Here we go again....

[Gob]

The UK terror threat has been increased to its highest level as police continue the hunt for the person behind the Tube bombing in south-west London.

The prime minister said the threat was now critical, meaning an attack is expected imminently, after a device was detonated at Parsons Green station.

Police said some 1,000 armed officers would be seen across the country after military assistance was requested.

So-called Islamic State has said it was behind the attack, which injured 29.

Mrs May said the military would be providing support to police and would replace officers on guard duty at national infrastructure sites that are not accessible to the public.

Police Scotland said it would be increasing the number of armed officers on patrol, particularly at key locations and crowded places.

[dales]

How to anger our closest ally:

Trump's tough talk on London bomb irks British leader


Catherine Lucey, Associated Press Updated 4:39 pm, Friday, September 15, 2017

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's suggestion that London police could have done more to prevent Friday's homemade bomb explosion drew a quick rejoinder from British Prime Minister Theresa May, who said it's never helpful "to speculate on what is an ongoing investigation."

Trump turned the London subway bomb explosion into an opportunity to highlight his tough talk on terror and promote his travel ban.

The president's series of early-morning tweets about the still-unfolding investigation stood in contrast to his delay last month in firmly condemning Neo-Nazis and white supremacists after racial violence broke out in Charlottesville, Virginia, and left one person dead. At the time, he said: "When I make a statement, I like to be correct. I want the facts. ... I don't want to rush into a statement."


The London bomb exploded on a packed train during morning rush hour Friday, leaving at least 29 people injured but no one with life-threatening injuries. Police said the explosion was a terrorist attack, the fifth in Britain this year.

On Twitter, Trump called the explosion another attack "by a looser terrorist." He also offered implied criticism of law enforcement, saying "these are sick and demented people who were in the sights of Scotland Yard. Must be proactive!"

Asked about Trump's comments, May said, "I never think it's helpful for anybody to speculate on what is an ongoing investigation."

Trump told reporters Friday morning that he had been briefed on the explosion, but did not provide further details."I think he means generally that this kind of activity is what we are trying to prevent," McMaster said.
The White House said Trump and May spoke Friday. White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump's tweet "may have come up" but gave no further detail.

At an event at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, Trump said he offered prayers for London and said "radical Islamic terrorism it will be eradicated, believe me."

As a candidate, Trump routinely railed against President Barack Obama and Democratic campaign rival Hillary Clinton for failing to use the phrase "radical Islamic terrorism." He has used the phrase more sparingly since taking office, avoiding it during his remarks on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Trump also used the moment to argue on Twitter that his travel ban targeting six mostly Muslim nations should be "far larger, tougher and more specific - but stupidly, that would not be politically correct!"

And Trump promoted his handling of extremist militants, saying the government should cut off internet access for such groups.

"Looser terrorists must be dealt with in a much tougher manner. The internet is their main recruitment tool which we must cut off & use better!" he wrote on Twitter. He argued that his administration has "made more progress in the last nine months against ISIS than the Obama Administration has made in 8 years."
Trump concluded, "Must be proactive & nasty!"

The president has used attacks before to argue for his ban and to lob trans-Atlantic criticism.
After attacks in the London Bridge in June that claimed seven lives, he said on Twitter: "We need the courts to give us back our rights. We need the Travel Ban as an extra level of safety!"

The president also has had dust-ups with allies over the use of intelligence.

May protested to Trump after U.S. officials leaked information about a deadly bombing in Manchester in May.

Photos showing crime scene evidence appeared in U.S. media; the bombing suspect's name was revealed while British officials were still withholding it. Trump said May was "very angry" over the leaks.

Around that time, the president himself came under fire for reportedly disclosing classified material gathered by close ally Israel. Trump shared the information with Russian officials in an Oval Office meeting.

[Lord Jim]

London Underground blast: Second man arrested in connection to terrorist attack

A second man has been arrested by detectives investigating Friday's terrorist attack at Parsons Green, which left 30 people injured when a homemade bomb exploded during peak hour.
Key points:

The 21-year-old was arrested in the suburb of Hounslow in London's west just before midnight (local time), the Metropolitan Police force said in a statement.

He was detained under Britain's Terrorism Act and taken to a south London police station but has not been charged or identified, the force added.

