Wake-up Call: Terrorist Bombing in London
As you know by now, while most of America was asleep, as many as six bombs went off in Central London -- all but one in the Underground (or Tube) subway system. A group saying it's affiliated with al-Qaeda has taken credit for the attacks.
Friends in London report that it's rather chaotic there, but most people are locked down where they are: home, work, or school. The details are still coming in, and I fear, that the casualty count will only grow as the day progresses.
Two quick thoughts:
First, this is a wake-up call for those that may have grown complacent during the past few years of relative quiet. Friday night, a friend of mine noted that this summer is a lot like the summer of 2001 -- news of shark attacks and a missing young woman dominating the news. Then, as it is now, the threat of radical Islamist terrorism is real, and out there. We owe it to ourselves to have a real debate over what we are doing to secure the US and destroy the terrorists -- and take real action to do both. Too many accounts of money wasted, threats ignored, or interests bowed to in the area of homeland security should have us all worried.
Second, as you watch the footage today (or read these survivor tales), note that London -- like New York -- represents everything that al-Qaeda hates: it's a diverse city; indeed, it's one of the few cities of the world. As Tony Blair said this morning, this is an attack on the entire civilized world.
Those are the stakes, and I know that everyone here in Washington (as I am sure New York) and around the country, got a wake-up call today that they they wished they hadn't.
Friends in London report that it's rather chaotic there, but most people are locked down where they are: home, work, or school. The details are still coming in, and I fear, that the casualty count will only grow as the day progresses.
Two quick thoughts:
First, this is a wake-up call for those that may have grown complacent during the past few years of relative quiet. Friday night, a friend of mine noted that this summer is a lot like the summer of 2001 -- news of shark attacks and a missing young woman dominating the news. Then, as it is now, the threat of radical Islamist terrorism is real, and out there. We owe it to ourselves to have a real debate over what we are doing to secure the US and destroy the terrorists -- and take real action to do both. Too many accounts of money wasted, threats ignored, or interests bowed to in the area of homeland security should have us all worried.
Second, as you watch the footage today (or read these survivor tales), note that London -- like New York -- represents everything that al-Qaeda hates: it's a diverse city; indeed, it's one of the few cities of the world. As Tony Blair said this morning, this is an attack on the entire civilized world.
Those are the stakes, and I know that everyone here in Washington (as I am sure New York) and around the country, got a wake-up call today that they they wished they hadn't.
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Anybody take responsibility? Are we sure it is Al-Qaeda and not the IRA? The IRA has a penchant for bomb attacks in London. I am not suggesting that the IRA is responsible but I am not buying into the premise the London bombing was done by Muslim extremists...yet.
July 7, 2005 5:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
According to the AP:
A group calling itself "The Secret Organization of al-Qaida in Europe" posted a claim of responsibility for the blasts, saying they were in retaliation for Britain's involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Web statement, republished on the site of the German magazine Der Spiegel, could not be immediately confirmed.
CNN and Fox are reporting similar news.
July 7, 2005 6:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks MYCmoderate. I wasn't aware at the time a group claimed responsibility, which in fact had actually happened.
July 7, 2005 8:25 AM | Reply | Permalink
While I'm sure complacency is rampant once again, a major reason for that is due to a good portion of the public buying into Bush et al.'s absurd claims about fighting them in Iraq so we won't have to fight them here. While I am saddened that there has been such a successful "attack" in London, in the larger perspective of waking people up to reality, part of my thoughts can't help but react with "Finally!" or "It's about time!" While it's unfortunate in the extreme, I think a successful terrorist act in a Western citiy is the only thing that will ever convince people of the total fallacy of this administration's most recent "justification" for the carnage they've brought to Iraq. I don't know if Blair has been spouting this same excuse of "fight them there so we won't have to fight them here" or not. I do know that it hasn't been more than 48 hours since he was bragging to the Olympic committee that London was the most prepared to ensure a "safe", terror free Olympics. (And I do wonder if this was planned to occur in whatever city won the Olympics). My only concern is that U.S. citizens may be just shallow and blind enough to dismiss it as irrelevant in what passes for their thought processes simply because it wasn't an American city.
July 7, 2005 8:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
We are among you.
You cannot keep us out or 'over there.'
You cannot find us.
We will kill, wound and maim any of you anytime, anywhere.
You cannot stop us.
July 7, 2005 10:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
As Tony Blair said this morning, this is an attack on the entire civilized world.
Bunk. There are lots of diverse cities in the world, cities which were not attacked. Cairo is diverse.
Haven't we gotten over this "they attacked us because they hate our freedoms" twaddle? Since 9/11 there have been numerous scholarly and professional studies of the motivations of Islamist terrorism, and the upshot is that these people attack due to specific political motivations related to current events.
July 7, 2005 7:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
The comments on liberal blogs generally about this event ae appalling. Perhaps the Republicans have been right about us all along. More liberals are blaming Bush than the terrorists. This obsession with Bush is, frankly, sad. I don't like his policies almost unviersally,but he is not at fault here, Islamic extremist mass murders are.
July 8, 2005 6:46 PM | Reply | Permalink