# London Car Bombs **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 30, 2007, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/london-car-bombs/410033 "2007-06-30T12:36:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/london-car-bombs/410033/121 "2007-07-05T15:22:28Z")
[QUOTE=Szlater] Was there a backlash towards the large Irish community in England after IRA bombings in London, Manchester, Warrington, Deal etc? [/QUOTE] Not that I recall ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/london-car-bombs/410033/122 "2007-07-05T15:51:09Z")
T’wasn’t exactly nice being Irish in the UK when there were bombing campaigns going on. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/london-car-bombs/410033/123 "2007-07-05T16:09:50Z")
[QUOTE=Szlater] Was there a backlash towards the large Irish community in England after IRA bombings in London, Manchester, Warrington, Deal etc? [/QUOTE] I knew someone who had an Irish surname, and he did get a couple of very nasty phone calls. I imagine they just picked his name at random out of the phone book. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/london-car-bombs/410033/124 "2007-07-05T16:25:01Z")
I read the police report, and it appears the trigger mechanism (on the car bombs0 was amateurishly-constructed, and 9thanks to God) unlikely to have detnated. This little fact makes me think that these guys NEVER went to one of those Afghan-border-region-Al-Quedah Terrorist training camps. They seemed to have learned their explosives 101 from the internet. Now: the fact that ANYBODY trained as a doctor (and sworn to save human life) could plan this is terrifying enough-hope they all get life sentences! ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/london-car-bombs/410033/125 "2007-07-05T16:30:34Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] I read the police report, and it appears the trigger mechanism (on the car bombs0 was amateurishly-constructed, and 9thanks to God) unlikely to have detnated. This little fact makes me think that these guys NEVER went to one of those Afghan-border-region-Al-Quedah Terrorist training camps. They seemed to have learned their explosives 101 from the internet. Now: the fact that ANYBODY trained as a doctor (and sworn to save human life) could plan this is terrifying enough-hope they all get life sentences! [/QUOTE] According to the BBC yesterday, the guy who was badly burned is “close to death”. I suppose the authorities would like him alive to they could get as mush information from him as possible concerning his terrorist contacts. ---
**Author:** ![Andy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/aeb1de/32.png) [@Andy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/london-car-bombs/410033/126 "2007-07-05T21:39:49Z")
[QUOTE=Rayne Man] According to the BBC yesterday, the guy who was badly burned is “close to death”. I suppose the authorities would like him alive to they could get as mush information from him as possible concerning his terrorist contacts. [/QUOTE] A quick search suggests that it’d be quite unusual for a patient with 90% burns to survive. Curiously I’m slightly disappointed; I’d rather he live and face the music. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/london-car-bombs/410033/127 "2007-07-05T21:55:34Z")
I must apologise for the mistakes in my last post. The last sentence should read “I suppose the authorities would like him alive, so they can get as much information from him as possible concerning his terrorist contacts.” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/london-car-bombs/410033/128 "2007-07-05T22:44:37Z")
[QUOTE=yojimbo] T’wasn’t exactly nice being Irish in the UK when there were bombing campaigns going on. [/QUOTE] T’wasn’t exactly nice simply being in the U.K. when there were bombing campaigns going on. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/london-car-bombs/410033/129 "2007-07-06T04:28:27Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] [Yes](http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article2023003.ece).That, my friend, is the fault of the media. And selective reading by people with certain preconceptions. [/QUOTE] Oh, well, pardon ME. But that IS what I see mostly on BBC here. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/london-car-bombs/410033/130 "2007-07-06T04:34:19Z")
