London Car Bomb Attack Foiled

[Regis Philbin]

This is part of John Edwards' "bumper sticker" war. There is no war on terror, the Breck Girl tells us. Tell that to Londoners, Breck Girl. :redmad:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/06/29/london.alert/index.html

Two explosive-laden cars in London linked

POSTED: 5:46 p.m. EDT, June 29, 2007

Story Highlights

• Anti-terror chief: "These vehicles are clearly linked"
• Two vehicles loaded with fuel and nails safely removed
• Police hunt driver who abandoned explosives-packed car outside nightclub
• Bomb could have resulted in serious loss of life, anti-terror chief says

LONDON, England (CNN) -- A vehicle containing fuel, gas canisters and nails found early Friday near Trafalgar Square is "clearly linked" to another explosives-packed car found outside a nightclub near Piccadilly Circus, Metropolitan Police said.

A "considerable" amount of fuel and gas canisters, along with a "substantial quantity of nails," was found in the blue Mercedes 280E, said Peter Clarke, Metropolitan Police deputy assistant commissioner.

He called the discovery of the second bomb "troubling," but urged the public to remain vigilant and report suspicious behavior to authorities.

The second vehicle was ticketed about 2:30 a.m. Friday (9:30 p.m. Thursday ET), Clarke said. It was near Trafalgar Square, roughly a half-mile from where the first vehicle -- also a Mercedes -- had been found about an hour earlier.

About 3:30 a.m., Clarke said, the Mercedes was taken to an impound lot in Hyde Park. Security sources earlier told CNN that workers who towed it thought the car smelled of gasoline, and became suspicious because of the reports that gasoline was among the explosive materials found in the first vehicle.

Clarke said the second device, like the first, was "potentially viable" but was rendered safe by police explosives officers.

"These vehicles are clearly linked," he said.

[Regis Philbin]

U.S. Democrats would have said this warning was just the Bush Administration trying to keep us scared and keep us supporting the "bumber sticker" War on Terror if it happened here (Breck Girl). Turns out they were right...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article2007873.ece

Nightclub bomb alert issued two weeks ago

Stewart Tendler, Michael Horsnell and Adam Fresco

Nightclubs across Britain were warned they could be terrorist targets just days before yesterday’s attempted double car-bomb attack in London, The Times has learnt.

Two cars packed with petrol, nails and “patio gas” canisters were left primed to wreak destruction among London clubbers making their way home after a Thursday night out. Only the vigilance and courage of ambulancemen and police officers prevented massive loss of life.

One car, a pale green Mercedes, had been left outside the Tiger Tiger nightclub in Haymarket. A second, a blue Mercedes, was left a few hundred yards away in Cockspur Street, a busy thoroughfare close to Trafalgar Square. This vehicle was towed away at 3:30am on Friday to an car pound on Park Lane by unsuspecting parking officials.

Had either device gone off it would have generated a huge fireball and a shockwave spreading over 400 yards in all directions. If, as suspected, one had been primed to detonate before the other, people fleeing the first blast could have been caught by the second.

Yesterday a hunt began for the drivers of the two vehicles, and footage from dozens of CCTV cameras in the area between Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square was being examined. The discovery of the bombs confirmed the fears of counterterrorism chiefs, that al-Qaeda would bring Iraq-style tactics to Britain.

The drama came as it emerged that a 53-page document alerting businesses to the threat posed by VBIEDs — vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices — had been issued to police two weeks ago. It had been passed on to the Tiger Tiger club only a few days before yesterday’s events.

[LesterX]

This is part of John Edwards' "bumper sticker" war. There is no war on terror, the Breck Girl tells us. Tell that to Londoners, Breck Girl.

Thanks for showing us once again that you have no ability to comprehend what is being said. John Edwards has not said that terrorism is not an issue, which is what you are implying by this ridiculous comment. I'm assuming Rush came up with the "Breck Girl" nickname since God knows you couldn't have done so yourself. It just goes to show that Rush's "talent" is in appealing to grown men's inner 10 year-old.

Here is what John Edwards has to say on the subject of terrorism:

As we all saw six years ago, on September 11, America's greatness alone does not protect us from very real threats.

At that moment, the president could have sent a message of swift justice but also moral leadership. He could have told us where destroying Al Qaeda fit into the broader challenges America faces in the new century. He could have asked all Americans to sacrifice in this new struggle, inviting a hopeful new era of citizenship as the ultimate answer to the terrorists' cynical, evil attack.

But he didn't. Instead, he adopted the most short-sighted, ideological policies available. His strategy has put severe strain on our military... tarnished our moral standing in the eyes of the world... and emboldened our enemies.

It is now clear that George Bush's misnamed "war on terror" has backfired—and is now part of the problem.

The war on terror is a slogan designed only for politics, not a strategy to make America safe. It's a bumper sticker, not a plan. It has damaged our alliances and weakened our standing in the world. As a political "frame," it's been used to justify everything from the Iraq War to Guantanamo to illegal spying on the American people. It's even been used by this White House as a partisan weapon to bludgeon their political opponents. Whether by manipulating threat levels leading up to elections, or by deeming opponents "weak on terror," they have shown no hesitation whatsoever about using fear to divide.

But the worst thing about this slogan is that it hasn't worked. The so-called "war" has created even more terrorism—as we have seen so tragically in Iraq. The State Department itself recently released a study showing that worldwide terrorism has increased 25% in 2006, including a 40% surge in civilian fatalities.

By framing this as a "war," we have walked right into the trap that terrorists have set—that we are engaged in some kind of clash of civilizations and a war against Islam...

http://johnedwards.com/news/speeches/20070523-cfr/index.html