U.S. Official: '99.9% Certain' Russian Plane Was Felled By Bomb

[Purveyor]

Source: CNN

(CNN)Several senior administration officials in the intelligence, military and national security community told CNN the United States is almost positive a Russian passenger jet was brought down by a bomb.

How convinced are they?

One official said "it's 99.9% certain."

Another official told CNN on Saturday: "We believe it was likely brought down by a bomb."

Russia-bound Metrojet Flight 9268 crashed in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula last weekend, killing all 224 people aboard.

The evidence that it might have been a bomb centers to a large extent on British and U.S. intercepts of chatter after the crash from the ISIS affiliate in Sinai to ISIS operatives in Syria around Raqqa.

U.S. and British intelligence have been analyzing the specific language in the chatter to determine to what extent the operatives were talking about the type of bomb and detonator used, and whether that language was a true representation of what happened, one official told CNN.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/07/middleeast/russian-plane-crash-egypt-sinai/index.html

[hlthe2b]

1. Damn, damn, damn...

[ileus]

2. Most were convinced it was terrorism of some sort within 3 minutes.

Connecting the dots was easier than assuming it was a coincidence. Then stating it was terrorism was easier than claiming the tail just happened to fall off a Russian jet in Egypt.

[newthinking]

3. Why does the US keep publically commenting on this?

This information should be being shared with investigators and governments; Not the media at this point. This is being politically played. What is the purpose of doing so?

[bemildred]

5. They want it to have been a bomb.

Wishful thinking, anticipatory schadenfreude, or confirmation bias, take your pick.

But that's all it is.

[PosterChild]

6. Its being commented on by....

.... anonymous sources, not the "US". It certainly is a matter off legitimate public interest. Why shouldn't the news media go after information and make it public? Why shouldn't individuals with knowledge help them do so?

[smirkymonkey]

7. Why do you have such a problem with it?

Most civilian plane crashes are covered by the media in their aftermath. Do you expect the media to ignore it? And it's not just the US, I see more about this in the British press than I do in our own.

[JDPriestly]

10. The US probably knows a lot more than it is telling the media.

The precautions being taken by the British and Russian governments regarding the luggage of the British tourists and the return of their citizens are not trifling matters. They indicate that the British government is taking this seriously and really believes it was a bomb.

It's partly because of the description of the way the plane sort of broke in two. The plane apparently, if the reports are at all true, just broke up. If there had been a mechanical failure it probably would have affected the flight pattern of the plane differently. My mechanically gifted husband said that right after it happened. (I just wish he was mechanically gifted when it comes to fixing things around the house.)

[tabasco]

4. I'm still wondering about TWA 800.

It seems the FBI had an agenda to quash any finding of terrorism.

[forest444]

8. To say nothing of any findings that would point to a Navy missile accident.

They certainly went after the Sanderses (James and his wife, Liz) after they published The Downing of TWA Flight 800.

http://www.cnn.com/US/9712/05/twa.800.theft/index.html?eref=sitesearch

[MowCowWhoHow III]

9. Sinai plane crash: British extremists linked to plot

Sinai plane crash: British extremists linked to plot

British intelligence has alarming evidence that the bombing of the Russian passenger­ plane Kogalymavia 9268 was orchestrated by British ­extremists.

Analysis of “chatter’’ in the electronic surveillance and intercepts immediately after the plane was downed, 23 minutes into its October 31 flight from Sharm el-Sheikh to Saint Petersburg, shows terrorists were celebrating in Birmingham and London accents­.

The claims come amid reports last night that crash investigators are “90 per cent sure” the noise heard in the final second of a cockpit recording was an explosion caused by a bomb.

“The indications and analysis so far of the sound on the black box indicate it was a bomb,” said the Egyptian investigation team member, who asked not to be named.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/sinai-plane-crash-british-extremists-linked-to-plot/story-e6frg6so-1227600849800