Did London Bombers Intend To Die?

Experts Bewildered By Evidence Linked To July 7 Attackers

(CBS/AP) 
The July 7 bombers could simply have been cautions, said Alex Standish, editor of Jane's Intelligence Digest. Also, the least expensive Luton to London ticket costs only about 15 cents more for a return fare.

Palestinian suicide bombers often leave videotaped messages. But the July 7 attackers grew up in Britain and would have known their families could be charged as accessories if told of the planned attacks, Standish said.

The fact that they carried identification — cited by some as evidence they planned to flee — was more likely designed to ensure the world would know who they were, he said.

"This is not something which is done secretly," Standish said of suicide bombings.

Although London police have not yet said whether the July 7 attacks were linked to the failed attacks July 21, police chief Ian Blair did say there was a "resonance" between the two.

In the latter attempts, it's clear at least some of the bombers expected to die — they lay on top of their explosives, which failed to go off.

Abisha Moyo saw one attempted attack on a subway train. He told the Daily Mail newspaper he broke off a cell phone call when he heard a noise like a pistol shot.

"I turned around and there was a man lying on the ground with his arms outstretched in a Jesus Christ position, lying on top of a medium-sized black and green rucksack, face up," he said. "I thought he might have been shot. I went up to him and said: 'Are you all right mate?' But he just ignored me."

London police would not comment into whether they were looking into the possibility that the July 7 attackers had not intended to die.

But Standish said none of his police contacts have indicated that they think July 7 is anything but a suicide attack.

"These guys were mass murderers," he said. "They intended to carry out what they did. If they were innocent dupes or fooled? I think that's a cockeyed theory."

However, Beaver said there are too many questions to know for sure.

"The answer is right now this is really all speculation, and we really won't know until the forensic evidence is in," he said.