca would be a rational deterrent to the forces of Islam using WMD against the United States. I made that point last year here and here.

Posted by: Rusty at 07:55 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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***UPDATED***

After staying plugged into the news coming out of London so far, and especially after reading Richard's post about the splodeydope's weapon of choice, I think I have a clear picture of who is the mastermind behind today's isolated incident.

UPDATED WITH EXTREMELY SENSITIVE ANONOMOUSLY SOURCED INFORMATION.

The British Gov't has identified the above as one Abu Saheed Spesh al-Ed. They have also released a recorded cell phone conversation between him and one of the perpetrators of today's isolated incident:

Perp: Hello?
Spesh al-Ed: Do you have TATP?
Perp: Yes, we do.
Spesh al-Ed: YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! I like TATP!
Perp:
Spesh al-Ed: Hey lady,
Perp: I am not a la
Spesh al-Ed: Do you have TATP?
Perp: I tell you this, we do.
Spesh al-Ed: YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! I like TATP!
Spesh al-Ed: Hey lady
Perp: Sheik al-Ed! I am not a lady, you know this!
Spesh al-Ed: Do you have Semtex?
Perp: NO! We have the TATP! I tell you this already!
Spesh al-Ed: YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! I hate Semtex!
Perp: Goodbye Sheik
Spesh al-Ed: Lady? YAAAAAAAAAY! He's going to die for Allah! YAAAAAAAAY! I like dying for Allah!

Posted by: Vinnie at 06:15 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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If you would like to get away from real news for a moment, TacJammer has a lovely piece devoted to poop.

Posted by: Vinnie at 05:21 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I know this sounds like a skit from Saturday Night Live, but apparently, it's true. From the Associated Press:

NEW YORK -- Andrea Mitchell said she felt angry and humiliated after Sudanese bodyguards dragged her out of a room Thursday for questioning President Omar el-Bashir about his involvement in the country's violence.

Large, gun-toting guards painfully wrenched the 5-foot-3 Mitchell's arm behind her. She was freed after U.S. officials accompanying Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice complained.

"Can you tell us why the violence is continuing?" Mitchell asked, as a Sudanese official said "no, no, no, please."

"Can you tell us why the government is supporting the militias?" she asked.

After getting no reply from el-Bashir, she asked, "Why should Americans believe your promises?"

It was then that she was forcibly removed.

Cross-posted at The Dread Pundit Bluto.

Posted by: Bluto at 04:49 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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Ussneverdock has some really good stuff on the investigation into the 7/7 London bombings.

Haroon Rashid Aswat has emerged as the figure that Scotland Yard have been hunting since he flew out of Britain just hours before the attacks which killed 56 people.

Aswat, 30, who is believed to come from the same West Yorkshire town as one of the bombers, arrived in Britain a fortnight before the attacks to orchestrate final planning for the atrocity. He spoke to the suicide team on his mobile phone a few hours before the four men blew themselves up and killed fifty-two other people

Good stuff man. Some of the information is circumstantial but that would not stop Greg would it.

Also dont forget to check out Michelle's posts today. She has in depth coverage of today's bombings as well as a good link to a greenpeace video that is well you just have to see it. Plus she's easy on the eyes.

Posted by: Howie at 01:09 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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Purely speculation, but as long as my wife is down for a nap with the baby on this sultry summer day, let me go ahead and speculate.

This could be a botched terror bombing, but it seems more likely that this was either an amateur copy-cat bombing by more of your friendly neighborhood ROPers....

or, maybe.....

The fact that only one person is injured. Again, pure speculation, but doesn't this seem more like the work of the IRA or one of its offshoots like The Real IRA? When the ROP strikes they are going for casualties, but when the IRA strikes it is political theater. Most of the time, the IRA is looking to do plenty of property damage with as few injuries as possible.

Plus, militant Irish Republicans aren't looking to meet 72 virgins in the afterlife. The bombers, from what I am hearing on TV, ran away.

Just a thought. I'm probably wrong. Ok, back to vacation.

UPDATE: Like I said, I'm probably wrong. This is a blog, remember?

Posted by: Rusty at 12:47 PM | Comments (18) | Add Comment
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Here's a followup to the timely entries from Howie and Mad Dog Vinnie. British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Australian Prime Minister John Howard spoke. The following is a paraphrasing of the news conference.

