Going to London this summer? Well maybe think twice about which airport you might land and take off from. Possible leaks came from Al -Qaeda ( On Wikileaks ) have determined that Heathrow Airport, the busiest in the world, set in the center of London might be attacked if Osama Bin Laden ever be captured or killed. The highjackers would turn the plane around an fly into one of the terminals.After this would be completed a nuclear bomb would be set off, sending the city and possibly parts of the country into disarray.
So what do you think? Should Osama's life been treated in such a different way, that way ensuring the safety those who travel to London, Heathrow Airport? Do you think Al-Qaeda is being honest about this and are still discussing when and how to properly do this? Remember how California's Golden Gate Bridge was also a target for 9/11...?
So please, every traveling to London this summer, be safe...
13 comments:
Terrorists want publicity and panic, that's what they thrive on...public fear. It's what keeps them going. It was their way of trying to protect bin Laden and their attempt to distract us from finding him and potentially killing him. The US did what they needed to do.
Also on what you have said Conor , I think the US Media lives on scaring people through news and television.
I remember when the Japan earthquake happened all I could was watch the News...I was glued to it.I am going to London this summer, and as what you said, I am already thinking of using a different airport to arrive and leave from, rather than using Heathrow.
But yes, at least the first part of the mission is complete and some people feel justified for this happening.
I was just thinking about this! Now since Osama's dead, of course that would anger the Al Qaeda because Osama played a big part in their group. I think that if the Al Qaeda was... brave?... enough to do a whole attack on the twin towers then obviously they wouldn't mind so much of doing another attack on who knows where else. The government should have handled this situation in a different way I think. I mean, yeah he did call the shots for the 9/11 attack but capturing him and THEN see what to do next is better than killing him and making a whole bunch of people mad who, in my opinion, are very revengeful. I guess we have to hope for the best now that the government made (what I think would be) a pretty drastic and impulsive decision. Then again, it is just my opinion, and i'm all for trying not to make people mad.
Though we don't know all the details about the bin Laden assassination, I assume that we would have captured him alive for intelligence purposes if that was possible. That said, I agree with Conor: terrorists thrive on creating public fear and panic. If we, as the Western world, allow ourselves to be afraid of this new threat and avoid travel through Heathrow Airport, we let the terrorists win.
I was also thinking about what kind of backlash the death of bin Laden might spark. It is probably going to cause something, but I don't think it will be as drastic as another plane hijacking. Security is much higher and everyone is much more alert. I think killing bin Laden was the right and necessary thing to do. I mean after all, look at what has happened to our country.
Alexia, you will be fine going through Heathrow. Although last time I went through there they lost my baggage and I didn't get it back for two weeks...
I agree with conor, I think that they were just saying this when he was alive, but now that he is dead, they are probably highly considering it. There is going to be a huge increase in airport security not only in Heathrow but all around the world. Regardless of this threat we are still going to keep a close eye on the war in the middle east
The nuclear bomb threat seems a bit extreme, I don't think Al Qaeda will be able to muster that sort of power and secrecy to carry out that sort of operation. As far as the London threat goes, the increased security should probably be in the flight schools, given that it will be very hard to get anyone besides the pilots into the cockpits after 9/11.
Going to London this summer, this is a bit disconcerting.
I seriously doubt terrorists would drop a nuclear bomb on Heathrow; doing so would spark nuclear activity by the United States and her allies, which would pretty much change the entire face of the world. So... yeah. Pretty dumb.
And it is completely ridiculous to suggest that Osama's life should have been "treated in a different way," because of these threats. First of all, this wouldn't "ensure the safety of those who travel to Heathrow" at all. Ensure is quite a strong word. And who are we, the US, to succumb to terrorist threats? We're badass America, remember? So we should have left Bin Laden alone because of a threat by his Al-Qaeda comrades that they would retaliate? Absolutely not.
Lastly, a quick browse of the story tells me that the threat on Heathrow was formulated years ago, shortly after 9/11. I see "was," "was," "was," "was," "was," "was," "was," "was," "was," "was," "was," in the article. All past tense. Nothing, to my knowledge, points to a CURRENT DAY attack on Heathrow. But we obviously should be cautious nonetheless.
I definitely agree with Conor regarding how terrorists feed on public fear. I think it would for the best on Al Qaeda's part to lay low for a bit. It would not be wise for them to take such a big measure against the U.K., seeing that it would probably just provoke the U.S. even further after this victory. That being said, you can never be too careful. Tighter security in major international airports can do everyone a little more good (and a little more hassle, but it's worth it).
I want to add that this probably will not happen. Not because the terrorists are deciding differently after bin Laden's actual death but because of how the world is reacting to his death. Security has been raised almost every where. I saw a picture of two cops in LAX in a New York Times article. One cop had a dog and the other one was holding an automatic rifle! Hourly checks by law enforcement have been implemented in certain places like synagogues and mosques. I highly doubt that some thing like this will happen and hopefully it won't.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/04/us/04security.html
Uh oh, I am definitely flying into Heathrow this summer.
However, I am not feeling too threatened by this. The fact that it is so extreme and now so out in the open makes me think that they could not go through with it. Dropping a nuclear bomb is an incredibly big step, and I don't think that Al Qaeda has the resources to execute this. Also, can you even think of what horrible things this would cause? Obviously we have nuclear weapons and I'm sure many others do too, meaning that this could lead to some serious retaliation. So, overall, I am not too worried about this. I agree with Conor in that was more to scare us than anything else.
Since Bin Laden's death, I think there is and will be a lot of ambiguity in the air about passenger safety while traveling. There have been several speculations as to what's next for Al Quedda since the ring leader is gone. In addition, I believe that Bin Laden's death has caused many Americans a false sense of security. If Heathrow is the target, this would be the second terror attack there in the last five years, with the most recent one happening at a metro station in mid 2006. I think everyone is on edge. That being said I think cities and airports around the globe are doing everything they can to try and step up security.
~Emily Zelter
I think that the UK government should place extra precautions in their airports even if the terrorist do not attack the air port. i mean after all, Al-Queda has just lost their leader to the enemy, i know for a fact that Al-Queda members must be angry and plan to retaliate for the U.S taking out their leader, that could lead to another U.S attack or an attack on their allies which could be catastrophic and all precautions should be taken to preserve lives!
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