Eric, You had wrote such a long post, but I imagine the last sentence is what you want me to respond to.
>> do you believe there is any possibility that the explosion was caused by a terrorist group - or do you think that such a premise is nonsense?
Last night I went back to read all the stories in NY times, CNN, etc.... And watch some news channel coverage.
1- it is amazing how few news items there are. There were more news articles about the Kursk, and that was out of sight under water in siberia. This ship is in plain view in a port. The news is practically non-existent. And they just are quotes from Pentagon officials. It seems that hardly anyone bothered to send a reporter to the area. There is just one photo, and the zoom stops very short of showing much detail.
2- The missing sailors. Not a word about that. Not even "the search is continuing". Look at CNN's top stories for this morning. There is nothing additional. Apparently they have moved on to newer news.
3- Let's say it was a bomb on the small service boat. Apparently there was a "flotilla" of service boats working in the area. If there was a bomb external to the ship, which can nearly destroy a destroyer, how would it not disturb the "flotilla". You'd think that the explosion would radiate in a spherical shape away from the point. Only a small part would hit the destroyer. Most of the shock would be in other directions. An explosion that rips inch thick steel should have destroyed all the other small boats in the area.
4- Did none of the horde of enterprising news-people (who were going after each drop of "dna material" on ML's dress) think of going to the scene and talking the local people there ? Or are they prevented ? Have you seen a single such news item ?
5- The news are now saying it was a 400 pound bomb. Have they seen it ? They should say "the damage is such that a 400 lb bomb must have caused it". And then try to confirm or disprove the hypothesis.
I think there is a strong likelihood that there was an external event that caused an internal bomb to explode. But I think the total absense of first-hand reports indicates that all the "news" is coming from one official source, and they are not saying anything of substance. What would it take for a reporter to go to the port and compile reports from people who were present at the time ? They sent reporters to show grieving relatives. Is that where the news is, or in Aden ?
To answer your question, I just don't know, and I can see that information regarding this event is being managed very tightly. The fact of the missing sailors is also very puzzling. And the exent of the damage. Described as running all along the length of the ship. I would think an external blast would be mostly absorbed by the shell, and the effect would be muted and decay quickly over a distance.
Back to the terrorist group. Yes I think there is a chance. In the same way that anything is possibe. But if a group wanted to blow up a ship, there are many thousands of opportunities every day around the world. They would have to be positioned in that particular port just waiting for this opportunity. Is that part of their mode of operation ? It does not make sense to me.
Sarmad |
