The suspect bomb in London.... but this comment really annoyed me. It feels vaguely racist and yet I am not sure it is..

[BreeVanDerCamp]

All options, including the Irish, are open at this stage," said the source.

I was rather pleased with 'terrorism expert' on BBC's Breakfast this morning.

He told them 'I understand the pressures of 24 hour news, but we really don't know anything at the moment' or words to that effect

It annoys me - the news was that a 'device' had been found and that was all. Why try and build your own news around it, speculation is pointless.

I bet Tony Blair is having relaxing morning.

Maybe it was a hamfisted attempt to get away from the usual 'Al Qaeda' reference?

One has to assume most news is put out and manipulated for a particular agenda. I certainly never rule out MI6 doing these things. Nothing is ruled out and we never really know.

LOL

Why would MI6 plant a bomb? Or have I not been paying attention?

What little we see does seem to be more consistent with Irish Christian terrorists than Arab Moslem ones.
The bomb was apparently abandoned rather than delivered by someone prepared to get blown up with it. That's a bit of evidence to support the Irish Christian connection, but far from conclusive.
In Britain, Arab/Moslem terrorists haven't used cars much, but Irish/Christian ones have.

Most contemporary threats aren't Irish Christian in origin, but they haven't all gone away.

My stupidly uninformed view is that it looks like neither. It would not shock me if it were (for instance) anti-gay.

On the other hand it is consitent with lone bombers who do it for their own weird and wonderful causes rember brick lane and soho- David Copelnad was the man responsible for that- no terroist group there.

It does sound a rather clumsy attempt, doesn't it? The erratic car, crashes into bins and the driver runs off. Not a very professional 'bomber'.

LOL DC, regular as clockwork as usual

Like a tramp to a kipper

bree also thought that this morning but then i am irish so might not be most objective!

Actually, as my name suggests, I am both ethnically Irish, and was one of the children that their Christian terrorists tried to murder.

it simply means - all options including the Irish OPTION are still open - Irish terrorism in London is hardly a completely novel idea, is it?
I think people are deliberately looking for things to be offended about tbh.
What he is saying is 'don't jump to conclusions that this Al Quaeda'.

but the way it was written Aloha is specically not about explanations, context etc, the previous sentence says they are keeping an open mind aabout who was responsible. to immediately follow that with "the Irish" is not the same as saying the Irish option. I agree that is almost certainly what he meant and it's bad/clumsy writing by the BBC that made it look different. but it does look different. and I think the fact they changed it reflects that.

I agree with Hatwoman, it is clumsily phrased and if it wasn't they wouldn't have changed it. Ergo it is not unreasonable to be offended by it.

Text gets rewritten continuously in this sort of situation evolves. Doesn't mean the original writer was wrong or sloppy.
We now know that some effort was made to place it near an American Express office. That drops the Irish Christian factor quite hard, as they've always taken some effort to avoid hurting their paymasters.
Does push up the chances of it being Moslem of course.
But I'm sure than in the next 24 hours yet another fact will emerge that alters that position.

Most threats have been non terrorist as well - trying to think of the examples - biggest bomb thing was a nutter doing it I think. Perhaps the greatest threats we face are from deranged people or a Government keen to remove even more of our rights who has found the alleged threats we're under hugely convenient.

it means the IRISH OPTION and that is all. It is clearly not racist.

keep yer knickers on and be thankful people arent't actually dead here.

Message withdrawn

Blimey. I didn't read it that way at all. And I have the kind of pinko liberal sensitivities that normally sniff these out a mile away. Plus Irish parents. Struck me as sensible, not racist. In fact very much not knee jerk racist in a more obvious direction.

The MO as first known was 100% in the direction of Irish Christian terrorists. Not now of course, even between random nutters like anti-gays and Moslems.

Sounds so inept and clumsy, surely suspicion MUST fall on M16??

thats ridiculous and makes me v. cross. anyway 'the cornish' are the ones to be feared these days, god get with it.

I thought it was the ambulance men (there for something else) who spotted the car

about an hour or so ago, for a few minutes, mobile phones wouldn't work in central London. All very odd.