Captain's Quarters Blog


« When The Only Defense Is A Good Offense | Main | Washington Editorials On Bombing Plot: The Serious And The Silly »

August 11, 2006
A US Connection To British Airline Plot?

A British Muslim's concern about an acquaintance in the aftermath of the 7/7 bombings in London led authorities to uncover the massive plot against the UK's airline industry, the Washington Post reports this morning. The tip led investigators to Pakistan and back, and perhaps to the US:

It all began with a tip: In the aftermath of the July 7, 2005, suicide bombings on London's transit system, British authorities received a call from a worried member of the Muslim community, reporting general suspicions about an acquaintance.

From that vague but vital piece of information, according to a senior European intelligence official, British authorities opened the investigation into what they said turned out to be a well-coordinated and long-planned plot to bomb multiple transatlantic flights heading toward the United States -- an assault designed to rival the scope and lethality of the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackings. ...

A law enforcement bulletin issued Thursday by the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI described the conspiracy as "international in scope" but said there was no evidence that the plotters or any accomplices had set foot in the United States. "This plot appears to have been well planned and well advanced and in the final stages of preparation," the bulletin stated.

One U.S. intelligence source, however, said some of the British suspects arrested had made calls to the United States.

This last bit of information sounds intriguing. The question of American ties did come up yesterday, but the parameters of the plot appeared to indicate against it. The plan obviously intended to destroy the airplanes rather than use them as guided missiles, such as was done on 9/11. The flights involved mostly American carriers and American destinations, but it seems more likely that the terrorists would have detonated their explosives over the Atlantic rather than inside American borders, in order to cover the evidence that would reveal their tactics.

The terrorists would not have needed assistance from America in order to accomplish this. In fact, extraneous communication into the US would have increased the chances of exposure, and would have been avoided under rational leadership -- which I admit is a stretch. For those reasons, the initial statement of DHS and the FBI made sense. If Craig Whitlock and Dafna Linzer's source is correct, however, it points to a wider scope for this plot.

If the terrorists needed to make several calls into the US, then that points to some coordination, either logistically or operationally. It's hard to see what kind of logistical support they would have needed from the US. They got their money from Karachi, and if they needed assistance with the technology of the explosives, one assumes their Pakistani connections would have supplied it. Operational coordination strongly suggests that the plot had an American phase that has not yet been explained.

People have forgotten, or perhaps never knew, that the 9/11 attacks had a second phase overseas that never launched. Almost exactly a year ago, I wrote about the case of Mohammed Afroze, who received a seven-year sentence for his plot to kill Indians on 9/11. He led a cell of terrorists who planned to board several international flights and attack the Indian Parliament, Rialto Towers in Melbourne, and the House of Commons and Tower Bridge in London. The plot only failed after Afroze and his fellow terrorists lost their nerve at Heathrow and fled.

Al-Qaeda has tried making a global statement before. Perhaps they were trying to do so again.

Yesterday's quick response to the threat from the British plot won rare praise for the Department of Homeland Security. Their quick implementation of new security restrictions showed efficiency and flexibility, and at the moment was assumed to support the British in their efforts to secure international travel. If the Post is correct, DHS may have had more motivation in its efforts than reciprocity with the British.

Sphere It Digg! View blog reactions
Posted by Ed Morrissey at August 11, 2006 6:12 AM

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry is

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference A US Connection To British Airline Plot?:

» Defeating the Terror Menace from Cranial Cavity
It didn’t take long for the Defeatocrats to use yesterdays busted terror plot to their political advantage. Not surprising really, just extremely disappointing. The most common theme heard and championed by Sen. Harry Reid is our efforts in ... [Read More]

Tracked on August 11, 2006 6:25 AM

» CAIR, are you paying attention? from Darleen's Place
WaPo*It all began with a tip: In the aftermath of the July 7, 2005, suicide bombings on London's transit system, British authorities received a call from a worried member of the Muslim community, reporting general suspicions about an acquaintance. From... [Read More]

Tracked on August 11, 2006 9:23 AM

» CAIR, are you paying attention? from Darleen's Place
WaPo*It all began with a tip: In the aftermath of the July 7, 2005, suicide bombings on London's transit system, British authorities received a call from a worried member of the Muslim community, reporting general suspicions about an acquaintance. From... [Read More]

Tracked on August 11, 2006 9:24 AM

» Tip Followed '05 Attacks on London Transit from Don Singleton
We need more such tips. Thank you. And thank God. [Read More]

Tracked on August 11, 2006 11:03 AM

» The Latest On The London Airline Plot from Flopping Aces
All the while the left is onto another conspiracy….mainly that these arrests were engineered by Bush, Cheney and Rove because Lieberman lost. It’s so dumbfoundingly ignorant that I have trouble believing they actually believe this, but as we h... [Read More]

Tracked on August 11, 2006 1:03 PM

>Comments


Design & Skinning by:
m2 web studios





blog advertising



button1.jpg

Proud Ex-Pat Member of the Bear Flag League!