340 Journal of the Spanish Institute for Strategic Studies N. 4 / 2014 Many of the planned attacks that were averted by Western security forces showed some sort of a connection to Pakistan, and have been attributed to the general name of al Qaeda and its allies. In an article for the New America Foundation,59 Paul Cruickshank studied 21 of the attacks, or attempted attacks between 2004 and 2009, and found that in 11 cases, the perpetrators had received instructions from Pakistan, or had been trained there. Of these, special mention must be given to the attacks in London in July 2005,60 the plan to bring down at least seven airliners flying between the UK and the USA which was averted in 2006, and the plan to attack the Barcelona metro in 2008. It is believed that all of these attempted attacks can be linked in some way to al Qaeda in Pakistan. In addition to these, we have the attempt to detonate a car bomb in Times Square, New York, on 1 May 2010.61 Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attempt, and, similarly, its connection with Pakistan is a direct one.62 This dichotomy between what Harun says in his autobiography and evidence of the involvement of al Qaeda or al Qaeda members in Pakistan in international attacks may have an explanation. It is quite possible that when senior members of the organisation had to go into hiding, there was less or absolutely no communication within the group. In this case, second or third-level operatives may have continued with previous plans or come up with new plans for attacks.63 59 CRUICKSHANK, Paul, “The Militant Pipeline”, New America Foundation, 2010. 60 With regard to the latter, in seemingly contradictory opinions, Rohan Gunaratna believes that Ayman al Zawahiri – who claimed responsibility for the attack – was not aware of the plan. Gunaratna’s claims are based on the fact that Zawahiri was slow to make the confession and that there was no statement prepared in advance. On the other hand, Bruce Hoffman is convinced of al Qaeda’s involvement in the attack. See: GUNARATNA, Rohan and NIELSEN, Anders, “Al Qaeda in the Tribal Areas of Pakistan and Beyond”, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, No.31, 2008, pp.705-807 and HOFFMAN, Bruce, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, No.32, 2009, pp.1.100-1.116. 61 MASUIKE, Hiroko, “Times Square Bomb Attempt”, The New York Times, 24 May 2010. In this case, we must point out bin Laden’s concern when the perpetrator of the failed attack, Faisal Shahzad, admitted to taking a failed oath of allegiance to the United States when he became an American citizen. Bin Laden disapproved of this on the grounds that Islam prohibits the breaking of an oath, see SOCOM-2012-0000015-HT, “Letter from UBL to Atiyatullah al-Libi 3”, p.7. 62 When acts are attributed to the TTP on the basis of its own statements, its history for making false claims must be borne in mind. The most notable case was Baitullah Mehsud’s phone call to a media company to claim responsibility for a shooting in New York in April 2009. The individual who attacked an immigration centre was in fact a North American of Vietnamese origin who had no connection whatsoever with the TTP. Similarly, Hakeemullah Mehsud gave himself a disproportionate role in the attack on a CIA base in Khost by a Jordanian double agent; it transpired that the operation had actually been carried out by al Qaeda, see WARRICK, Joby, The Triple Agent, New York, Doubleday, 2011, 186-187. 63 NEUMANN, Peter, EVANS, Ryan and PANTUCCI, Raffaello, “Locating al Qaeda’s Center of Gravity: the Role of Middle Managers”, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, No.34, 2011, pp.825-842.
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