Three bomb blasts struck the London subway and one tore open a packed double-decker bus during the morning rush hour Thursday. Reports estimate at least 45 are dead and 1000 wounded.…
"A sinister cabal of superior writers."
Blogcritics On London Terror Attacks - Comments Page 2
Article comments
— go to most recent comments26 - Eric Olsen
well put Andrew
27 - SFC Ski
Apparently a website links a group of al-Qaeda supporters to this attack, and they promise more to come.
Of all the countries to hit, Britain has to be one of the worst to pick a fight with.
28 - Eric Olsen
Ski, the claim is quoted above
29 - Eric Berlin
Dawn -- Who are these millions?
Why don't we save our anger for the m-fers who actually exist and who actually perpetrated these horrors?
30 - SFC Ski
Sorry lost track amidst the half dozen similar threads.
And where is Dawn with the by-name list of the millions?
31 - Eric Olsen
you can start by adding up those who opposed the war in Afghanistan just months after 9/11
32 - dietdoc
I can't but think of the ironies of this senseless, misdirected, barbaric attack on innocent people in London. Just last week, was not the citizenry of the city thrilling to the musical talents of the "Live 8" concert and uniting, if only for a brief time, in hope for the world? One week, the people of Great Britain reach out to the poor with open hearts and hopefullness; the next week, they are bombed and slaughtered.
One of the bitter contradictions of the world we now live in is that there is no longer a boundless, limitless hope for the future. While the financially strong countries may try and reach out to weaker countries, we can never hope to assuage the anger and the potential for boundless, ceaseless hate and treachery. There is never going to be a complete pacfioation between the "haves" and the "have nots" - ever.
London revels one day in hope for sharing and capitulation and bleeds the next for a cultural peace that can enerv be realized.
It should sadden us all and resign us all to persevere.
33 - Eric Olsen
excellent Ron, thanks
34 - Dawn
Enabling terrorists by giving them support and safe harbor is as aggregious as committing the crimes themselves.
The millions would be those around the globe and here at home who are so blinded by their universal hatred of our (their own also) government that they can't see the forest through the trees.
I may not support Bush on all things, but I surely do feel that the mantel of this fight he has taken on, is the most important endeavor he could tackle as President. This is not a targeted strike here and there, this is a full scale war of ideology - and has been for decades. It's just finally come to fruition and Bush and Co. seem to be the only group with the stomach for battle.
And yes, GB and Blair are entities I wouldn't want to rile up - many a Islamofacist should being feeling more than a little nervous right now.
35 - Eric Berlin
EO - How many opposed the Afghanistan campaign? Not very many.
I've never been a fan of George W. (as anyone knows who reads my stuff) but I shed a tear when he stood among the rubble of the city I love dearly and announced that the terrorists were going to hear from us.
36 - andy marsh
Thanks EB...glad to know I'm on the "fringe"...I think I'll stay there...
Dawn - you're absolutely right! As is Mr. Dodge...there is NO excuse for killing innocent people ON PURPOSE! Collateral damage is one thing...targeting innocent people is inescusable.
37 - Eric Olsen
not all that many Americans, but many more Europeans
38 - Eric Berlin
Dawn -- You're using an awfully huge brush to paint your statements with.
39 - andy marsh
wouldn't the definition of a broad brush be a statement like "ANYONE who feels this way or says this is blah blah blah...you get the point.
40 - john
how stupid are these terrorists, you think the british people are frightened, scared now? reality is the british will never be moved by bombs, shit happens and a few bombs are never going to move british people to winge and moan, too tough for that, british aint a bunch of pussys like the spanish or the americans bring it on al qaida. you've chosen the wrong nation to mess with.
The british people don't run from a fight never have and never will.
41 - alpha
Dawn. I just haven't seen much terrorist hugging and kissing outside the Arab world. Maybe the US and GB should ask the Isrealis how to deal with crazies who cannot be understood (this side of Mars). Even if they, too, are having some problems.
The other solution is reversed. We, the good guys, get Earth, oceans and waterfalls, spring Lilacs and roses. It is the Arabs that deserve to get to try a Mars Colony (under strict control).
Still, attacking all mosques and Arabs let alone everyone with a turban is not the Anglo-American way. Let us get the bastards and keep our freedom at the same time.
I offer great sympathy to the English who are now suffering the real problem of terror, death and suffering at the hands of organized psychotic devils.
42 - JR
Dawn: It's just finally come to fruition and Bush and Co. seem to be the only group with the stomach for battle.
Bush and Co. don't even have the stomach to send enough troops to do the job, or levy the taxes to pay for the war, or put aside their extremist domestic agenda long enough to truly concentrate on fighting terrorism.
Some of us hate "our government" because we're looking past all the trees of empty rhetoric at a forest of excuses and incompetence.
And yes, GB and Blair are entities I wouldn't want to rile up - many a Islamofacist should being feeling more than a little nervous right now.
And yet, after four years of seeing what Bush is capable of, the Islamofascists go right out and kill a bunch more innocents. That look like they're nervous to you?
43 - Nancy
Alpha: how? How do you determine which muslim is a decent person & which is a terrorist?
44 - valery dawe
>The british people don't run from a fight never have and never will.<
They sure started lots of fights when "Britannia ruled the waves". Usually with people who didn't have much to defend themselves with.
45 - Dawn
Specific terror cells who do not regard human life as anything more than trash may not fear death from GB or the U.S., but I assure you the average Muslims around the world are surely non-plussed everytime one these things happen.
They are scrutinized and marginalized even more than usual. I wonder how long until they turn on their own and begin flushing out the savages within the ranks.