Earlier on Saturday (local time) police arrested an 18-year-old man in the city of Dover — the main ferry link to France — and raided a property in Sunbury, a small town outside London, as they hunted for whoever planted the device.

"We are still pursing numerous lines of enquiry and at a great pace," counter-terrorism coordinator Neil Basu of the London police said late on Saturday.

Police were also continuing to comb through CCTV images as part of the investigation.

The train hit by the bomber had video cameras in each car, and the London Underground network has thousands of cameras at the entrances to stations and along the labyrinth of subterranean and aboveground passageways leading from the entryway to the trains.

The homemade bomb that partially exploded at the Parsons Green station was concealed in a bucket within a shopping bag, and went off about 8:20am as the train was carrying commuters from the suburbs, including many school children.

Officials said the bomb was intended to do grave harm to commuters, and analysts said the injuries would have been far worse had the entire device exploded. [Thank God for incompetent bomb makers]

The Islamic State group has claimed one of its units planted the bomb on the train.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-17/l ... on/8954818

I find the apparent lack of interest in this story interesting...

I strongly suspect that had this been the work of some right-wing white extremists, rather than Islamist terrorists, we'd have 20 follow-up posts in this thread by now...

[ex-khobar Andy]

I strongly suspect that had this been the work of some right-wing white extremists, rather than Islamist terrorists, we'd have 20 follow-up posts in this thread by now...

At the moment the assumption is that this is Islamist terrorism based on nothing more than that they are the usual suspects. I have seen nothing so far one way or the other except the claim by ISIS who probably know as little about who is actually behind this as the rest of us.

But can I take this opportunity to state that the majority of Gulf Arabs (you know, the ones who brought us 9/11) are as white as I am? LJ I have no idea about your physical appearance. And the agenda of the tiny fraction of those people who are nut jobs with an interest in forcing the rest of us to conformance with an authoritarian way of life - well let's just say that I do not think that they are run of the mill liberals.

So of your four words I will say three are likely and one is TBD. Right wing extremists - yes - and we will find out the race sometime soon I expect.

[Lord Jim]

EKA, while it is certainly questionable at this point whether ISIS had direct involvement, it would be inaccurate to say that the authorities have absolutely no idea what the motivation behind the attack was:

The motivation for the attack is believed by counter-terrorism investigators to have been jihadi. Isis has claimed responsibility, but it has done so after other attacks that it had nothing to do with.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/li ... n-11175270

The names of those arrested and other details of the investigation are being closely held for the understandable reason that the authorities want to avoid giving warning to others who may have been involved as they work to roll up as many as possible. But that doesn't mean that they don't have at least some idea at this point of the motives and ideological orientation of those who carried this out.

(Plus if you look at where the police have been focusing their investigative resources, they're not in areas typically thought of as BNP strongholds...)

[ex-khobar Andy]

EKA, while it is certainly questionable at this point whether ISIS had direct involvement, it would be inaccurate to say that the authorities have absolutely no idea what the motivation behind the attack was:

I agree entirely: which is why I didn't say that. My statement "I have seen nothing so far . . " was meant to convey that I had so far seen no statement from the police or another authority stating whom they thought to be responsible. Obviously your source (The Mirror) has information which is something they lost the ability to provide accurately in about 1965. Any paper that employs Piers Morgan is suspect in my book unless they recant and repent. Publicly and with suitable groveling.

And the only place the police have been focusing on AFAIK is Sunbury which is about 2:1 Tory at the last general election - so yes, it's not a BNP or UKIP stronghold but I am not sure what point you were making.

I think it's a reasonable assumption from the MO that this is Islamofacism. In which case right wing extremists would be a fair description.

[rubato]

I haven't said anything because until more information was developed there was nothing valuable to say. Now that Wes appears to have slipped back into the recesses of JGs imagination there is no one here whose reaction to this would be different. As EKA said, fascism, based on ultra-orthodox religiosity is at the far-right end of the scale. Franco's Spain. Steve Bannon &c.

yrs,
rubato

[Guinevere]

I haven't said anything because until more information was developed there was nothing valuable to say. Now that Wes appears to have slipped back into the recesses of JGs imagination there is no one here whose reaction to this would be different. As EKA said, fascism, based on ultra-orthodox religiosity is at the far-right end of the scale. Franco's Spain. Steve Bannon &c.

yrs,
rubato