Morning copy 7/22/2005

Terror

Someone was shot on the London subway around 10 a.m. GMT, 5 a.m. EST.

Guardian story. LINK.

Some of the attempted bombers from yesterday were still on the loose. Times Online LINK. Guardian story about would be bombers on the run. LINK.

An East London mosque is now surrounded, according to reports.

James Brandon and John Thorne of the Christian Science Monitor explore young British Muslisms willing to kill and die. CSM LINK. Excerpts:

"When the Muslim Council of Britain [MCB] said 'We must be vigilant,' this pushed [radical groups] underground," says Abdul-Rehman Malik, contributing editor at the Muslim magazine Q-News, based London. As radicals fled to minor mosques and homes, Britain's security services, and even mainstream Muslims, lost track of them.

A militant Muslim cleric predicted additional attacks on Wednesday night. NY Times LINK. Excerpt:

In a wide-ranging telephone interview late Wednesday night, Sheik Bakri also blamed the British government for the July 7 terror attacks that killed at least 56 people on three London Underground trains and a double-decker bus. He said "hundreds" of young, disaffected British-born Muslims now felt compelled to take action in Britain to protest Prime Minister Tony Blair's foreign policy, especially the support of the American-led invasion in Iraq, which they perceive as anti-Muslim.

Did the 7/7 bombers come from Bakri's circle? "Probably not - it's something far more insidious," says Mr. Malik. "It's beyond the Omar Bakris; it's a low rumble."

Police want tough new powers in the wake of the attempted bombings yesterday. Times Online LINK. Guardian account: LINK.

The invaluable source of information from yesterday may well be those devices, apparently all four of them, that did not detonate. Times Online LINK. Excerpt:

“Capturing one of the bombs is often more important than capturing the bomber,” one Israeli official told The Times yesterday. “Once you have got that intact then you can get a signature off it, and learn a lot from that. Once you are content that there isn’t another bomber on the loose you turn to finding out who drove them, who recruited them and so on.”

"Sorrow" and "anxiety" in wider Muslim community in Britain. Guardian LINK.

NY Times tries to define, or explicate, any link between the failed attacks on 7/21 to 7/7. LINK.

One Pakistani perhaps involved in London's first bombing may have also been a part of the effort to set up a jihad training camp in Oregon. Washington Post LINK.

Psychological warfare at the heart of latest attacks. Boston.com LINK.

"ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- President Pervez Musharraf called on Pakistanis yesterday to join a jihad, or holy war, against preachers of hatred and violence and announced steps to rein in militant Islamic schools and organizations." Washington Times LINK.

AFP story on Musharraf. LINK.

Dozens of Gitmo detainees have been on a hunger strike, lasting three days, according to the U.S. Military. BBC News LINK.

Bag inspection begins in some cities, including New York. NY Times LINK.

One congressman that needs to either 1. resign, or failing that 2. not be re-elected.

KUWAIT CITY --Muslims from Indonesia to the Middle East on Wednesday labeled as aggressive and irresponsible a U.S. congressman's suggestion that the United States could "take out" Islamic holy sites if Muslim attackers targeted America in a nuclear strike. Boston.com/AP LINK.

Could someone please explain to me how bombing Medina or Mecca would win this war. And, could you then tell me how threatening to do so, a U.S. Congressman THREATENING to do so, helps in any way? More:

Rep. Tom Tancredo, a Colorado Republican, was asked on a radio talk show Friday how the United States should respond if terrorists struck several of its cities with nuclear weapons.

"Well, what if you said something like -- if this happens in the United States, and we determine that it is the result of extremist, fundamentalist Muslims, you know, you could take out their holy sites," Tancredo answered.

When host Pat Campbell of WFLA-AM in Orlando, Fla. asked if he meant "bombing Mecca," the congressman responded: "Yeah."

SCOTUS

John Roberts is working to convert Democrats to his side, as the most politically sophisticated nomination to the Supreme Court continues. USA Today LINK. Already one convert, replete with religious terminology, is Senator Robert Byrd (D, West VA). Washington Times LINK.

Roberts was the "go to" guy for business as a lawyer. LA Times LINK. Washington Post reports a younger Roberts as a pragmatist under Reagan. LINK. Nominee favors judicial caution, reports the NY Times. LINK.

More tea leaves (NY Times LINK):

WASHINGTON, July 21 - As he makes the rounds of senators who will decide his fate, Judge John G. Roberts has been noncommittal about the kinds of questions he will answer during his confirmation hearings, but has said that if confirmed to the Supreme Court, he will place a high emphasis on "modesty" and "stability."

"I considered his comments on modesty and stability to be highly significant," Senator Arlen Specter...

China's currency reval.

Economist's analysis of the change in currency policy. LINK.

Bloomberg.com's amazing story on the "quiet diplomacy" taking place to get the change in currency policy. LINK.

NY Times analysis: risks, uncertainty. LINK.

More links...

The House voted by a comfortable margin to extend the Patriot Act. Boston.com LINK. House, Senate panels send two different variants of a renewed Patriot Act. Washington Post LINK.

Bush will continue to harp on Social Security today in Atlanta. AJC LINK.

U.N. critical about Zimbabwe's slum expulsion. AP/CSM LINK.

Struggling to work on global warming. Some Senators push the overwhelming inertia. Washington Post LINK.

KR and Scooter Libby were working together on damage control from Joseph Wilson's Op-Ed concerning uranium, Iraq and Niger. Part of this damage control included background work into Wilson's past. NY Times LINK. Also note the lack of quotes in this story.