Big bangs in Bangkok!

The bombs in Bangkok are redolent of the glory days of the IRA; the sheer incompetence is breath-taking. The first of the gang had his collar felt within a few days of arriving. You can be sure that the Thai Police have been applying some gentle persuasion. A huge cache of chemicals for making explosives was discovered shortly afterwards. It was grossly excessive for bomb-making unless they intended to frag the whole of the city, and almost impossible to conceal for long.

The remainder of the gang managed to blow up the house where they were making their bombs. One was left legless when he threw a bomb at a taxi that bounced off a pick-up truck and came straight back at him, one was nicked at the airport, and it seems that one is still AWOL, although it shouldn’t take too long to pick him up (or her; there were reports of a woman living in their rented – now roofless - house).

The puzzle is how they managed to get into Thailand in the first place; who granted their visas? Could this be a brown envelope job?

It seems pretty obvious that Iran was at the back of it all, including the bombs in India and Georgia. The mullahs must know that they are putting Iran in the cross-hairs of the Israelis, so why invite the retaliation that must soon come?

Is it purely a coincidence that the opposition in Iran has just held its first big rally since the leaders were put under house arrest last year? If so, is the reason for the attacks to divert attention from troubles at home?