What if something had gone wrong? We know the bombs were powerful enough to bring down a plane. There would have been outrage at Muslim casualties, and the sense in the Mideast that something must be done about such slaughter. Maybe even Yemen would show some sense of urgency. And heaven knows, someone would find a way to blame Israel.
What if the bomb had made it to its destination at an American synagogue and caused the same amount of slaughter? There would be celebration throughout the Muslim world, as well as tacit approval or rationalization. The people who danced in the streets on 9/11 would be partying like it’s 1399.
For all too many, the difference between lamenting the “terrorists” who defied Allah’s will, killing believers by taking the risk with the passenger jets, and celebrating the muhajedin who carried out Allah’s will by killing unbelievers would have been where the bomb went off. “Dubai bomb was flown on passenger plane,” from BBC News, October 31:
One of the two bombs posted from Yemen last week was transported on two passenger planes before being seized in Dubai, Qatar Airways says.
The device was carried on a Qatar Airbus A320 from the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, to Doha, the company confirmed.
There it was transferred onto another Qatar Airways plane to Dubai, where it was seized by police
The bomb used PETN explosive, which is difficult to detect using normal airport security screening.
A second device was found at East Midlands Airport in the UK. Both bombs were hidden inside printer toner cartridges.
Until now it had been thought that both devices had been transported using cargo planes.
The firms UPS and FedEx had been used to post the devices, which were addressed to synagogues in the US.
The British authorities says the bomb seized in the UK was believed to have been designed to go off during the flight.