Al-Qaeda documents left on train

[eppur_se_muova]

Source: BBC

A police inquiry has been launched after top-secret documents containing the latest government intelligence on al-Qaeda were left on a train.

The documents belonged to a very senior intelligence official working in the Cabinet Office.

A passenger on the train from Waterloo in London to Surrey spotted an envelope the papers were in abandoned on a seat and handed the documents to the BBC.

A full-scale search for them had been launched by the Metropolitan Police.



Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7449255.stm

---

Looks like our own DHS doesn't have an exclusive lock on sheer inept boobery.

[OregonBlue]

1. I LOVE IT. Hope they report what was in it without actually breaking any laws.

[Doctor_J]

2. I thought Al Qaeda left some documents on a train

Campaign literature for Obama, of course :eyes:

[BrklynLib at work]

3. That is what I thought the post was about

[uppityperson]

4. Different story than I thought from headline. k&r for "UK TOP SECRET"

Thought it would be some crayoney drawing saying "al-qaeda, go here" sort of thing. To find out it was gvt who left it, about investigations, criminey!

[rosesaylavee]

5. Ooops

edit: should have read the OP more thoroughly first. Thought our Al Qaeda OPs left the stuff.

What do you want to bet these 'abandoned' docs detail how they and Iran are out to git us?

[frickaline]

6. Makes you wonder if they were left there by accident or on purpose.

[Indenturedebtor]

7. My first thought as well

But then why launch the police search?

Funny stuff heh. I'm sure some of it will out!

[frickaline]

8. Well, one possibility:

This high ranking official could be a leak to some recipient of this information. One way to pass the information over to another would be to "abandon" it in a prearranged location. If his recipient didn't receive the information, he would know. He would have to launch an investigation or he wouldn't look particularly clean.

Perhaps it was just an oversight, but what kind of official would be this careless with secret documents?

[Indenturedebtor]

9. Seriously... sounds like a great way to lose your job n/t

[Wednesdays]

10. How about THIS for a headline?

"Secret al-Qaida, Iraq files found on British train"

See? Whoever said there was no connection between Iraq and al_Qaida? :eyes:

Article:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080611/ap_on_re_eu/britain_lost_documents

[Barrett808]

11. Secret documents left on train (UK top secret, "damning" assessment of Iraq forces)

Source: ITV

Secret Whitehall documents relating to al-Qaeda and Iraq were left on a train in London, it has emerged.

The Cabinet Office has confirmed that the Metropolitan Police has launched an inquiry into the incident, which occurred on Tuesday.

It is understood that the two documents - both marked "Secret" - relate to al-Qaeda in Pakistan and the security situation in Iraq.

...

Mr Gardner said the envelope was picked up by a passenger, who found it contained a seven-page document setting out the latest Government assessment on the Islamist terror network al-Qaeda, along with a "top secret and in some cases damning" assessment of Iraq's security forces.

Read more: http://www.itv.com/News/Articles/Secret-documents-left-on-train-141058160.html

[ck4829]

12. I can understand why it was secret

Things aren't going so well in Iraq, are they?

K&R.

[stillcool]

13. I don't remember a time

in 5 years that things were going well. They report the number of deaths declining but they don't report on the increase of bombing missions in the last 2 years.

Massive U.S. air strikes pound insurgent havens south of Baghdad
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/01/10/news/Iraq.php
By Hamza Hendawi, The Associated Press

ZAMBARANIYAH, Iraq - U.S. warplanes unleashed one of the most intense air strikes of the Iraq war Thursday, dropping more than 18,000 kilograms of explosives in a thunderous 10-minute onslaught on suspected "al-Qaida in Iraq" safe havens in Sunni farmlands south of Baghdad.

The mighty barrage, recalling the Pentagon's "shock and awe" raids during the 2003 invasion, appeared to mark a significant escalation in a countrywide offensive launched this week to try to cripple remaining insurgent strongholds.

U.S. warplanes pound southern Baghdad outskirts
Thu Jan 10, 2008 4:06pm EST
By Peter Graff

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. warplanes launched their biggest air strike in Iraq since at least 2006 on Thursday, bombarding date palm groves on Baghdad's southern outskirts with more than 40,000 pounds of bombs in a matter of minutes.
-------------------------------
"Thirty-eight bombs were dropped within the first 10 minutes, with a total tonnage of 40,000 pounds," the military said in a statement. "Each bomber passed over twice and the F-16s followed to complete the set."
----------------------
U.S. forces spokesman Maj. Winfield Danielson said Thursday's air strike was the biggest in Iraq since at least 2006. A spokeswoman for U.S. forces in central Iraq, Maj. Allayne Conway, said it was too soon to assess the damage inflicted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL1069138220080110?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

US Doubles Air Attacks in Iraq
By Charles J. Hanley
Associated Press
June 5, 2007
http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issue ...
Four years into the war that opened with "shock and awe," U.S. warplanes have again stepped up attacks in Iraq, dropping bombs at more than twice the rate of a year ago. The airpower escalation parallels a nearly four-month-old security crackdown that is bringing 30,000 additional U.S. troops into Baghdad and its surroundings - an urban campaign aimed at restoring order to an area riven with sectarian violence. It also reflects increased availability of planes from U.S. aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf. And it appears to be accompanied by a rise in Iraqi civilian casualties.
In the first 4 1/2 months of 2007, American aircraft dropped 237 bombs and missiles in support of
ground forces in Iraq, already surpassing the 229 expended in all of 2006, according to U.S. Air Force figures obtained by The Associated Press.
"Air operations over Iraq have ratcheted up significantly, in the number of sorties, the number of
hours (in the air)," said Col. Joe Guastella, Air Force operations chief for the region. "It has a lot to do with increased pressure on the enemy by MNC-I" - the Multinational Corps-Iraq - "combined with more carriers."
--------------------------------
Examples of attacks, as reported in the Air Force's daily summary:
-Last Friday, an Air Force F-16 fighter dropped a guided 500-pound bomb near the northern city of Tal Afar that destroyed a vehicle laden with explosives to be used as a bomb.
-The day before, an F-16 dropped a similar bomb on "an inaccessible building being used by insurgents" near Samarra, north of Baghdad, with "good effects."
-Last Wednesday, another F-16 dropped bombs on "an illegal bridge and an insurgent vehicle in Baghdad."
http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/iraq/occupation/2007/0605bombardment.htm

[T_i_B]

14. This story was even bigger on the TV news last night......

....then Gordon Brown's bill to introduce 42 day detention for terror suspects only passing with the assistance of the DUP and UUP.