[continued from previous message] 
  
 The article alongside suggested that the excursion was cover for Al Qaeda 
 military training. Well, possibly. But isnt it odd that terrorists would go 
 to play and bond where photographers stand on the riverbank taking pictures? 
 Heres an alternative thought. Maybe they went rafting for fun. 
  
 All in all, the reasonable inference is that the young men did not know that 
 they were carrying bombs. It follows that they were duped into carrying 
 them. This is a possibility that The New York Times finally got around to 
 discussing on July 27. The Times account notes that official statements, by 
 police and politicians alike, have so far not explicitly stated that the 
 bombings were suicides. But this fact had, until now, completely escaped the 
 British press, and if you look again at that comment of Jack Straws, its 
 easy to see why. Official statements have obviously been calculated to 
 foster the impression that suicides were involved. Moreover, the response, 
 including the actions leading to the killing of de Menezes, was clearly 
 predicated on the assumption that suicide bombers are about. 
  
 Simultaneity of the bombs would have ensured that the young men could never 
 report on who duped them. In this, it appears that the dupers got lucky. Had 
 he been a bit quicker to catch on, the young man on the bus might have got 
 away. 
  
 Who did it? So far, nobody knows. No credible claim of responsibility has 
 been made. And once the premise of suicide is dropped, no link to Islamic 
 terrorism has been established. So far, no credible suspects have been named 
 - -- including the young biochemist arrested in Cairo. Hosni Mubaraks police 
 are no friends of Islamic terrorists. If they will not deliver that young 
 man to the British, they must have good reasons to believe that he wasnt 
 involved. Their conduct is, at least, creditable so far. 
  
 The credit of British officials, on the other hand, is deeply damaged. In 
 the case of Jean Charles de Menezes, we now know that he was tracked, over a 
 mile, on and off a bus, and allowed to enter the Stockwell Underground 
 station before being challenged, chased, cornered, and shot eight times in 
 the head and shoulder. All this although he was, supposedly, a suspected 
 suicide bomber! What is going on here? The case cries out for an independent 
 inquiry. Meanwhile, The Independent on July 26 ran a small section headlined 
 How the Story Has Changed, listing how various details in the official tale 
 have unraveled. That alone shows clearly that nothing stated officially in 
 these matters can be taken on faith. 
  
 And that goes also for the four young men of July 7. Innocent until proven 
 guilty is a principle of common law. One cannot convict in the presence of 
 reasonable doubt. There is no reason why this should not also apply to the 
 dead. They had friends and families, after all, and in several cases small 
 children who deserve a just accounting of whether their fathers were, or 
 were not, suicide bombers. We cannot offer the four young dead men a fair 
 trial. But we can apply the principle that we would use, if we could. Its 
 actually one of those things, called values, that were supposed to be 
 fighting for in the global clash of civilizations. 
  
 And in this case, doubt as to the actual guilt of Mohammed Sidique Khan, 
 Shehzad Tanweer, Haseeb Hussain, and Germaine Lindsay isnt just reasonable. 
 Its overwhelming. 
  
 [James K. Galbraith teaches at the University of Texas at Austin. He has 
 been watching events unfold in London from elsewhere in Europe.] 
  
 Copyright ) 2005 by The American Prospect, Inc. 
  
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