Bombings
The London Bombing
On July 7, 2005, four suicide bombers sat on three subway trains. Three of the bombs went off at 850 a.m. BST. The fourth bomb did not go off and at approximate 947 am BST the fourth bomb finally went off on the top of a double-decker bus. Initially the reports stated that it was a terrorist attack. The government was not sure which group was responsible for the bombing but from the fall out after the bombings the guess was al-Qaeda (BBC News Special Reports 2008 House of Commons 2006). The reality is there is much more to this story and this bombing then was initially suspected.
According to the BBC News and the Report from the House of Commons, what was originally thought to be a foreign terrorist attack was not quite right. The fact is that all four of the suicide bombers were British citizens. Each had led uneventful lives and all lived in and about Beeston, in Leeds while growing up. Even after two of the group moved away, they remained entrenched in the community life in Beeston. Other than age, the only differences between these four men were that three were of Pakistani descent and one was from Jamaican descent. The one similarity was religion, each was Muslim. They all were unassuming and no one ever expected them to be capable of attacking their own countrymen (BBC News Special Reports 2008 House of Commons 2006).
Two of the men had spent time in Pakistan and possibly Afghanistan. These two men were watched, but only peripherally. They were not considered major players in the extremists. However, on July 7, 2005, it became apparent that these were extremists and had something to say. It was not until September 1, 2005, at which time a video of one of the men was aired on Afghanistan TV and eventually shown to the British government (BBC News Special Reports 2008 House of Commons 2006). In the video, the BBC News stated that his motivation for the suicide bombings was a fierce antagonism to perceived injustices by the West against muslims and a desire for martyrdom (2008).
The bombings are still under investigation. Al-Qaeda has taken some responsibility for the occurrence, but it does not seem that there was really any outside interfere financially or otherwise, in the planning or execution of this plan. Al-Qaeda may have taught them to make the bombs, but the plan was defined and completed by the four men in London (BBC News Special Reports 2008 House of Commons 2006).
The British government was well manned at the time. The G8 Summit was convened just outside London in Gleneagles. As soon as the bombings occurred, rescue forces were at the scenes which were all over town. There were over 770 people hurt and 52 dead, not including the four bombers. By July 13th, the names of the bombers were verified and given to the media. Within four days of the bombings the trains were up and running again, but many other issues were still being dealt with by the government. In fact, the bombing opened up a new debate about security (House of Commons 2006).
The outcome of this horrible scene was initially the government learning lessons in regards to responding to emergency situations, vulnerability of the railway system, support of the victims families and the roles of working with the media. A full account of the lessons was printed by the House of Commons in March of 2006 and the recommendations are still being put into place to avoid as best as possible, another situations such as this.
1996 Olympic Park Bombings
Friday, July 26, 1996, was the 9th day of the 1996 Summer Olympics being held in Atlanta, Georgia. The day was over and a band was playing to a group of people celebrating. It was at this time that a security officer found a knapsack unattended. He felt that the knapsack was out of place and called the police. Once the police arrived it was discovered that the bag contained a bomb. A 911 call verified this information and gave the police the time the bomb would explode. It gave them enough time to get most of the people away from the area. However, not everyone was far enough away. One woman died and another 111 victims were injured (CNN Interactive 1996 Noe n.d.).
On May 31, 2003, the bomber was finally captured. He was alone in his actions and believed in what he did. The bombing at the Olympics was just the first of many bombings this man perpetrated. He also bombed several abortion clinics and nightclubs that catered to homosexuals (CNN Interactive 1996 Noe n.d.).
According to Denise Noe (n.d.) his motivation was to confound, anger and embarrass the Washington government in the eyes of the world for its abominable sanctioning of abortion on demand. He even continued stating, After the disaster at Centennial Park, I resolved to improve my devices and focus the blasts upon a very narrow target. Towards this end I acquired a quantity of high explosives (dynamite) (Noe n.d.).
This response shows that this man was planning and knew what he was trying to accomplish. The fact that he continued to re-evaluate his bombs and his plans shows a man that thought only of his ideals about abortion and how to try to stop it. He said that he tried to keep people from being harmed but in each instance there were victims, both people and communities. He is currently serving four consecutive life sentences for his bombings which include the 1996 Olympic Park Bombing (CNN Interactive 1996 Noe n.d.).
1995 Oklahoma City Bombing
April 19, 1995, at 902 am a Ryder truck parked in front of the Alfred P. Murrah building exploded. It took out most of the nine floors in the 20 year old building. There were 168 casualties including children from an on-site daycare and more than 800 were injured (FEMA 2009 FoxNews.com 2010). The men who perpetrated this atrocity knew the building housed many government agencies and a daycare, but did not let that bother them when they decided to go up against the Federal Government. They motive seemed to stem from the attack on Waco and the belief that big brother was too interested in the private live of United States citizens, and this was a wake up call that Americans would not take it (FoxNews.com 2010).
Of the two bombers that were convicted of this crime, one was sentenced to 161 consecutive life sentences, while the other was sentenced to death. The sentence of execution was carried out on June 11, 2001 (FoxNews.com 2010).
Comparisons
All three of these bombings have similarities in the sense that the bombers truly believed in their ideals and the need to make a grand commotion to get their ideals to the public. They have all used the idea of bombs to grasp the publics attention as well as the government. Even the types of bombs are hand made with chemicals and pieces that can be found easily.
The Oklahoma City Bombing and the London Bombing are similar in that the bombers were not afraid to die. The four London Bombers were suicide bombers. In the Oklahoma City Bombing the execution of effected through trial and sentencing. The Olympic Park Bomber believed that he outsmarted the government, because he beat the death penalty, but his actions were no less atrocious.
Another similarity between the Oklahoma City Bombing and the London Bombing was the fact that they focused on areas that would be full of people. The London Bombings were placed on vehicles of mass transit and detonated during the morning commute to work. The Oklahoma City Bombing detonated once everyone had arrived at work. Only the Olympic Park Bomber called the police 30 minutes prior to detonation to ensure that the human casualties would be less if any at all. His ideal was to destroy property not lives, unlike the other bombers.
While they all acted in regard to their belief systems, the actual beliefs and the actual recipient were completely different. The London Bombers were not interested in destroying their British Government, but destroying all Western Governments. They believed that Western Governments were discriminating against Muslims and they wanted this to stop. The only way they knew how to get attention was by explosions.
In Oklahoma City, the bombers were trying to make clear that the government was interfering with the privacy of the citizens. This group was focused on the national government and with bombing the federal building emphasized their dissatisfaction with the government.
The Olympic Park Bomber was all about his own beliefs against abortion and homosexuality and his belief that the government allowed this murders and vile diseases to be allowed to infect the public. He did not want to hurt people, but wanted to embarrass the government and destroy the places that murdered and spread the infections, such as nightclubs.
Conclusion
Each of these terrorist activities was not perpetrated by foreigners, but by the people that were neighbors. They lived in the country and probably knew people in the vicinity of their actions. They took the lives of other in their hands in a hope to force their beliefs on others, or at least to bring their ideals about the actions of the government. The explosions were only the beginning to the terror. The fall out of the actions leaves more fear and more people wondering when the next internal terrorist attack will occur and how many will be hurt this time. This fear of internal terrorists is worst than the fear of foreign terrorists, because it could be a neighbor or co-worker. It is obvious that no one really knows.
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