Solving 9-20: Questions still unanswered!

The suicide blast that left scores of people dead and hundreds injured raises some very important questions and speculations that need to be answered. There are far too many ambiguities in the chain of events before, during, and even after the attack that raises eyebrows. Here are some of the those questions:

1- The Mysterious US Embassy Truck

2- The Blue-Flamed Fire on 4th and 5th Floor

3- The CCTV Footage That Ends Abruptly

4- The Gas Pipeline Claim

5- The CDA’s Uncharged Batteries

6- Intelligence Reports – Neglected or Planted?

7- Building the case for devaluing Pakistan

1- The Mysterious US Embassy Truck

Why was a US embassy truckload of steel boxes unloaded and shifted inside the Marriott Hotel on the same night when Admiral Mike Mullen met Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and others in Islamabad? This was two nights before the Marriott attack. It is questionable as to why both the main gates (the entrance and the exit) of the hotel were closed while no one except the US Marines were either allowed to go near the truck or get the steel boxes unloaded or shift them inside the hotel. None of the hotel staff or security were authorized to be any where near the truck. Who gave this authorization? Was it the owner Hashwani?

Furthermore, these steel boxes were transported by hand to the 4th and 5th floors of the hotel WITHOUT going through the scanners installed at the hotel’s lobby entrance. Why was this allowed in the first place?

Washington has tried to clear the air by saying that the steel boxes in question were in fact part of the equipment that moves along with any high ranking official’s visit (Admiral Mullen in this case). If this is so then how come no explanation was given at the time these boxes were being transported. Why now?

Read the rest after the jump.

2- The Blue-Flamed Fire on 4th and 5th Floor

The truck loaded with explosives T&T, RDX and Aluminum powder hit the barrier outside the Marriott Hotel. But then how come fire was seen on exactly the 4th and 5th floor with unusual intensity and blue colored flames that could not be extinguished and later burned entire of the Hotel? If the explosives had aluminum powder that created fire (as told my Rehman Malik) then why this catalyst only created fire on the 4th and 5th floor of Marriott? Why not on the road side, the adjacent buildings of Marriott, or the trees along side?

The suicide truck hit the barrier on the LEFT side of the building entrance/gate but fire broke out on the 5th floor on the RIGHT side; exactly above the lobby. What is the explanation for that?

AAJ TV showed footage of uniformed US Marines entering the Marriott AFTER the explosion with the notion of a possible search and rescue operation for the US citizens inside. These Marines were not from the authorized rescue teams. Who allowed them access in the first place? Was it really a search and rescue mission? Doubts cloud this move because the US ambassador in Islamabad had initially announced that there were absolutely no US personnel in Marriott Hotel and no one was residing there but later had to change her statement that maybe there were some US Marines inside the hotel. The statement changed after footage of US Marines surfaced on AAJ TV. Did they go inside to check on or initiate something (an explosion or fire perhaps) or to remove any evidence?

It is evident that the primary intention of those sitting in the suicide truck was to cross the barrier and smack the payload right in to the main lobby of the hotel. An explosion triggered in there would have most certainly ripped the hotel apart and the infrastructure would have fallen like a house of cards. Unlucky for the bombers, the truck was stuck at the barrier and could not go any further. They were left with no choice but to detonate it there and then or risk being caught.

Were the blue flames seen on the 4th/5th floor on the other side of the hotel when the first explosion took place part of the plan? No one would have noticed them had the truck been successful in ramming in to the lobby.

3- The CCTV Footage That Ends Abruptly

The CCTV footage as shown in the press conference by Rehman Malik lasted for exactly 4 minutes and 4 seconds. It starts with the truck ramming in to the barriers and coming to a halt. The guards run back away from the truck only to return to further investigate. After a while, gun shots are heard that are said to be from the guards in an attempt to shoot out the tires of the truck and prevent it from advancing further. This is immediately followed by an explosion in the front seating area of the truck that prompts the guards to run back again. A few minutes passed and one brave guard attempts to extinguish the fire with a portable fire extinguisher but fails. He later puts down the fire extinguisher and runs back away from the truck. This is towards the very last seconds of the footage. The actual explosion is never seen as the footage stops merely seconds before it. Why was this so? If the footage was acquired in the first place, was the major explosion not shown on purpose? What really did happen on those last few seconds that must not be disclosed to the media and the public?

