Terrorists Botch Attacks on Britain

British police this morning are holding at least 7 individuals in relation to two car bombs found and made safe in London last week as well as a failed suicide car bombing of Glasgow’s airport. The UK’s terror threat level remains at its highest, “critical.” Nevertheless, it appears that the plotters are inept and that they have shot their bolt. Worse for them, they were all taken alive and the two car bombs never exploded, and that means a huge intelligence jackpot for the good guys.

Much has been made in the media about potential Al Qaeda ties versus homegrown terrorism in this recent attempted attack. Yet, what is most troubling is the fact that at least two of the seven held are medical doctors, individuals whose professional oath begins with “first, do no harm.” However, it appears that training in medical school doesn’t extend to making car bombs because the would-be attackers couldn’t make their cars go boom. Tennis went on at Wimbledon, the Concert for Diana echoed at Wembley, and golf at the Old Course continued as it has for centuries. To keep this in perspective, two men were killed near on the Coalburn Road, in Coalburn, South Lanarkshire, near Glasgow when their car hit a tree Saturday; no one died at the airport, not even the guy who poured gasoline on himself and lit it.

The British authorities have everything they need to wrap up this ugly little cell and its contacts overseas, if any. They have the cars, the phone records (clearly the terrorists never saw a mafia movie; always use a payphone to keep things secret), the bombs themselves, and seven amateurs who are probably talking even now. As a result, this attack probably did the Al Qaeda wannabes more harm than good, providing more data for the authorities to analyze.

In Scotland, the Muslim population has been pretty moderate over the years, and this week-end proved no different. Osama Saeed, Scottish spokesman for the Muslim Association of Britain, told the BBC, “There has not been a peep of extremism in Scotland to date. You hear about individuals and groups in London and elsewhere in England, but there has been no presence of this here. There are two things that the Muslim community can continue to do. Make it clear that there is no theological justification for these acts, which we have done repeatedly and loudly. Secondly, to report any suspicious activity, which again there has been no complacency about. We urge full support for our security services, and also pay tribute to the work of the emergency services.” He sounds as Scottish as any Mac.

There is a beautiful word in the Scottish variety of the English language, “numpty.” Its synonyms include: idiot, pratt, wally, fool, and knucklehead. This is what the UK seems to face in the post 7/7 terror world. The desire to harm the good people of London and Glasgow wasn’t coupled with any real ability to do so in the last few days. Instead, there are a few numpties running about making life awkward, but not lethally so, for the rest.

© Copyright 2007 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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