U.K. Crash Seen Linked to London Bombs
By IAN STEWART
The Associated Press
Saturday, June 30, 2007; 5:10 PM

GLASGOW, Scotland — A Jeep Cherokee trailing a cascade of flames rammed into Glasgow airport on Saturday, shattering glass doors just yards from passengers lined up at the check-in counters. Police said they believed the attack was linked to two car bombs found in London the day before.

Britain raised its terror alert to “critical” the highest possible level and the Bush administration announced plans to increase security at airports and on mass transit.

One of the men in the car was in critical condition at a hospital with severe burns, while the other was in police custody, said Scottish Police Chief Constable Willie Rae. He said a “suspect device” was found on the suspect at the hospital and it was taken to a safe location where it was being investigated.

Rae would not comment further on the device or say whether it could have been a planned suicide attack.

“I can confirm that we believe the incident at Glasgow airport is linked to the events in London yesterday,” Rae said. “There are clearly similarities and we can confirm that this is being treated as a terrorist incident.”

Complete Article
Source: Washington Post
More At: New York Times, Fox News, Reuters

Common Sense Analysis: These attacks appear to be coordinated, however they are pretty pitiful in execution. I would guess that the terrorist group that the perpetrators belong to had little, if any control over the attempted (and one partially successful) attacks. Comments from British Security note that the bombs in the two Mercedes were not made by professionals, and comments from Counter-Terrorist professionals note the lack in planning efforts. Clearly this isn’t the work of well trained trained terrorists.

We can only hope and pray that no attacks are in store for America, especially with our 231st Fourth of July approaching.  For a terrorist there may be a certain feeling attached to that date (like how 9/11 uses the same numbers as the emergency number 911).

Apparently, a second car bomb was discovered by British authorities. The second car was parked just around the corner from the first and also contained explosives. Thank God both bombs were found and hopefully there are no more that they’ve missed.

More at: Washington Post, USA Today, FoxNews

British Police Defuse Car Bomb in London
By Mary Jordan and Debbi Wilgoren
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, June 29, 2007; 9:18 AM

LONDON, June 29 — A Mercedes packed with canisters of gas and nails and apparently rigged to explode was discovered in London’s bustling nightclub and theater district early Friday morning, British police said, and could have caused “significant injury or loss of life” if it had been detonated.

Police defused the bomb and launched a massive investigation into what security officials said was presumed to be an attempted terror attack. The probe will include reviewing huge amounts of footage from the closed-circuit cameras that ring the Haymarket area, close to Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square.

Peter Clarke, the head of London’s anti-terrorist police, said authorities did not have intelligence ahead of time of an attack specifically targeting the area, which would have been crowded with theater-goers, nightclub patrons and tourists. But he said police have disrupted other attacks aimed at nightclubs and involving vehicles filled with flammable liquids.

“It’s too early to speculate” who may have been responsible for the bomb, Clarke said in a news conference. “I’m keeping an entirely open mind about that.”

Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who took office this week, said the incident underscored the need for constant vigilance by both the public and the police. “The first duty of a government is the security of its people,” Brown said. “We face a serious and considerable security threat throughout the country.”

Complete Article
Source: Washington Post
More at: BBC News, USA Today, New York Times

Common Sense Analysis: I think if this shows us anything, it shows that the threat of terrorism is still real to the Western World. I hope we take a lesson from this before they get back over to us.

“Six-Year-Old Afghan Boy Foils Taliban Plot to Use Him in Suicide Attack on Americans
Associated Press

FORWARD OPERATING BASE THUNDER, Afghanistan — The story of a 6-year-old Afghan boy who says he thwarted an effort by Taliban militants to trick him into being a suicide bomber provoked tears and anger at a meeting of tribal leaders.

The account from Juma Gul, a dirt-caked child who collects scrap metal for money, left American soldiers dumbfounded that a youngster could be sent on such a mission. Afghan troops crowded around the boy to call him a hero.