(Blair) I met with the police commissioner. We just need to act calmly. We hope to get the rest of the transport system up and running as soon as possible.

(Howard) Australia sympathizes with and supports the British people. Terrorism is the enemy of all free people.

The response of emergency services in London and Great Britain have been quite remarkable.

Reporters to Blair:

Question: What would you say to those who would not want to go into London?

"It's important that we keep to our normal lives."

Question: Who is responsible?

"The police are best to let you know who is responsible. Terrorist attacks are meant to frighten people. It's important we react calmly."

Question: Do you feel your policies have put us in this position?

The people responsible for doing this are responsible for this situation.

The roots of this are deep. Terrorist attacks go back over 10 years. What they want us to do is say we're responsible. The people that carry out these attacks are the terrorists.

Update at 11:22 EDT

Investigators apparently have found that the explosive device used on the bus in today's event is similar to that which was used in the terror bombings on July 7.

From Sky News:

There has also been an incident on a bus in Hackney, East London.

Police are reportedly examining a rucksack left on the top deck.

Tube stations at Warren Street, Oval and Shepherd's Bush have been closed.

Chemical searches at all four sites have proved negative.

Armed police officers have entered University College Hospital in Bloomsbury close to Warren Street station.

An internal memo to staff at the hospital warned them to be on the lookout for a black male, possibly of Asian origin, about 6ft 2ins tall, wearing a blue top with wires protruding from the rear of the top.

Across London, a man was arrested at gunpoint by armed police at the gates of Downing Street.

Companion post at Interested-Participant.

Posted by: Mike Pechar at 11:55 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Fox:

Sky News TV reported that police were searching for a man with a blue shirt with wires protruding. Officers asked employees to look for a black or Asian male, 6 feet 2 inches tall, wearing a blue top with a hole in the back and wires protruding.

Scotland Yard said there have been two arrests, one at Downing Street and one at greater Scotland Yard, but officials are stressing the arrests may not be related. There will be a police briefing at 12:30 p.m. EDT.

There was also an incident at 10 Downing Street, where the British prime minister's offices are located. Two police officers trained their guns on a man before leading him off the premises; his shirt was unbuttoned in the front.

Yup, just another isolated incident.

Posted by: Vinnie at 11:32 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Sketchy reports are coming in from London that several minor blast have occured one on a bus and the rest in outlying areas of the London tube system. The BBC is reporting the exposions were detonators only and lack the exposives needed to cause heavy damage. However there was some panic and there are reports of people being trampled trying to evacuate. Also reports of men threatening to blow themselves up and one man reported running from one of the trains just after the like I said minor explosion. The windows on the upper deck of one bus were blown out. Some lines have been closed. This attack came about midday in London. This is a developing story. Guest posters feel free to update this thread I will check back about 12:00 cdt. Also so far one minor injury had been reported.

Also see this story from sky news which has some more details including that police were also using chemical protection suits. It's not known at this time if that was just a precaution or if there was some other reason. I'm sure as the day goes by we will have a better idea of what has occured in London. My support goes out to all Brits.

Update:

An initial chemical search of all four sites has proved negative sky news is reporting.

The BBC reports that:

"Tests for chemical, biological and radiological weapons proved negative".

Posted by: Howie at 08:21 AM | Comments (25) | Add Comment
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Islamic terrorism is all because of Iraq, right? So, the problem is simple, the Islamists are only carrying out a troops-out movement, they're only demanding nothing more than a withdrawal from Afghanistan and Iraq and justice for the Palestinians?

If you buy this line, you must have never asked yourself "if Al Qaeda cares so much about Iraqi civilians then why is it killing so many of them, including children, through suicide bombings?" Or "why did the Madrid cell that staged last MarchÂ’s train bombings continue to plan attacks, even after SpainÂ’s new government had begun withdrawing from Iraq?" Why the bombing of a nightclub in Bali?

We conservatives should avoid hiding our heads in the sand and thinking that Iraq has nothing to do with terrorism, because it does. As Jonathan Freedland suggests in his article appearing in the Bahrain Tribune Daily, "Iraq’s connection to the London bombers is the obvious one: it has served to anger and radicalise a generation of young Muslims across the globe." However, Freedland reminds those that think it's all about Iraq, that "those who monitor Islamism in Britain say that the big surge in growth of extremist groups came not after 9/11 or Iraq but in the mid-1990s – with Bosnia serving as the recruiting sergeant. In the same period Chechnya, Kosovo and Israel-Palestine all came into play – again predating Iraq."

