memeorandum: Arrest of duo in Pakistan triggered bomb plot swoop (Times of London)

1:20 PM ET, August 11, 2006

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Day of terror strikes was planned for August 16 — Terrorists were planning to unleash a series of deadly mid-air explosions on flights between London and America on August 16, it has been revealed today. — Members of the terror group, who were arrested in a series of raids …

Discussion: Euphoric Reality

Juan / Informed Comment:

The Pakistan Connection — Pakistani police on Thursday arrested a number of UK Muslims within Pakistan who were also suspected of involvement in the "Liquid Bomb Threat." — British authorities say that they have been investigating the group behind the airplane bombing plot for "about a year."

Discussion: johntirman.com, DAWN, TAPPED, Whiskey Bar, Wampum, Red State Son and Needlenose

The Blotter:

FBI Investigates American Connection to London Terror Plot — Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report: — U.S. law enforcement sources tell ABC News the FBI is investigating new leads that involve a possible connection between people in the United States, in major east coast cities, and the London bomb plotters.

Discussion: Counterterrorism Blog, The Left Coaster, AMERICAN FUTURE, Defense Tech and The Heretik

Times of London:

Arrest of duo in Pakistan triggered bomb plot swoop — Two British Muslims arrested eight to ten days ago in Lahore and Karachi gave vital information about the alleged plot to detonate chemical suicide bombs on US-bound passenger jets, officials in Pakistan told The Times today.

Discussion: Power Line, Weekly Standard and The Strata-Sphere

Time:

Thwarting the Airline Plot: Inside the Investigation — Exclusive: U.S. picked up the suspects' chatter and shared it with British authorities; new federal alert warns that peroxide-based explosives could also be employed in future attacks in the U.S. — Wednesday night was a long …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Washington Post, Associated Press, Security Watchtower, The Irish Trojan's Blog, BLACKFIVE, RightWinged.com, Soccer Dad, Guardian, wcbstv.com, New York Times, The Heretik, Ace of Spades HQ, CNN.com, NewsHog, Defense Tech and Donklephant

The Blotter: British Penetrate Terror Cell

New York Times:
Plan Was to Sneak Liquid Explosives on Planes

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, Democrats.com and TBogg

CNN:
Officials: Plot suspects met alleged al Qaeda bomber

Discussion: Editor and Publisher, Daimnation!, Needlenose and Daily Kos

New York Times:

The London Plot — For almost five years now, we have carried around the legacy of Sept. 11. There is no sunny morning that does not revive its memory. The news of a terrorist plot against America-bound airliners yesterday called up feelings that are never all that far below the surface.

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, TigerHawk, The American Thinker, Colin McEnroe, AMERICAN FUTURE, The Left Coaster and It Shines For All

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Philadelphia Daily News:

BUSH AND CHENEY'S REIGN OF ERROR — VEEP SAYS CONN. VOTERS AIDING AL QAEDA. NOW, THAT'S SCARY. — THESE PEOPLE have no shame. Their contempt for democracy is so great they will stop at nothing to undermine it. Their adherence to fundamentalist beliefs that blinds them to reality is frightening.

Scott Shane / New York Times:
Officials Cite Sophistication and Scale of Plane Scheme

Discussion: The Corner, Thoughts of an Average Woman, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS and The News Blog

John Whitesides / Reuters:
US Democrats say plot shows Iraq war a diversion

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Needlenose and SEIXON

Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:

Short-Term Gain, Long-Term Pain — With the defeat of Joe Lieberman in the Democratic primary in Connecticut, antiwar forces are poised for a takeover of the Democratic Party. Tuesday's exhilarating victory, and the elan and electoral legitimacy gained, may carry the newly energized Democratic left …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Think Progress, The Next Hurrah, Blue Crab Boulevard and Decision '08

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Lawrence O'Donnell / The Huffington Post:
Joe Lieberman Will Drop Out.

Discussion: My Left Nutmeg

Jason Horowitz / The New York Observer Politicker:
A Republican Headache for Lieberman?

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …, Wonkette and NewsBusters.org

Daniel Henninger / Opinion Journal:
Bad Timing — Democrats knife Lieberman on the eve of the airliner plot.

Discussion: Hit and Run, No More Mister Nice Blog and alicublog

New York Times:
Lieberman, on the Offensive, Links Terror Threat and Iraq

Discussion: Firedoglake, Washington Post, american footprints and TalkLeft

Opinion Journal:

'Mass Murder' Foiled — A terror plot is exposed by the policies many American liberals oppose. — Americans went to work yesterday to news of another astonishing terror plot against U.S. airlines, only this time the response was grateful relief. British authorities had busted the …

Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard, Say Anything, Instapundit.com, AMERICAN FUTURE, USS Neverdock, Patterico's Pontifications, The Unalienable Right and BrothersJudd Blog

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Telegraph:

Middle-class and British: the Muslims in plots to bomb jets — Timeline: five years since September 11 — Twenty-four terrorist suspects being held last night over an alleged plot to blow up as many as 10 transatlantic jets include middle-class, well-educated young men born in Britain.

Discussion: The Glittering Eye, Daily Pundit, Daimnation! and Tim Worstall

Robert Barr / Associated Press:
U.K. identifies suspects in terror plot

Discussion: TigerHawk

Haaretz:

Main stumbling block to truce deal is timing of IDF withdrawal — UNITED NATIONS - The United States and France were on the cusp of a deal on a Security Council resolution aimed at ending the month-long conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, and could break the diplomatic deadlock at last on Friday.

Discussion: Israel Matzav, Vital Perspective and Jerusalem Post

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Jerusalem Post:

Lebanon: Cease-fire draft 'unacceptable' — A new obstacle arose over the latest UN draft proposal to stop the fighting between Israel and Hizbullah on Thursday night, when Lebanon refused to allow the French to enforce its mandate as allowed by the UN's chapter VII regulations.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Riehl World View, A Blog For All and Blue Crab Boulevard

Haaretz:
Olmert gives IDF green light to expand ground offensive

Discussion: Hot Air and One Hand Clapping

Donna Cassata / Associated Press:

GOP Candidates Facing Troublesome Trend — Republicans determined to win in November are up against a troublesome trend - growing opposition to President Bush. — An Associated Press-Ipsos poll conducted this week found the president's approval rating has dropped to 33 percent, matching his low in May.

Discussion: The Democratic Daily and The Stakeholder

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Dana Blanton / Fox News:
08/10/06 FOX News Poll: 2006 Election Anti-Incumbent Fever; Job Ratings

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Rogers / Kung Fu Monkey:

"Wait, Aren't You Scared?" — Errr, no. And if you are, you frankly should be a little goddam embarrassed. — No false bravado and it's not that I don't take terrorism seriously. I do, which I why I voted for the guy who believed in securing our ports and fighting terrorism …

Discussion: BBC, Left I on the News, The ConyersBlog, Brilliant at Breakfast and Hullabaloo

Gerard Baker / Times of London:

The first step towards defeating the terrorists: stop blaming ourselves — THERE'S A familiar ritual each time an operation to thwart a putative terrorist incident dominates the news. After the public's initial expressions of relief and shuddering contemplation of what might have been …

Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard and Dr. Sanity

Michael Abramowitz / Washington Post:

President Remains Eager to Cut Entitlement Spending — The Bush administration has begun sounding out lawmakers and other key figures about mounting a new bipartisan effort to rein in the costs of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security after the midterm elections, according to officials in the administration and on Capitol Hill.