Did the bombers plan to die?

[Darth Executor]

Any of you Brits know if the mirror is reliable?

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid%3D15742951%26method%3Dfull%26siteid%3D94762%26headline%3Dwas-it-suicide---name_page.html

[rossum]

Why did they buy return train tickets to Luton?
Either the returns were cheaper than the single tickets (it can happen) or they didn't want to arouse suspicion.


Why did they buy pay & display tickets for cars?
So the cars were not noticed, towed away and possibly give away their plan.

The Daily Mirror is a serious tabloid, and is usually reasonably reliable. It is certainly not at the "Elvis was Abducted by Aliens" end of the market.

I suspect that it is too early to tell if the bombers were duped. I am incluned to suspect not.

rossum

[Roy]

The Daily Mirror is a serious tabloid, and is usually reasonably reliable. It is certainly not at the "Elvis was Abducted by Aliens" end of the market.

The Daily Mirror is the same paper that recently got into major problems for printing faked pictures of abuse of prisoners by British troops.

Roy

[keith]

The Mirror is the only paper that has taken this particular angle (so far). In a very secular society like this one it is hard for a lot of people to comprehend that anyone would prefer another world to this one, or even have that much faith that there is another world at all. This story avoids having to deal with such theological beliefs. Martyrdom makes no sense in our culture.

BTW, the explosive material used was highly volatile so there is a possibility that the explosion on the bus was not intended to go off at that precise time. That is a totally different point than the one the Mirror has suggested, that the young man had been duped.

[TheOneAndOnly]

The Daily Mirror is a serious tabloid, and is usually reasonably reliable.

I hope that was sarcasm.


In a very secular society like this one it is hard for a lot of people to comprehend that anyone would prefer another world to this one, or even have that much faith that there is another world at all. This story avoids having to deal with such theological beliefs. Martyrdom makes no sense in our culture.

I think you are overgeneralizing. I'm as secular as they come and I have no problems understanding that some people are in the mindset that there is a paradise waiting for them, and that by blowing themselves up they'll acheive martyrdom status.


BTW, the explosive material used was highly volatile so there is a possibility that the explosion on the bus was not intended to go off at that precise time. That is a totally different point than the one the Mirror has suggested, that the young man had been duped.

I think I remember reading somewhere that the police still haven't found the timers, or remnants thereof, in the rubble. Possibly indicating that the bombs were manually set off, in which case they were almost certainly suicide attacks.