Worse than suicide bombing

[The Drain]

I'm not sure where to start.

I'm watching the UK general election count, with a particular interest in what is happening here in Northern Ireland.

The count in Derry/Londonderry was held up for a couple of hours by a 'suspect car' outside the count centre there.

Army bomb experts dealt with a 'viable device'. No-one hurt. No news headlines.

But...

It turns out that it was a taxi driver who had a bomb put in his car, and he was then forced to drive his car to the count centre. This is what we call a 'proxy' bomb - and it is truly horrid; worse even than a 'suicide' bomb.

Bombs in Ireland used to mean a bomb being placed, a telephone warning being made, and if the warning was clear and in time then people being able to get out of the way in time. (Not always - check out Omagh, August 1998, amongst many others, because of f***ed up warnings). Still, we were largely used to the principle of warnings.

Then the world became aware of 'suicide bombers' - with 9/11 in the USA being the prime example. (I know: Israel had experienced suicide bombings previously, as had the American and French military in Lebanon). But civilian security protocols up till 9/11 had largely worked on the basis that any potential terrorist was concerned about his/her own life.

I would suggest that a terrorist forcing an innocent person to drive a bomb to a target is worse than a suicidal terrorist driving his or her own bomb to their target... 'worse' because it's more horrifying for the general population.

Let me put it this way: You might be frightened by the possibility of a bomb exploding while you're in town, whether it's an abandoned bomb or a suicidal bomb - but consider the alternative possibility of you as an innocent bystander being told that your family will be shot if you don't drive a bomb into town with you yourself being the unwitting 'suicide' bomber.

Bloody terrorists. Why can't they leave us alone?

 

[JoeyDonuts]

Got a link for the news story?

On the surface this sounds like something the PIRA would have done rather than Mideast terrorists.

 

[The Drain]

Yes, the concept of proxy bombs was originated by the Provisionals: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_bomb

In the early hours of 24 October 1990 armed and masked IRA volunteers took the family of Patrick "Patsy" Gillespie hostage.

...<snip>...

The IRA forced him to drive a car loaded with 1,000 pounds of explosives to the British Army checkpoint at Coshquin on the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. When he arrived at the checkpoint the bomb was detonated by remote control, killing Gillespie and five soldiers from the Kings Regiment.

This morning's "security alert" (a euphemistic phrase we regularly use on our radio traffic reports) at the Derry election count centre had some of those earlier hallmarks. This from the BBC:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/northern_ireland/8666316.stm

Counting in Foyle and East Londonderry was suspended for an hour and a half after a car was abandoned at Templemore Sports Complex in Londonderry.
Police said a taxi driver's cab was hijacked, a gun was put to his head and he was told to bring the pipe bomb to the count.

Well. No-one was hurt. I'm calming down now. I think.

 

[JoeyDonuts]

Maybe this is my across-the-pond ignorance, but I was under the impression that the violence of the Troubles had all but disappeared here of late.

I suppose all it takes is one, though.

Has there been an uptick in violent partisan rhetoric across the fence there? I'm trying to get a feel if this is an isolated and increasingly rare incident, or the boiling over of newly rekindled old tensions.

 

[MikeMangum]

I'm not sure where to start.

I'm watching the UK general election count, with a particular interest in what is happening here in Northern Ireland.

The count in Derry/Londonderry was held up for a couple of hours by a 'suspect car' outside the count centre there.

Army bomb experts dealt with a 'viable device'. No-one hurt. No news headlines.

But...

It turns out that it was a taxi driver who had a bomb put in his car, and he was then forced to drive his car to the count centre. This is what we call a 'proxy' bomb - and it is truly horrid; worse even than a 'suicide' bomb.

Bombs in Ireland used to mean a bomb being placed, a telephone warning being made, and if the warning was clear and in time then people being able to get out of the way in time. (Not always - check out Omagh, August 1998, amongst many others, because of f***ed up warnings). Still, we were largely used to the principle of warnings.

Then the world became aware of 'suicide bombers' - with 9/11 in the USA being the prime example. (I know: Israel had experienced suicide bombings previously, as had the American and French military in Lebanon). But civilian security protocols up till 9/11 had largely worked on the basis that any potential terrorist was concerned about his/her own life.

I would suggest that a terrorist forcing an innocent person to drive a bomb to a target is worse than a suicidal terrorist driving his or her own bomb to their target... 'worse' because it's more horrifying for the general population.

Let me put it this way: You might be frightened by the possibility of a bomb exploding while you're in town, whether it's an abandoned bomb or a suicidal bomb - but consider the alternative possibility of you as an innocent bystander being told that your family will be shot if you don't drive a bomb into town with you yourself being the unwitting 'suicide' bomber.

Bloody terrorists. Why can't they leave us alone?

One of the most sickening things I read regarding Al Qaeda in Iraq was when they started using kids with down syndrome to deliver bombs.

 

[McHrozni]

I would suggest that a terrorist forcing an innocent person to drive a bomb to a target is worse than a suicidal terrorist driving his or her own bomb to their target... 'worse' because it's more horrifying for the general population.

It is worse. Unfortunately, there is no permissible, adequate punishment for it.
Execution by iron maiden, plus being improperly buried for his (her/it's) religion is the bare minimum.

McHrozni

 

[Skeptic]

Before I can condemn this, I must know what awful, awful things you did to the poor, misguided terrorists that made them act like that.

Was their home in foreclosure, or something?

 

[Donal]

This is why the general public there has turned on the radicals (the way I hear it, anyway). They were already done with the fighting before this became part of the PIRA's MO.


Another nasty variation of this is the during the Viet Nam Conflict, VC would give unsuspecting children bags of explosives and tell them to go hug the American GIs.

 

[The Drain]

Maybe this is my across-the-pond ignorance, but I was under the impression that the violence of the Troubles had all but disappeared here of late.

I suppose all it takes is one, though.

Has there been an uptick in violent partisan rhetoric across the fence there? I'm trying to get a feel if this is an isolated and increasingly rare incident, or the boiling over of newly rekindled old tensions.

You're right, Joey, compared to where we were up until about ten years ago Northern Ireland is now in a much better place. But 'dissident republicans' (those members of the IRA who regard making peace as akin to surrender) have carried on. Their early bomb-making efforts were clearly amateurish, but they have been getting more professional recently. This is either because of practice, or because they're getting more surreptitious help from other former members of the PIRA, or a combination of both.

A lot of what happens here doesn't really make it onto the mainstream news. When a bomb is placed on the Dublin-Belfast railway it will be on our local traffic & travel news as: "There is a bus substitution service for train passengers today because of a security alert near Newry" - another one is "Motorists are advised to avoid X village in County Y because of a security alert".

As for method of delivery: I agree, using Down Syndrome children is a new low.

As for why these people do what they do: A home foreclosure is not so very wide off the mark. I have often wished that I could take some of our domestic terrorists (both catholic and protestant) and drop them in some of the places in Africa where I occasionally work for say six months. On bringing them back to Ireland they could be asked 'Now what have you got to complain about?'. Our children have shoes on their feet and full tummies as they go to school.

(End of rant!)