lurkitty

As I was hopping back and forth between activities at a conference this weekend, the breaking stories were the bombs in London and the attack on the Glasgow airport.

I was very disappointed that, before any evidence was released, CNN was reporting a link to Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda is the current bogeyman. They're hiding under your bed, and the instant that anything untoward happens, Al Qaeda is blamed.

Right now, some are calling the persons arrested "middle eastern", while witnesses to the arrests are on record as describing them as "asian" - which is used in Britain to refer to people from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Consider the fact there are widespread protests in Pakistan due to the Knighting of Salman Rushdie. Quoting from the Asian Tribune Article:

"In neighbouring Pakistan a near hysteria has been created against knighthood for Salman Rushdie. Both Houses of Pakistan Parliament (national assembly) have passed resolutions against the knighthood, as have the state assemblies. Effigies of the Queen and the Union Jack have been burnt all across the country, including its so-called cultural capital, Lahore.

Speaking in the national assembly, a federal minister, who is also the son of a former military dictator, Gen Zia-ul-Haq, justified terrorism in the name of religion and incited people in his country to carry out suicide attacks. His words must have worried the present military dictator enough for their impact on Pakistan’s already sullied image to force the egregious Pakistani minister to issue a ‘clarification’. "

Another statement that aroused concern was by Pakistan's religious affairs minister, Mohammad Ejaz-ul-Haq. According to Asia Media, he said, "If someone commits suicide bombing to protect the honor of the prophet Mohammad, his act is justified." They reported that he "later retracted his statement, saying he was not looking to incite suicide bombing but explaining that knighting Rushdie could foster extreme actions."


Despite these very specific threats, there has been no speculation about links to the Pakistani protests. CNN is still reporting that it is an "Al Qaeda-linked group" (sorry, no link yet as transcripts have not been published). The only "evidence" cited in the Al Qaeda speculation is that Al Qaeda has used linked car bombs - where one small bomb goes off to get gawkers out into the street, then a second, larger bomb goes off to kill them. It is speculated that the two cars seized in London were linked bombs.

The fact that the US has not raised its security level lends credence to that idea that this is an attack directed toward the UK, not one directed toward the "allies" in Iraq.

The rush to judgement does not serve us well. Speculation about links to Al Qaeda should not be raised by news organizations unless there is proof. The police investigation will show soon enough who was or was not involved. Instead of trying to scoop other news organizations, reporters should be circumspect in their speculations until the evidence is reviewed.

While thousand of airline passengers are being made to dump liquids and gels at airports around the world because of a planned terrorist attack based in London, some very odd circumstances have occurred a bit closer to home with little fanfare.

In the sleepy capitol city of Oregon, Salem, someone is apparently attempting to attach pipe bombs to cars.

Several things are quite strange about this story. Two of the bombs have been found wired to SUVs, one in Salem, and one in nearby Dallas, OR. Two were found lying in the street, as though they had fallen off. In fact, when the woman driving the Salem SUV found the bomb on her vehicle, she found wires attached to her side mirror. She pulled at the, and the pipe fell off and rolled away.

It seems the perpetrator is somewhat...unskilled. It would almost be comedic save that we are speaking of live bombs that could have gone off. Officials have not released details about how they might be detonated, but have noted that they are, indeed, bombs.

Another thing I find strange about this is that I only learned about it because my sister works for the state. An email was distributed to state workers telling them to search under their cars when parked in Salem parking lots. There have been a few local news articles, but the larger Portland news organizations have spent little time covering this story. I guess domestic terrorism in the Capitol City is not a priority.

My ex got the SUV in the settlement. I called and warned him as soon as I found out.