Though the Taliban dismissed the story as propaganda, at a time when U.S. and NATO forces are under increasing criticism over civilian casualties, both Afghan tribal elders and U.S. military officers said they were convinced by his dramatic account.

Juma said that sometime last month Taliban fighters forced him to wear a vest they said would spray out flowers when he touched a button. He said they told him that when he saw American soldiers, “throw your body at them.”

The militants cornered Juma in a Taliban-controlled district in southern Afghanistan’s Ghazni province. Their target was an impoverished youngster being raised by an older sister — but also one who proved too street-smart for their plan.”

Complete Article
Source: Fox News

Common Sense Analysis: My favorite part of this article is when the Taliban spokesman claims the Taliban would never use children because it is against International Law. I actually laughed out loud; it would be illegal to use suicide bombers to kill civilians whether they were children or adults.

Finally we see some resistance to these evil terrorists. I hope the people of the middle east realize the terrible toll that terrorism has on their life and stand up against it.

In the wake of the VA Tech tragedy; we have seen how easy it was for the shooter to buy his mass-murder weapon. It hurts us that somebody so mentally disturbed can even touch a gun not to mention use it. Perhaps, if guns weren’t legal then we could easily avoid such a tragedy in the future. Right?

Wrong. It is as simple as the say ‘Guns don’t kill people, people kill people’. This simple phrase sums it up nicely: The gun doesn’t actually kill anyone, it just enables people to kill in a different way. People killed long before guns and people would still kill after they are (if they ever) taken away. Nut-job killers will just have to find a new way to kill people.

Now for a history lesson. The framers intended for us to have guns; they even say so in the second amendment. Why? Well, our country wouldn’t have ever started if it wasn’t for the fact that Americans had guns to fight the British with. We would still be British if it wasn’t for those guns. Furthermore, our founders believed that it was our right to abolish governments that stood in the way of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. They say so in the Declaration of Independence: “…that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government…” It becomes very clear that they want us to have guns for our own good; to over throw our government when it begins to oppress.

Let’s consider this for a second. We outlaw guns right now… no citizens have them, however our military and police forces do. Right now, we can consider these forces friendly but what happens in 150 years when the government begins to oppress Americans. Perhaps they even harm us. We have no way to overthrow the government as the founders wanted and we have no way to protect ourselves from our government. Sounds like a terrible situation to me.

If we outlaw guns, will criminals (law breakers) stop using them? NO, of course not: they are law breakers and WILL break the law. They just will have to get their guns from Mexico or other sources which presents two big problems for America. One, we won’t have any record of these guns. When a criminal uses them in a murder, we won’t be able to identify the gun killed the victim and the person who actually committed the crime. And two, criminals will still have guns however law abiding Americans won’t have the right to have a gun for protection. What I mean to say is that currently, criminals have to play it safe not know if the person they are about to rob has a handgun in her jacket or a gun in his shoe. They have to guess and hope; they don’t have the guarantee of safety. Make them certain of what they are doing and they will be almost unstoppable.

What happens to all the guns currently in possession? Lots of professional and amateur hunters spend quite a lot of money on guns. Are we just to force these people to throw away items that they paid quite a bit of money for? What about those people who have guns passed down as family heirlooms? Are we to expect them to throw away something that has been in their family possession for ages?

What happens to the deer population? It is already exploding, I’d hate to see what would happen if we took away all the hunters that are keeping them in check. Our society would experience more car crashes with deer meaning higher costs (insurance) and more fatal accidents.

What would we do with the people that we put of a job? Many, many people make a living off of things relating to the gun industry. Are we really willing to allow these people to lose their jobs?

After examining the issue (and hopefully covering everything), I think that it is pretty safe to say that completely removing guns from our society would be a harmful thing. It would be expensive, it would be economically harming, it would have a small effect on crime, and it would put in a bad place if we ever need to have a change of regime right here in our own country.