[QUOTE=Andy] A quick search suggests that it’d be quite unusual for a patient with 90% burns to survive. Curiously I’m slightly disappointed; I’d rather he live and face the music. [/QUOTE] If those are third-degree burns, then no, he will certainly not make it. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/london-car-bombs/410033/131 "2007-07-06T06:26:56Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] I read the police report, and it appears the trigger mechanism (on the car bombs0 was amateurishly-constructed, and 9thanks to God) unlikely to have detnated. This little fact makes me think that these guys NEVER went to one of those Afghan-border-region-Al-Quedah Terrorist training camps. They seemed to have learned their explosives 101 from the internet. Now: the fact that ANYBODY trained as a doctor (and sworn to save human life) could plan this is terrifying enough-hope they all get life sentences! [/QUOTE] The fact that someone gets to be a doctor without having the modest brain power necessary to figure out how to make things go BOOM! is quite terrifiying too. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/london-car-bombs/410033/132 "2007-07-06T06:53:01Z")
[QUOTE=Quartz] T’wasn’t exactly nice simply being in the U.K. when there were bombing campaigns going on. [/QUOTE] Way to entirely miss the point of **yojimbo** ’s post. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/london-car-bombs/410033/133 "2007-07-06T07:30:22Z")
[QUOTE=Ale] The fact that someone gets to be a doctor without having the modest brain power necessary to figure out how to make things go BOOM! is quite terrifiying too. [/QUOTE] The stupidity involved is just mind numbing. Firstly they seem to have based their bomb on the movies, in which petrol and gas cylinders blow up if someone breathes on them too warmly, and secondly they seem to have had no clue whatever about how not to dump your contacts deep into the shit by the clues you leave. They left a freakin’ phone with a sim card and telephone numbers in it in the car! I mean what the effin’ eff were they _thinking?_ Their incompetence would be almost heartwarming if it were not for the thought that these guys may be representative of the sort of brains that will allow you to gain qualifications sufficient to treat sick and injured people without adult supervision. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2007, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/london-car-bombs/410033/134 "2007-07-07T02:12:31Z")
I find it disturbing that there is a connection between the doctors in GB and the US in the form of a common mode of operation. Hopefully the call to arms by al-Zawahri won’t cause Cat Stevens to spontaneously combust at the upcoming Live Earth Concert. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2007, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/london-car-bombs/410033/135 "2007-07-07T07:15:59Z")
It’s now being reported that the badly burned man is not a medic but a doctor of engineering and has a doctorate in “computational fluid dynamics” . According to the _Times_ this is a “highly specialised subject in which computers are used to simulate the flow of liquids and gases over complex structures such as outside of vehicles and aircraft.” Even with all that specialised knowledge the bombs were still duds. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2007, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/london-car-bombs/410033/136 "2007-07-08T03:18:16Z")
They say failed suicide attempts are a cry for help. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2007, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/london-car-bombs/410033/137 "2007-07-08T09:57:18Z")
[QUOTE=yojimbo] T’wasn’t exactly nice being Irish in the UK when there were bombing campaigns going on. [/QUOTE] Maybe, but there was an Irish kid I knew well at school, and a lady of Irish extraction that my 'rents were friends with, and neither of 'em got a whiff of grief that I ever heard of. I guess it varied from place to place. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2007, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/london-car-bombs/410033/138 "2007-07-08T10:31:44Z")
[QUOTE=Siam Sam] They say failed suicide attempts are a cry for help. [/QUOTE] As in “Fuck me, that’s my 72 virgins up the swannee” ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2007, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/london-car-bombs/410033/139 "2007-07-08T15:57:42Z")
[QUOTE=chowder] As in “Fuck me, that’s my 72 virgins up the swannee” [/QUOTE] Yeah, something like that. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![shefDave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@shefDave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shefDave)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2007, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/london-car-bombs/410033/140 "2007-07-09T19:10:52Z")
[QUOTE=chowder] How long before thugs decide to beat up a Muslim and defend their action by saying “He was doing something suspicious, I thought he had a bomb” [/quote] Replace the word “thugs” with “the police”, the words “beat up” with “shoot repeatedly in the head” and the words “a Muslim” with “someone not white”. Now think back to July 2005. There you go. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/london-car-bombs/410033.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/london-car-bombs/410033.md?page=8)