A Mercedes sedan packed with gasoline, nails and a detonator was discovered in London's bustling nightclub and theater district early Friday morning. British police said if the vehicle had exploded it would have caused "significant injury or loss of life."I can imagine that appeasement-types in Britain and the United States will dismiss the plot as an insigificant distraction in thier efforts to retreat from the battle against militant Islam's anti-Western jihad.
Police were alerted to the situation by an ambulance crew that noticed smoke coming from the Mercedes, which was parked near Piccadilly Circus. Anti-terrorist officials said they were reviewing footage from the many closed-circuit cameras in the central London area and had launched a massive manhunt for the car's driver.
Peter Clarke, the head of London's anti-terrorist police, said it was unclear what the target was. But nearby was a crowded nightclub, "Tiger Tiger," which can hold more than 1,000 people. In this busy, landmark part of central London there are also many theaters and restaurants popular with tourists as well as Brits.
"It is obvious that if the device had detonated, there could have been significant injury or loss of life," Clarke said, adding that the number of dead and injured "certainly could have been into the hundreds."
According to the article:
Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who took over from Tony Blair Wednesday, said the incident underscores the need for constant vigilance by both the public and the police. "We face a serious and considerable security threat throughout the country."We'll see if Brown is able to articulate the nature of the challenges facing Britain as well as Tony Blair did. See my earlier post on Blair's defense of Western values, "Islamist Extremism and the Battle for Global Values," which links to Blair's Foriegn Affairs article from January of this year. See also my post on Blair's announcement that he was stepping down as prime minister.
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