This report will look at the 2006 London liquid bomb plot, which was “foiled” by the UK government, focus on the roles played by intelligence agencies, and analyze the plausibility of the plot.

Analysis

The “Plot Was Foiled”

On August 10, 2006, the British police arrested 24 terrorist suspects based upon intelligence that “an attack was imminent” in which the suspects were planning to sneak liquid explosives onto five to ten separate transatlantic airliners and detonate them above U.S. cities.

The liquid explosive was to be detonated by a cell phone or MP3 player, after mixing a sports drink with a particular gel-like (peroxide-based) substance, creating a “potent explosive.”[1]

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff was quoted as saying the operation was “well advanced” and “quite close to the execution phase.”[2] The result of foiling the plot was that at British airports, specifically Heathrow, all hand luggage was banned and today, there are still restrictions around the world in taking liquids onto planes.