London Car Bomb a "non-incident" to Some [Updated]

Haymarket, where the first bomb was found, by Snapperjack

With all the attention given to the latest London bomb plot in the media right now, its easy to forget that in Iraq, car bombs are a daily occurrence. And ones that are defused before they go off are hardly a blip on the radar these days. Just two days ago, one VBIED (vehicle borne improvised explosive device) killed 22 people, and earlier this month, another killed 60. And in addition to these more spectacular incidents reported by the major media, every day there are at least 5-10 car bombs either detonated or found in the country that go unnoticed.

Still, I think everyone would agree that regardless of how they are reported, attempted acts of terrorism are not a joke and should be taken seriously.

Well - almost everyone thinks that. Some see a big joke of a conspiracy behind all this...

Larry C. Johnson, a former CIA and State Department employee, the CEO of Berg Associates, and a self-styled expert on terrorism, has made a career out of trivializing terror fears as much as possible. Now, he thinks the bomb plot was a "crock of crap", a non-incident hyped up by the media, encouraged by the US and UK governments. In his rush attempt to downplay this incident as much as possible, this "expert" actually confuses "gas" (meaning propane gas) with "gasoline". Somehow, no one told him that the British instead use the word "petrol" when referring to car fuel.

This display of ignorance also appeared on the Daily Kos (as a recommended Diary) and Democratic Underground. What's sad is that there are a lot of commenters that agree with him, including, of course, the standard conspiracy theory that the "CIA did it".

He also says he hopes the culprits are caught before they "hurt themselves". No mention that many other people were in the line of fire. Some of us are not terribly concerned for the safety of terrorists out to kill innocent people.

Incidentally, this is the same guy that once wrote this for the New York Times:

Judging from news reports and the portrayal of villains in our popular entertainment, Americans are bedeviled by fantasies about terrorism. They seem to believe that terrorism is the greatest threat to the United States and that it is becoming more widespread and lethal. They are likely to think that the United States is the most popular target of terrorists. And they almost certainly have the impression that extremist Islamic groups cause most terrorism.

The date? It was July, 2001. Just two months before the attacks of 9/11.

But even people ignorant of the current issues are entitled to their uninformed opinions. What's scary is that this man claims that he still advises the US government on terrorism, writes for various publications, has appeared on news programs, and has testified in front of congress.

Unlike armchair warriors like Mr. Johnson, I have directly seen the aftermath of VBIEDs firsthand on two occasions. One of which went off just down the street from me exactly one year ago to this very day. It targeted Iraqi troops at a checkpoint, but fortunately, didn't kill anyone but the driver. It also wasn't very large; in other words, a "crock of crap" by Mr. Johnson's standards. But if it didn't go off prematurely it would have killed a lot of people. Image is to the right, I made it small here on purpose. If you click on it, you will see more detail, but I caution that it is very graphic, body parts and all.

Update 06/30/2007 08:58:00 PM: A burning jeep has crashed into Glasgow airport with two "asian" suspects were arrested. Most likely, this was another car bomb that malfunctioned, originally timed to go off simultaneously with the bombs in London.

Mr. Johnson appeared last night on Keith Olbermann's show calling these "non bombs" and claiming there would be no danger from shrapnel. I can't believe this man is on television. What did he think the nails are for? I do agree with him when he says media coverage is skewed; a bomb in London gets far more coverage than one in Iraq. But he also contradicts himself here, claiming that the London bombs were a non-event, but then also claiming this put to lie the theory that we are fighting terrorists in Iraq so we don't have to fight them over here. So which is it? Was this terrorism or not?

Also, for the most complete coverage of this event, The Counterterrorism Blog has a wealth of material on this incident.



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