Is this an Al Qaeda attack?

[bumbleroot]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5810127/
Two Russian Airliners at the same time? Sound familiar?
Anyone hear if this is an Al Qaeda attack?

[Vireil]

If it is terrorist related, I would suspect Chechens rather than AQ.

[bumbleroot]

I think Chechens may have some ties to Al Qaeda as well. However, the one thing that may tip the economic scales in the world today is if Russia were attacked and suffered some economic problems. This would effect the price of oil and could send the world economy into a tumble. For that reason I would think it is Al Qaeda.

[Zolspaz]

Bush planned the attack to insure his re-election.

Bush: Hello, is this Al-Qaeda camp-5?
Al-qaeda: blah blah blah blirrah!
Bush: Ok good! listen up, I'll send you 1-billion dollars to blow up any plane
you can. Just keep me out of it!
Al-Qaeda: Blah blah BLEH! Blelch blimmi Bleh!
Bush: Good! *hangs up*


It's all BUSH'S FAULT! I posted the transcript!

You'll alway's hear it here first, here on EQ.CNN.COM where life is fun
and hidden under the scope of a tiny nuclear umbrella.



Z..

[chukzombi]

Russia has been suffering terror attacks for years, this is just a very big one and tougher for them to play down and cover up.

[Segis]

Originally Posted by bumbleroot

I think Chechens may have some ties to Al Qaeda as well. However, the one thing that may tip the economic scales in the world today is if Russia were attacked and suffered some economic problems. This would effect the price of oil and could send the world economy into a tumble. For that reason I would think it is Al Qaeda.

The Chechen-AQ link has been documented.

Not sure how you make the jump from blowing up Russian planes to affecting world economy through oil prices, though.

[chukzombi]

Russia is the main reason why we have extremely high oil prices right now. They are the largest processor of petroleum and they have been rstricting the supply recently, thus sending prices of oil skyhigh.

[Festivus]

POSTED: 6:01 pm EDT August 24, 2004
UPDATED: 10:49 am EDT August 25, 2004

BUCHALKI, Russia -- Russian officials say it wasn't terrorism.

The country's top security service spokesman said wreckage fragments show there was no terrorist act on board two jets that crashed at nearly the same time Tuesday night, killing 89 people.

Russian officials are looking for what caused two Russian airliners to crash almost simultaneously.

The planes went down after taking off from the same Moscow airport, raising fears it could be a terrorist attack.


The Federal Security Service said it's looking at possibilities such as technical failures, the use of poor quality fuel, breaches of fueling regulations and pilot error. Weather conditions are also being looked at as a possible cause.

Airport officials said flight preparations "were carried out properly."

Officials had earlier expressed concern that Chechen rebels were responsible in an effort to upset upcoming local elections. A rebel spokesman denied any involvement in the crashes.

Both planes vanished from radar about the same time after taking off from Domodedovo airport less than an hour apart.

The first plane, a Tu-134 airliner, was reportedly carrying 43 people when it crashed in the Tula region, about 110 miles south of Moscow, at about 11 p.m. local time. An emergency official said that everyone aboard the plane was killed.


AP Photo

The ITAR-Tass news agency said witnesses reported seeing an explosion before the crash. Rescuers have found the jet's tail.

About 600 miles south of Moscow, fires were reported seen near Rostov-on-Don, near where contact was lost with the second plane, according to The Associated Press.

The second plane, a Tu-154, was carrying 46 people, according to the latest reports, when it disappeared from radar.

About 900 Tu-154s have been built since 1971. The aircraft can carry up to 164 passengers, along with a crew of four. The Tu-134, a standard short-haul aircraft started service in 1967; it carries up to 96 people. (More information on the planes.)

[LairdRagna]

So how does one tell from fragments whether the plane went down due to a system failure or someone ramming it into the ground? And a decision has been released this quickly? The NTSB doesn't work anywhere near that fast, I'm guessing it takes more than 12 hours to definitively say how a plane went down.

[Sakkath]

Originally Posted by chukzombi

Russia is the main reason why we have extremely high oil prices right now. They are the largest processor of petroleum and they have been rstricting the supply recently, thus sending prices of oil skyhigh.

