Who Benefitted?

[Gold9472]

The first thing I thought of after hearing about the attacks today was, "Who Benefitted?"...

Here's the list I've come up with so far...

The United States
1. Karl Rove's treason story is gone from the face of the Earth.
2. The G8 was originally going to focus on Africa and Global Warming first, and the "War On Terror" second. Now, the focus will be the "War On Terror" which is Dubya's "strong suit".
3. The leaders of the Democratic Party today stated that they back Bush's "War On Terror".
4. The Downing Street Memo died today.

Britain
1. Tony Blair was expected to step down early. Now, he will probably be asked to stay.
2. Tony Blair lost all support for the Iraq War. Now, he will probably gain a lot back.
3. Britain was expected to bring their troops home over the next year and a half. Now, they will probably add troops to the region. Something financially beneficial to any country at war.

Al-Qaeda
1. They've successfully instilled fear into the Brits.
2. They managed to hit a target outside of Iraq.

This was a very quick list. If you can add, or subtract anything to it, it would be appreciated.

[erose001]

I posted about this in the 9/11 section because we're thinking similarly, this looks to me like a mini-9/11. I won't post my whole list here, but I had a different take on ultimate results.

Bottom line: In spite of the proximate results of the renewed focus on the so-called "war on terror" aka "Bush the war president's war for fun and profit", we could also see another Madrid take place in the UK. Keep in mind that over 80% of the British are AGAINST the war. The only reason Tony Blair still has his job is because of the votes for the Labour Party, not for Blair, who barely eked through.

The British could very easily see this attack as the responsibility of America because we dragged the UK into the war, and it is Bush's presence in the UK for the summit that prompted the attacks at this particular juncture. (Regardless of who promulgated the attacks.) This could force Tony Blair down more QUICKLY, force the British troops OUT of Iraq, and make the Downing Steet Memo even more damning.

Obviously, all of this is speculation, there is no way to know how it will really play out (probably some mixture of these ideas and some other unexpected events as well), and right now we do also need to consider in our thoughts the victims and their families. I do feel horrible about that, and as progressive Christian, I am saying lots of prayers today. Again, regardless of who did this.

I will feel even more horrible, however, if our hypothesis carries any weight. For that, all Americans who supported Bush should be ashamed, and those of us who didn't, many of us will also feel ashamed that we still have not been able to wake up more of our fellow citizens.

[Gold9472]

We're doing everything humanely possible... set aside standing outside with a sign that says, "Bush Did 9/11"...

[beltman713]

Have there been any arrests, or any reports of seeing possible supects?

[Gold9472]

Have there been any arrests, or any reports of seeing possible supects?

The only thing I know is that an "Secret Al-Qaeda Organization" is claiming resposibility for it...

[Gold9472]

I'd LOVE to find that conversation that took place on this board where I predicted that they don't really need to attack the U.S. That they could attack somewhere overseas and get the same results...

[Gold9472]

Here it is...

http://www.yourbbsucks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1782

"You know... the BIG attack doesn't necessarily have to happen within the United States. If a Nucular or Biological Weapon was detonated anywhere in the world, people would react."

[beltman713]

Usually after these things, there will be reports of people seeing someone doing this or acting like that just before it happened. I haven't heard anythink of the sort, yet.

[erose001]

From today's DemocracyNOW:

Israel Says It Was Tipped Off About Attacks
Meanwhile, a senior Israeli official has been widely quoted today as saying that British police told the Israeli Embassy in London minutes before today's explosions they had received warnings of possible terror attacks in the city. Israel was holding an economic conference near the scene of one of the explosions. Israeli Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was supposed to attend, but the attacks occurred before he arrived. The official sais that just before the blasts, Scotland Yard called the security officer at the Israeli Embassy and said warnings of possible attacks had been received.

Also, here's a link to my thread in the 9/11 forum for any interested in contrasting and comparing:

http://www.yourbbsucks.com/forum/showthread.php?p=28364#post28364

[erose001]

P.S. For any who cannot watch or listen to DemocracyNOW on TV or radio, they do have streams and often have transcripts on their website:

http://www.democracynow.org

I urge everyone to check it out. It's one of the few news outlets I trust. This from someone who doesn't even trust NPR anymore.

[Gold9472]

I have seen them on T.V. before. They did a great interview with Ted Koppel...

[Gold9472]

bump