Iraq has been used as a rallying point for a plan that al-Qaeda was following with or without Iraq, and the terrorism was already occurring long before Iraq. All of us on both sides of the political spectrum need to recognize the role of Iraq in terrorism, but by no means is it all about Iraq. And damn it, there is never an excuse for terrorism in the mind of a rational human being. But, of course, we're not talking about rational human beings, we're talking about Islamofascists - Muslim extremists seeking to force all non-believers into submission under Islamic domination and rule, and under Islamic law.

From Freedland we are offered a credible explanation of what the Islamofascists are after, one that even the anti-war/anti-American mentor, Juan Cole, agrees with. Freedland suggests that "central to al-Qaeda's ideology is the "reint in Spain, Morocco, north Africa, Albania, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, as well as Pakistan, Indonesia and the Philippines." Al Qaeda' agenda predates and goes beyond Iraq. It seeks to end all western presence in those lands it deems Islamic, and place those lands "under Islamist rule as part of the yearned-for caliphate." It seeks to have all of these lands (perhaps only part of Spain), under the rule of Islamic law and the caliphate.

Rule all these lands under Islamic law and a long yearned-for caliphate? As Freedland concludes, "What it adds up to is a more mixed picture than either Blair (or the Bush administration) or the anti-war movement has allowed. Iraq has played a key part – of course it has – in angering large numbers of young Muslims, pulling them towards an extremist message once confined to the lunatic fringe. But that message is not only about Iraq, Afghanistan or even the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza – and we delude ourselves if we think it is."

But you say that Freedland is wrong, and the anti-war left is right, it's all about Iraq. So let's hear what Juan Cole, an anti-war mentor, a liberal Islamist-loving, anti-American, U of Michigan professor, has to say about the matter in the following excerpts from his piece, "Bin Laden's Vision Becoming Reality:" more...

Posted by: Richard@hyscience at 07:31 AM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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She doesn't know who she is...do you?

"Her name is Sophia Marleen Michl, she is now in Germany with her relatives."

Thanks Linda

Posted by: Vinnie at 03:54 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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In the time it took to write this post, Egypt could have denided that it's citzens were involved in at least three acts of terror. Becaus as we all know, Egyptians never are involved in terrorism. Especially not al Qaeda linked terrorism.

Lying pieces of shit.

Posted by: Rusty at 02:03 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Hey all, I made it to Kalifornia. It's still here. Seriously. All of it. The land of my birth. Kalifornia, uber alles (ten points for any punk-rocker-wannabe who can succesfully differentiate the major difference between the first version of the song just alluded to and the later remake).

Last night was spent at a Holiday Inn Express. Very nice. The pool was great and the people even more so for not laughing at my pasty-white skin. And you know the best part about staying at your average middle-class motor-lodge?

No European banana-slings around the water!!

Seriously, don't ever stay at a Hostel in the summer. Ever. The only thing worse than a twenty year-old German in a speedo and Birks are a 40 year-old German in a speedo and Birks.

Oh, and the difference between your upscale urban hotel and the hostel? The 40 year old German in the speedo and Birks is actually pretty thin, has a pony-tail, and has recently been bikini waxed.

If you're a red-state American, it's safer to stick with your freeway accesible motor lodge. more...

Posted by: Rusty at 01:59 AM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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DENVER (AP) - A few weeks ago, two police cars and two animal control vehicles pulled up at the home of Stef'ny Steffan looking for her beloved 4-year-old pit bull, Xena. Seven officers hauled the animal off to the city shelter, putting her on death row. Xena became an outlaw after Denver won a court fight and reinstated one of the toughest pit-bull bans in the nation.

Since May, more than 380 dogs have been impounded and at least 260 destroyed - an average of more than three a day.

Can you name another animal that's been known to kill humans, is hunted by the authorities, when caught is locked up, but, despite its viciousness, doesn't get the death penalty, unlike these dogs?

Yup, you guessed correctly. The Wild Jihadi.

Shouldn't the dogs get the ACLU lawyers and the terrorists get put to sleep?

(note: I have no opinion on the pit bull ban in Denver. I don't live there)

Post crossed at I Am A Shameless Link Whore er Vince Aut Morire

Posted by: Vinnie at 12:50 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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