That's not the main reason Chuk. While certainly the handling of Yukos is a factor, its impact is rather minor. The instability in the middle east is a major contributing factor, but has been priced in for a long time. The huge level of oil consumption by the US and increasingly China remains the chief reason that prices are being driven up.

That said, oil is not at previous crisis level prices at the moment. The peaks in the 80's/90's equate to a price of around $80/barrel in todays money.

[chukzombi]

Here is a timeline of terror attacks in Russia.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,129922,00.html

Fast Facts: Terrorism in Russia
Tuesday, August 24, 2004



MOSCOW — A list of terror-related explosions in Russia since December 2002:

2004:

— May 9: A bomb rips through a stadium in the Chechen capital, Grozny, during a Victory Day ceremony, killing provincial President Akhmad Kadyrov, the Kremlin's point man for efforts to control separatist violence in the war-wracked region. As many as 24 people are killed. A Chechen warlord claimed responsibility.

— Feb. 6: Explosion rips through a subway car in the Moscow metro during rush hour, killing 41 people. Authorities suspect a terrorist attack.

2003:

— Dec. 9: Female homicide bomber blows herself up outside Moscow's National Hotel, across from the Kremlin and Red Square, killing five bystanders.

— Dec. 5: Homicide bombing on commuter train in southern Russia kills 44 people. President Vladimir Putin condemns attack as bid to destabilize the country two days before parliamentary elections.

— Sept. 16: Two homicide bombers drive a truck laden with explosives into a government security services building near Chechnya, killing three people and injuring 25.


— Aug. 1: Homicide bomber rams truck filled with explosives into a military hospital near Chechnya, killing 50 people, including Russian troops wounded in Chechnya.

— July 10: Russian security agent dies in Moscow while trying to defuse a bomb a woman had tried to carry into a cafe on central Moscow's main street.

— July 5: Double homicide bombing at a Moscow rock concert kills the female attackers and 15 other people.

— June 5: Female homicide attacker detonates bomb near a bus carrying soldiers and civilians to a military airfield in Mozdok, a major staging point for Russian troops in Chechnya, killing at least 16 people.

— May 14: Woman blows up explosives strapped to her waist in crowd of thousands of Muslim pilgrims, killing at least 18 people in an apparent attempt on the life of Chechnya's Moscow-backed chief administrator, Akhmad Kadyrov, now the region's president.

— May 12: Homicide truck-bomb attack kills at least 60 at a government compound in northern Chechnya.

— April 3: Passenger bus hits remote-controlled land mine in the Chechen capital, killing at least 8.

2002:

— Dec. 27: Homicide truck-bomb attack destroys headquarters of Chechnya's Moscow-backed government, killing 72 people.

[Sakkath]

Chechnya is a warzone, and an absolutely devestated one at that. There are certainly a huge number of attacks on the Russians there, although I'm not sure what point you were trying to make apart from that they have been suffering a large number of attacks. It's also worth mentioning the attack in Oct 2002 where Chechen terrorists took 700+ theatre goers captive in Moscow - it was amazing there weren't many more deaths.

Their support of seperatists in Georgia and Azerbaijan isn't helping them very much however.

[Lurikeen]

MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Traces of explosives have been found in the wreckage of one of the two Russian passenger jets which crashed Tuesday, killing 89 people aboard, Russia's top intelligence agency says.

The two planes crashed within minutes of each other Tuesday night after departing Moscow's Domodedovo Airport, killing all aboard.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe...ash/index.html

This is likely an act of terrorism.

[chukzombi]

They apparently found traces of explosives on one of the planes today. I wouldnt be at all surprised though if is later revealed Russia had those 2 planes shot down to prevent a hijacking incident.

[ShardmoonVer.1]

No way Chuk, Russian missiles dont work very well. Especially after selling all the good parts on the black market.

[Sakkath]

hmm, even if the planes did crash fall out of the sky because of some common maintenance/fuel issue at the airport, it would be in their interests to report it as a terrorist attack.

Certainly the Chechens are willing and able to do this, but something doesn't smell quite right.