Explosion in London this morning

[Diogo Ribeiro]

Chimps?

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Ready to kick ass and chew bananas. Unfortunately for us, they're fresh out of bananas.

[Darth Flatus]

They have banana clips and dynamite sticks.

[SteveThaiBinh]

Chimps? Are they protesting that speed banana-eating won't be an official Olympic event?

[Diogo Ribeiro]

Apparently the blasts were in four separate tube lines. Coupled with the reports of an exploding bus, it's looking less and less like power surges. Unless power surges are now sentient and able to move around.

[SteveThaiBinh]

I'm hardly suprised at this events.....UK is one of the most active country in the "anti-terrorist coalition", UK has troops in Iraq.......come on people. This wasn't the question of -if- but -when-.

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I know. To be honest, a lot of people were expecting this earlier, during the general election. London's had plenty of terrorist attacks in the past from the IRA, so they're well prepared.

[EnderAndrew]

I'm still blaming Baley.

[Kaftan Barlast]

Theyve counted six separate explosions so there is really no doubt of a Terrorist attack anymore. Intentionally timed with todays G8 summit in Scotland.

[EnderAndrew]

I agree. People don't understand that.

 

Right now Americans are outraged that the FBI can track people without warrants.

 

I think it's fine. They need a warrant for court admissable evidence, but knowing which people to keep an eye on initially is a big thing. In the US, we are a country of 300 million people. We can't keep an eye on everyone, and every place at once. There are plenty of reports that would suggest we even knew that terroists planned to fly planes into the WTC and we couldn't stop it because we didn't know who or when.

[Kaftan Barlast]

What the intelligence servicves need is a faster beurocracy and the ability to cooperate with eachother, not more ways in which to infringe on peoples rights and privacy.

[EnderAndrew]

Well, the Patriot Act allowed the CIA, FBI and NSA to cooperate with each other, but the entirety of the Patriot Act is being appealed due to the bad press it got, not really because of what the Patriot Act says.

[SteveThaiBinh]

We will see whether this kind of surveillance would have helped in this case. The problem is always that governments propose these intrusive measures, but when you examine their specific proposals and compare them with past attacks, they wouldn't have had any effect. This is happening right now in the UK over the plan to introduce compulsory identity cards.

 

Now they're evacuating stations in Swindon and Brighton. Hopefully this is just a precaution, but the attacks might be headed outside London.

[EnderAndrew]

As far as CNN is reporting, there are no known deaths. Are UK radio stations reporting any deaths yet?

[213374U]

I'm hardly suprised at this events.....UK is one of the most active country in the "anti-terrorist coalition", UK has troops in Iraq.......come on people. This wasn't the question of -if- but -when-.

Oh?

 

When the Madrid train bombings happened, it was proven that planning for the attacks had begun long before the war. Everyone blamed the current government for supporting the US and their war, even though originally the attacks had nothing to do with that.

 

Don't be so quick to "point the obvious".

[SteveThaiBinh]

As far as CNN is reporting, there are no known deaths.  Are UK radio stations reporting any deaths yet?

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Several independent eye-witnesses report having seen bodies, and the radio has broadcast this with caveats, but neither the police, London Transport nor the government have made any statements about deaths yet.

[EnderAndrew]

I was hoping that wasn't the case.

[Diogo Ribeiro]

I heard there were two confirmed victims. Also, the explosions seemed to have occured in six tube lines, along with three buses.

[213374U]

I wasn't saying that UK's involvment in Iraq is the main reason, just one of them....

Osama threatened the UK that is going to get punished because of its actions, including the invasion of Iraq, if this was Al-Qaida or a group connected with them.

Yeah, well. I still think it's a bit early to start pointing fingers.

[Darth Flatus]

..very early.

 

I would hope that the usual suspects dont use this thread as a platform to further their "anti war" bandwagon.

 

This isnt really the time and the place - there are more immediate and local concerns.

[Darth Launch]

The BBC's Frank Gardner said Arab sources said the blasts were probably the work of al-Qaeda but police have not confirmed a terrorist link.

 

I hope we're not under a terrorist attack, because, quite frankly, the whole terrorist thing is getting quite old quite fast and I'm far from amused... <_<

 

I send my prayers and wishes for those injured...

 

DL

[Darth Flatus]

Its official, Blair is calling it a terrorist attack - oh crap.

[213374U]

Here we go again.

[SteveThaiBinh]

I would hope that the usual suspects dont use this thread as a platform to further their "anti war" bandwagon.

 

This isnt really the time and the place - there are more immediate and local concerns.

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I think if people want to make points linking the war in Iraq with increasing international terrorism, that's fine. There are some valid arguments to be made there. But let's try to avoid the whole thread being dominated by detailed pro vs anti war arguments. I hope that's the point Darth Flatus was trying to make.

 

Blair has said it's a terrorist attack, so it's only a matter of time before someone claims responsibility, I suppose. The radio is making an unconfirmed report that the bus explosion was a suicide bomber, which would be the first suicide bombing ever in the UK.

[Walsingham]

Hildegaard, stop talking arse. Just because someone doesn't agree with you doesn't mean they don't see "the Big Picture".

 

Al Qaeda:

 

Al Qaeda don't give a stuffed crust weasel whether we are in Iraq or not. They made an explicit aim of killing any and all persons civilian or military, who oppose them years ago. Read their own intentions. They have no lesser goal than a global Islamic Ummah (read religious fascism), and they believe they can get it through causing sufficient chaos and bringing down the Western Allies. They aren't interested in negotiation except where it spread discord and confusion.

 

Also:

 

No-one has mentioned that it could be our very own homegrown Anarchists. Anarchists were the first urban terrorists in History, and I noticed during the Gleneagles fighting that they were waving around flags of Chairman Mao - terrorist poster-child and grand strategist.

 

~~~

 

The forensics on the explosives will answer most of the questions.

 

~~~

 

Good point Steve. I promise to keep quiet.

[Darth Flatus]

That was my point Steve, cheers. I only phrased it like that because it was Hildy that cast the first stone. I just dont see the point of saying what amounts to a big fat "i told you so"

 

Lets just hope that the death toll doesnt rise.

 

 

Edit: Good points walsingham (although ummah means state but i get what you mean)

 

Remember we dont know who did this, yet.

[Wally Martin]

No matter the cause, the reason, or those responsible for it:

My condolences go out to all affected by the explosions.

 

I know there will be a large handful of Americans that may not even here about it or even care, but I personally will be glued to the TV at least for a while.