Early reports said the bombs used in the London terror were "crude," leading invesigators to see a small home-grown conspiracy rather than one of highly-trained, internationally coordinated terrorists. (E.g. NYT, July 9) Now they are saying the reverse. From today's New York Times:

Bombs in London Are Now Called Military Quality

By DON VAN NATTA Jr. and ELAINE SCIOLINO
Published: July 12, 2005

LONDON, July 11 - British investigators believe that the 10-pound bombs used in the coordinated terrorist attacks here contained "military quality" high-grade explosives, British and European counterterrorism officials said Monday.

Investigators said they still did not know whether the explosives contained plastic materials, or were made some other way. But they said the material used in the bombs was similar to the kind manufactured for military use or made for highly technical commercial purposes, such as dynamite used for precision explosions to demolish buildings or in mining.

Because of the small size of the bombs, some investigators initially said last week that they were relatively crude.

On Monday, a senior European-based counterterrorism official with access to intelligence reports said the new information on the material indicated that the bombs were "technically advanced." The official added: "There seems to be a mastery of the method of doing explosions. This was not rudimentary. It required great organization and was well put together."