4- The Gas Pipeline Claim

Without any initial investigations so far, there were remarks from sources that the gas pipeline inside the hotel caught fire. This was barely minutes after the incident had just taken place. Was this notification a part of the script to be fed at the right time to the media to throw them off? The statement changed drastically AFTER the investigations when Rehman Malik said that aluminum powder was responsible for the high intensity fires inside. That still does not answer the strange and immediate fire seen on the top floors when only the seating area of the truck was still burning.

5- The CDA’s Uncharged Batteries

The CDA water tankers and fire extinguishers, could not start their water pumps because of uncharged batteries to extinguish the fire on 4th and 5th floor! Now that is funny. Usually such machinery is on high alert standby especially when the President is due to make an important address or even when an Iftar is being hosted by the Prime Minister. Does this mean to imply that the fire department were inadequately prepared to begin with that day or was this on purpose too?

6- Intelligence Reports – Neglected or Planted?

It was also reported that Pakistani Intelligence sources had notified the government two days prior to the suicide attack that there as an imminent threat by suicide bombers in the capital with the next week. If this information was indeed received by the government, how come appropriate steps were not taken to ensure tighter security of important locations such as Marriott. How come road blocks were not put up and the capital clamped down that allowed an explosive-laden truck to roam at will on the roads of Islamabad? More interesting is the fact that several day AFTER the Marriott attack, it is only NOW that these intelligence sources have started saying that not one but actually THREE trucks laden with explosives had entered Islamabad. Are our intelligence agencies THIS proficient that they can’t even count ? Or was this really some thing that was planted to begin with? If these trucks were seen or heard of entering the capital, there MUST be an entry point from where they came in. Who ever knew they entered should also know where they entered from. How come then these three trucks were not apprehended? Granted it is impossible to spot our a suicide bomber that might enter a capital city from any where but how many trucks can go un-noticed? It is seriously flawed! Was this a cover up for the possibility that these explosives were in fact loaded on the truck within Islamabad?

7- Building the case for devaluing Pakistan

The Marriott blast, amid several mixed signals, gave a very strong feeler to the world. This country is NOT safe! Pakistan has been called the most dangerous country in the world. It has recently been declared as the 46th or 48th most corrupt country in the world. Everyone knows that the mere notion of a suicide threat makes our economy and stocks wobble. An actual explosion and that too in the heart of the county ensures that the economy spins out of control! Was this the basic aim of this act? Furthermore, such an incident would benefit the US with regards to gaining more sympathies for their stance that US forces must operate inside Pakistan. Is this why, before any other leader of any country, President Bush offered his sympathies on the blast along with the proposal to send in FBI to investigate the attack? More US feet on Pakistani soil – one way or the other.

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This bomb blast is yet another episode of the US policy to first create terrorists in tribal areas of Pakistan by killing innocent people, villagers, poor civilians creating hatred for the central Govt. & Armed forces of Pakistan. Secondly channeling & facilitating the hatred and urge for revenge by the terrorists created out of innocent but emotionally aroused individuals. Providing the cover and umbrella to the flock of such individuals on the name of organizations headed by Magal Bagh, Baitullah Mehsud, or the TTP with complete logistical and financial support from Mossad, RAW, CIA through the consulates in Afghanistan.

The one who executes the suicide mission never comes to know in whom hands is he/she playing. Never knows who the real targets, instead just plays in the hands of the enemies of Islam & Pakistan. In return, the government has been seen in jubilation and proudly celebrating their success on finding the bomber’s head. Soon the investigation goes in back pages as another explosion rips off tasking the govt. in search of a new head. The never ending cycle of our counter terrorism.

We should get over this mentality and take a good hard look at the geo-political reality of what is actually happening in our world and has been happening for some considerable time.

These questions MUST be answered. The truth must be known. If this episode goes un-noticed, then all hope for a secure Pakistan is already lost.