19 of the suspects have been identified. Their financial assets have been frozen as part of the investigation. The scope and complexity are hallmarks of an al Qaeda operation, but that link hasn't been made definitively. The tip came on the heels of the 7/7/2005 London Tube bombing that killed 52 in London. The tip came from someone within the Muslim community who had suspicions about someone in their midst. Well, there's hope that the West can thwart these terror attacks if there are people within the Muslim community willing to out the extremists and jihadis in their midst.
Liquid explosives are a scary thought because most folks don't think of liquids as explosives. The terrorists were going to try and exploit that.
So what does the Left think of this plot? Well, they have predictably gone into complete Bush Derangement Syndome meltdown. They think that the Bush Administration is a political windfall. Actually, they characterize the mood in the White House as gleeful. Never mind the fact that the White House could breathe a sigh of relief that a mass casualty attack was avoided, there are political ramifications that do have to be addressed.
Well, if those terrorists succeeded, wouldn't the Democrats use that as political windfall to show how Bush failed again? Of course they would. The fact that this plot was thwarted does have a political dimension, and it does show how Democrats continue to be weak on national security. One of the methods used in thwarting this plot involved sneak and peak searches, which were authorized by the Patriot Act, and that Act was largely reviled by the Left and many Democrats.
Joe Lieberman was quick to seize on the issue as well. He lost the Connecticut Democrat primary by a 52-48 margin against Lamont, and used the arrests to hammer Lamont on his national security credentials - which are nonexistent. Ned Lamont wonders why he has to say something about the situation and recycles the usual anti-war talking points.
UPDATE:
Ace wonders about the specific intel gathering tools utilized to thwart the plot. Time Magazine has some details on the kinds of methods used in tracking terrorists. There are reports that one of the suspects met with UK Member of Parliment curious George Galloway, whose anti-Semitism, anti-US, Islamist sympathies, and anti-West positions are well known.
The Daily Mail reports that the attacks were scheduled to occur August 16. The youngest of the terror suspects taken into custody was a pregnant woman. ABC News notes that one person is missing from that list, a man has been identified as Don Stewart-Whyte, a 21 year old from High Wycombe who converted to Islam only a short time ago. Kim at Wizbang has the details.
UPDATE:
Allah's roundup at Hot Air notes some interesting connections and highly suggestive stuff. SWIFT gets a mention, as does more direct relationship between the folks captured in Britain and al Qaeda. One of the plotters was said to work at Heathrow. Well, if you want to infiltrate and avoid detection, getting someone on the inside is the way to do it. The go code appears to have come from an intercept in communications between Britain and Karachi, Pakistan.
Now, is there a connection to the US? There appear to be some communications between the UK and the US that appear suspicious.
ABC News is reporting that 10 planes would be attacked. Three terrorists on each plane would each carry liquid components that would be assembled on board the plane and then detonated with a jury rigged cellphone or other kind of electronic device. The explosive of choice? TATP.
Brendan Loy wonders if the August 22 date bandied about by the mad mullahs in Iran was the attack date. In light of the above, it seems unlikely. Still, it's worth pursuing whether Iran had any involvment in the current plot.
PJ Media has more.
UPDATE:
The arrest of a key terror figure in Pakistan appears to have been a big step in disrupting this terror plot. There are links to al Qaeda.
We're again witnessing how a small cadre of individuals are pushing this jihad against the West. Several members of Rauf's family were arrested in the process. Substantial sums of money were wired from Pakistan to the alleged ringleaders in Britain.
Pakistan said today that its security forces had arrested a "key person" in the alleged transatlantic terror plot, who is the brother of one of the 24 men held by police in a dramatic dawn swoop in the UK yesterday.
Rashid Rauf was arrested in the Punjab on Wednesday, hours before the simultaneous raids in Birmingham, Buckinghamshire and London that brought Britain’s airports to a standstill yesterday.
Among the two men arrested in Birmingham was Tayib Rauf, Mr Rauf’s brother.
In total, Pakistani security forces arrested seven people, including at least two British nationals, thought to be connected with the alleged plot to blow up US passenger jets heading from Britain to the United States.
John Reid, the Home Secretary, has said that the alleged plot could have been more destructive than 9/11 had it gone ahead.
A Pakistani Foreign Ministry statement named Mr Rauf as a "key person" in the plot and said that the arrests underscored "the very important role that has been played by Pakistan in breaking this international terrorist network".
Without elaborating, the Foreign Ministry said there were "indications of Afghanistan-based al-Qaeda connection".
And the media's reaction to this? Well, Brian Williams has no problem comparing US Armed Forces elite units like Special Forces, Army Rangers, or Navy SEALS to jihadis because they're willing to risk their lives for the cause. Democrats are claiming that the GOP is playing politics with national security. Of course, that's exactly what Democrats are trying to do - scoring points on the politics of national security, but let's let that slide.
I'd be more concerned that these terror plots go undiscovered or are busted after the fact. That means providing the kinds of tools law enforcement needs to disrupt these threats. It also means recognizing that while law enforcement is a part of the overall war against the jihadis, it is not the only part. Military action must be considered and used as necessary.
UPDATE:
Do Islamists have serious issues with women? It's been mentioned in the past, and it may simply be a coincidence that one of the people arrested in connection with the terror plot, David Stewart-Whyte, aka Abdul Waheed, happens to be the brother to a Victoria's Secret Model.
This plot was close to fruition, as the British authorities have uncovered a martyrdom video in one of the locations searched. That's a pretty good indication that they were indeed close to committing to the attacks.
Ace points out that Ray Robison, who's been busy translating the Iraqi intel files, has come across a potential link between one of the people implicated in the terror plot and Saddam Hussein. As Ace would say, it's all about the layers and nuance.
There are still at least 20 other suspects at large.
Technorati: airline bomb, terror, terrorism, heathrow, liquid explosive, al qaeda, scotland yard, tsa.
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