Brian Maloney Continues On The Bombing In Port of Spain

Brian Maloney, who doesn't seem to have lived in Trinidad and Tobago, responds to my observation that he is being sensationalistic. Well, he is. He claims a lot of experience in Trinidad and Tobago (his link), and maybe doesn't realize that he is discussing this with... someone from Trinidad, who still has a permanent residence there... and can be in the country in less than 2 hours from Guyana. While I don't claim to be an expert, I have lived in and am still in the region of Trinidad and Tobago - and have even been noted for contributing toward informing people properly about the region. Fortunately, other Trinis are helping with the Wikipedia entries, and they deserve more credit than I now.

I don't know what his experience with Trinidad and Tobago is, but I sincerely doubt that he has more experience than people living in the region. His response, and some feedback from me.

...the government has bent over backwards to placate Muslims in the country for many years. Admitting this is a terrorist action by Al-Qaeda members or sympathizers means facing the failure of this policy to prevent further violence...

And claiming denial of the government is the same Catch-22. We have to realize that, despite opinions, nobody knows.

...Taran admits that mishandling evidence put a damper on the investigation, so downplaying its origin becomes necessary for police. Trinidad's police have been notoriously inept over the years, to the point where the government had to call in Scotland Yard for retraining...

I didn't *admit* anything - I accused. The analysis still doesn't stand scrutiny because it has as little evidence as the Trinidadian police have. It is not a sound theory at this point, and requires evidence.

...Declaring it a "criminal action" echoes the language of Howard Dean and American Democrats. Of course it's terrorism. The speed with which they ruled it out is laughable, despite having no other real theory...

Now that is a reasonable assessment, especially given the lack of validity of anything found on the crime scene. But it still doesn't make it a terrorist attack, ESPECIALLY since nobody has claimed responsibility.

...News accounts have politicians decrying societal decay, as though it's a problem with common criminals. Coming just days after London, however, it's too big of a coincidence to ignore, given the radical Muslim element in the country.

If Trinidad regularly had bombings linked to criminals, that would be one thing, but this is not common in the country.

Second-guessing the bombing location doesn't provide insight, either. It was placed in a busy city location, near parliament. That's where you'd expect a terrorist to operate...

The key difference between Mr. Maloney's observations and my own at this point? I'm not saying that it went either way. There are no facts to support anything. And while some could say that bombing hasn't been linked to criminals, there have been bombs found in Trinidad and Tobago (they just didn't make it onto the internet, Mr. Maloney), and while the bomb was *near* the Parliamentary House - the truth is that an upset employee could have made a homemade explosive as well. Mr. Maloney, you have no facts - and it's writing such as this which clouds issues and makes people come to conclusions without... facts.

People in Trinidad and Tobago aren't country bumpkins. There are suspicions, but there are no facts. It's the facts that we are trying to obtain through the media and observations of weblogs in our area.

And no matter what claimed expertise one may have, to discount natives because one proclaims 'expertise' seems nothing short of hubris.

As we say in Trinidad: Who is you?