Reply #12: The sophistication of yesterday's attacks isn't that great

[muriel_volestrangler]

There are reports that remains of timing devices have been found in, I think, at least 2 of the 3 tube bombs; and that the bus bomb was carried by the bomber (whether it was suicide, or a premature detonation, is still unclear; but the head of London police has said there was "absolutely nothing to suggest this was a suicide bomb"). Various groups have managed to make timers, so I wouldn't call that sophisticated; what the bombers managed to do was place a bomb on 3 tube trains and have them not noticed for at least a few minutes. I suspect that the heightened awareness of bombs in Israel wouldn't allow that to happen so easily.

While you say the London bombings were 'extremely fatal', the death toll of each bomb is of the order of those in Israel (as I write, 7, 7, and 21 for the Tube bombs, according to The Guardian, and 12 for the bus). It's also possible that the confined space in the Underground might make the effects a bit worse. So the main difference is the decision to do 4 bombs at once (or maybe 6 - there are reports from ABC news in America that 2 unexploded devices were found).

Now, no-one has ever claimed that Hamas are part of al Qaeda, so it's not that surprising that they use different tactics - if these bombs were done by someone in that amorphous grouping. The tactics may also be due to different situations - Hamas seems to have a significant supply of willing suicide bombers (perhaps because there are many Palestinians whose family members have been killed by Israeli soldiers), while there are few people in Britain with such a direct claim against the British government (most of them would be Irish). The bomber is obvious, and dead, in these cases - to trace other members of an organisation, you have to infiltrate them. Bombs with timers are, on the other hand, more likely to be traced by forensic evidence, and CCTV (of which London has lots). The bombers may therefore decide their best bet is to do all their bombing at once, rather than give the police a chance to catch up with them in the middle of their campaign.