Bombs in Cargo Were Designed to Destroy Planes, U.S.Believes

[RamboLiberal]

Source: NY Times

John O. Brennan, the president’s chief counterterrorism adviser, said Sunday that American authorities believe now that the two bombs found inside cargo packages were designed to blow up the airplanes carrying them, even though they were addressed to locations “associated with synagogues” in Chicago.

“We’re looking at the potential that they would have been detonated en route to those synagogues aboard the aircraft as well as at the destinations,” he said in an interview on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “But at this point we, I think, would agree with the British that it looks as though they were designed to be detonated in flight.”

His analysis came as investigators on three continents conducted forensic studies of two bombs shipped inside computer printers from Yemen and intercepted Friday in Britain and Dubai. American officials said evidence was mounting that the top leadership of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, including the radical American-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, was behind the attempted attacks.

One of the bombs traveled on two passenger planes within the Middle East before arriving in Dubai. A spokesman for Qatar Airways said that the package arrived first at the Qatar Airways hub in Doha, Qatar, on one of the airline’s flights from the Yemeni capital of Sana. It was then shipped on a separate Qatar Airways passenger plane to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, where it was discovered by authorities late Thursday or early Friday.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/01/world/01terror.html?hp

[AwareOne]

1. The old October surprise

just before an election. Probably planted by Republican special ops. Why did they not explode? How were they found so efficiently? Meant to instill fear and emotional voting. Nice try but I don't buy this shit for a minute.

[RamboLiberal]

2. Nope - I think this plot is for real

Actually the Repukes haven't been playing the fear card on terrorism that much in this election. And the fact that these bombs were discovered is actually does not reflect badly on Obama's admin.

[Ruby the Liberal]

6. Agreed. It reflects (IMO) as a positive.

[hack89]

3. Why wouldn't a terrorist group try to infuence US elections?

is that the point of terrorism? To change your enemies actions, policies or perceptions?

[Ex Lurker]

9. It was explained to me that they are so far removed from American culture that

who wins elections is immaterial to them. Whether Democrat or Republican, America is the Great Satan. Their operations are a matter of opportunity, not timing.

[hack89]

18. They are college educated men well versed in Western culture

the 911 base of operations was Hamburg Germany while the hijackers sure seemed to have good understanding of American culture as they lived here for so long. They certainly had a good understanding of American culture when they picked their targets.

I tend to view them as intelligent and ruthless adversaries who are certainly sophisticated and capable enough to conceive a campaign that determines our weaknesses and then takes advantage of them. The African embassy bombings, the Cole attack and 911 are certainly proof that.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. No, not really, this was a test run

And yes there are people out there that want to kill you. This is part of a pattern going back at least nine months.

[grahamhgreen]

12. why would you test run a bomb - if they get it through, why not set it off?

[nadinbrzezinski]

20. These guys are seeing HOW to get one to the US

The system tripped before they got it through.

[ThoughtCriminal]

4. Are the terrorists stupid, or is this bogus?

I they meant to blow up planes, why would they create unnecessary suspicion by addressing them to synagogues? And how were they designed to be detonated?

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. Test run

Where exactly did the system trip?

And yes there are folks out there that want to kill you.

[ThoughtCriminal]

17. Maybe it tripped up when

Somebody noticed the shipping origin and destinations. Genius. This is like the part where the coyote suddenly remembers that the tunnel is only painted on the cliff wall or trying to get your rental deposit back from a truck you used as a bomb.

These guys must really miss the Bush administration.

[nadinbrzezinski]

22. Why do you think the adresses were that obvious?

You answered your own question.

[ThoughtCriminal]

23. The shipping address isn't obvious?

:eyes:

[Ruby the Liberal]

5. Anwar al-Awlaki had lunch in the Pentagon on 9/12/01

Multiple reports of that. Here is the leading google result, feel free to find your own: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1322397/Al-Qaedas-Anwar-Al-Awlaki-invited-Pentagon-lunch-9-11-attacks.html

Corruption at all levels.

[grahamhgreen]

10. The NEW boogyman - Osama is so one-president ago....

[grahamhgreen]

11. So, why didn't they blow the planes then? nt

[mn9driver]

13. The packages were addressed to US destinations

Very likely the intent was to use tracking software or a simple counting switch to make sure the aircraft were over, or at least approaching US soil when the bombs detonated. The level of sophistication of these devices is probably much higher than the counting altitude switch that brought down Pan Am 103.

[boppers]

16. The tracking software comes with the shipping system....

Every package shipped gets tracked at every major route, for both arrival and departure. Triggering (from what I've heard) was cell phone, so, wait until the plane leaves, gets over the pond, and then start auto-dialing the number. As soon as the plane drops low enough to get signal....

[winstars]

14. Test Run...

A friend who is in Federal law enforcement says they were testing our systems... Is he right??? I don't know, but he is plugged in...

[petronius]

15. I don't see how it makes any sense as a test or a dry run

If you get a bomb into the system, you set it off. If they wanted to just see if they could get bombs through, they would have addressed them to a destination where they could be retrieved - it sort of defeats the purpose of the test if everything works, and then someone calls the cops and says "Holy crap I got a bomb in the mail from Yemen!"

The only way this would be a test is if it was run by security services rather than terrorists...

[nalnn]

19. It seems

It seems a multi-functional attack to me. If the bombs fail or are detected, the bomber learns what not to do next time. Considering that these were active bombs on actual flights leads me to think that the bombers knew that a malfunction or detection might happen, but if it didn't fail or it wasn't detected...hundreds of dead infidels.

Also, according to the headlines today, if this guy truly is the one responsible, he's 0 for 3.

[nadinbrzezinski]

21. Yes. yes he is

[fedsron2us]

24. Meanwhile at Belfast International Airport

they have found a bomb that has been 'there for a year'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-11666461

but as it was only designed to kill preople in Northern Ireland and probably did not originate from some nebulous Islamic group it can not be deemed a threat to 'Western Civilisation As We Know It'. In fact it would probably have been ignored by the world media like all the other bombs planted in that part of the world recently if it could not be linked into the current round of air travel hysteria. Indeed, even the BBC now spends more time ramping the story about suspect packages being sent from Yemen to Chicago than worrying about domestic terrorists killing people in their own country.

We are all being played like a fiddle.