London bombers update

Viking Pundit on July 19th: “Did the London bombers know?”

The New York Times today: “Police Debate if London Plotters Were Suicide Bombers, or Dupes”

Within hours of the July 7 attacks here, many British police and intelligence officials assumed that the four bombers had intended to die with their bombs.
But in recent days, some police officials are increasingly considering the possibility that the men did not plan to commit suicide and were duped into dying.
Investigators raising doubts about the suicide assumption have cited evidence to support this theory. Each of the four men who died in the July 7 attacks purchased round-trip railway tickets from Luton to London. Germaine Lindsay's rented car left in Luton had a seven-day parking sticker on the dashboard.
A large quantity of explosives were stored in the trunk of that car, perhaps for another attack. Another bomber had just spent a large sum to repair his car. The men carried driver's licenses and other ID cards with them to their deaths, unusual for suicide bombers.
In addition, none left behind a note, videotape or Internet trail as suicide bombers have done in the past. And the bombers' families were baffled by what seemed to be their decisions to kill themselves.

More speculation and background by Michael Leeden here. Also, let me restate for the record that even if the London terrorists were duped, they’re just as guilty. It’s important, however, for other would-be terrorists to understand the nature of the beast.