DUBLIN, IRELAND – What is the point of calling in a bomb threat if you don’t give enough info to stop it?
I’ve always wondered why a terrorist group goes to all the trouble to warn of an attack. Isn’t this strategy kinda counterproductive? I mean, terrorists want to kill and maim, don’t they? Wouldn’t a phone call saying a bomb is to go off at a certain time undermine that desire?
Maybe this is all a show, a type of ‘we can do whatever we want whenever we want and you cannot do a damn thing about it!’ Maybe it is all about slowly bleeding the state since responding to these warnings, some of which may be fake, is a drain on resources and morale. If so, it has an effect after all in support of the terrorists’ intentions.
The IRA in Ireland was famous for this tactic. But they were not the only ones and this tactic did end up lethal when things went badly.
On this day in 1973
A male caller with an English accent, likely tied to the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), rang a telephone exchange and warned that a bomb was about to explode. Unfortunately the details on the location were not specific and a bomb did go off outside a pub, killing a 21-year-old bus conductor, Thomas Douglas, and wounding 14 others. The streets were busy at the time in light of an Ireland–New Zealand rugby match.
Listen love, there is a bomb in O’Connell Street at the Bridge.
Warning placed at the telephone exchange
The Troubles were bad enough for Ireland without throwing in useless advanced warnings. The deceased was from Stirling, Scotland and had only been in Dublin for four months when he was killed by the shrapnel. To what end?
Read More Today in Terrorism
May 31, 1906: Spanish anarchist bombs royal wedding
On May 31, 1906 a Spanish anarchist threw a bomb hoping to hit King Alfonso XIII, killing 24 and wounding more than 100.
May 30, 2009: Anti-government group bombs TV station in Ecuador
On May 30, 2009 two pamphlet-bombs exploded outside an Ecuadorian TV station and ministry: no victims or significant damage ensued.
May 29, 2016: ISIS uses chlorine gas in terrorist attack
On May 29, 2016 35 civilians were wounded in an ISIS attack using rockets containing chlorine gas in Iraq’s Nineveh Province.