Most people want the basics comforts that life offers - and having those consistently denied because of the actions of a few will most certainly take its toll.
As for those who question my broad generalization - keep in mind there are about a billion Muslims in the world - are you telling me that at least two or three percent of that group aren't either terrorist sympathizers or involved with terrorism?
Not to mention our own brand of self-loathing loonies right here in the U.S. - hell I didn't even mention the traitorous French - can you imagine the numbers there? Sheesh!
46 - Nancy
I have been checking out the various news sources, and I have so far come up with NOT ONE expression of outrage, condolences, sorrow, revulsion, or anything other than support for the actions of these muslim scum. Not one imam, ayatollah, or islamic university teacher, not one muslim authority. Nothing, nada, zip. Faced with resounding silence on the part of muslims worldwide at this behavior, I must therefore conclude they all approve & support it. And they wonder why they are being increasingly viewed as less than human, and their religion with fear & contempt?
47 - John
you must have missed tony blairs speech where he thanked the muslim council of great britain. if you haven't seen any muslim condemnation of the bomb attacks.
48 - Lono
this was dumb. I was in London last year and London is a very very diverse and pro-Muslim place. I should say,wasa tolerant place. All this has done has made the world a more intolerant place towards Islam.
So what was their goal? Just to be dicks? It seems to me that's all that was accomplished this morning. Regardless, we will stand behind Britain without question to ferret out these devils as they stood with us.
in other news, Islamic Fundamentalists just moved back up to first place on my list of hated people... bumping the Christian Right back down to number 2. Mr Dobson, your serve
49 - Jon Sobel
"Some of us hate 'our government' because we're looking past all the trees of empty rhetoric at a forest of excuses and incompetence."
Well said, JR! The real apologists are not those who try to fathom what makes terrorists do what they do, but those who excuse and forgive Bush & Co. for their mishandling of pretty much every challenge they've been presented with. The Taliban? Resurgent in Afghanistan, a country now almost entirely lacking in rule of law outside its capital city. Bin Laden? Still on the loose. "Mission accomplished" in Iraq? Don't make me laugh. The economy? Unlike under Clinton, getting worse and worse for everyone who wasn't already comfortably off. If a Democratic administration had f*cked up this royally, I'd be looking for a third party right now. But the knee-jerk conservatives just smile and nod while a guy who can't even put a sentence together does everything he can to hasten the collapse of America's leadership role in the world.
50 - andy marsh
All you people that want to blame this bullshit on us..us being the coalition of forces that went into Afganistan and Iraq need to think about something...these people have billions and billions of dollars from the black shit under their feet, yet they live like shit! And some how, that's our fault!
We buy that black shit under their feet and the only group of them that lives a decent life style for the most part are the Kuwaitis...and yeah...I've been there...I've been to Saudi Arabia and Jordan and Egypt and a bunch of other places...and I'm telling you, for all the billions they have, only a handful live a life worth a damn...but again...somehow, that's our fault!
We're the infidels...well I'm tired of hearing it...I've been tired of hearing it since 9/11...wake the fuck up...no matter what we do..how much we try to understand...until they stop teaching hate in their schools...you know...those schools that only boys can go to...until THEY step into the 21st century the world's not gonna be safe!
A handful of people on this planet don't like the way we live our lives, so they fly planes into buildings and plant bombs in subways and kill thousands of innocent men women and children and all for what...so they can take their daughters and mutilate their bodies...so they can continue to live in poverty? SO they can continue to teach the hate for the west that they do? How is that the fault of anybody that was in the tubes today? How is that Bush's fault?
51 - andy marsh
I say feed them all ham sandwiches and let them rot from the inside out!
52 - Dave Nalle
Interestingly, one of the areas hit by a bomb was an Edgeware Road neighborhood where a lot of Muslims live and apparently a number of the victims are Muslim. I wonder what impact that will have. BTW, it's also near my old neighborhood.
Dave
53 - Nancy
Ham sandwiches - ?! ROTFLOL! I guess that's one good thing about being non-sectarian: you can eat anything you want.
54 - andy marsh
sorry, couldn't help myself...
55 - Dawn
Good lord people, what does the state of our economy have to do with innocent British people being blown up and terrorized?
Isn't it obvious that terrorists don't discriminate - they kill just to make a statement, the victims are irrelevant.
The only logical solution to dealing with those who deal in death is to eliminate them from the equation.
Maybe Bush and Co. haven't handled each scenario with a 100% accuracy and effectiveness - but the who the hell does? The Israelis have been dealing with terrorists for decades and they still haven't perfected it.
Running and hiding isn't an option and turning a blind eye (like those patsy French, oooh how I loathe their government) isn't an option either.
Striking viciously and defiantly is the only option, and Bush may have chosen a seemingly convoluted path to the eventual demise of the terrorist network, but it was the right kind of path.
Let's not mince words - an Arab nation had to be taken by force and beaten severly about the head and neck - Iraq was, good or bad, the most obvious choice.
A perfect strategy? No, but a reasonable and plausible one.
But let's stay on track, this is about a cruel terrorist attack upon our allies, our most important and staunchest allies. I for one am proud to be a descendent nation of the British - they are brave and stoic. Quite a bloody nice combination if you ask me.
I think most Americans are with them in mind and spirit today as they face the grim task of caring for their wounded and dead. At least they know this nation has their back.
56 - Eric Berlin
Let's not mince words - an Arab nation had to be taken by force and beaten severly about the head and neck - Iraq was, good or bad, the most obvious choice.
So should Turkey be next?
57 - andy marsh
Syria!
58 - JR
Dawn: Maybe Bush and Co. haven't handled each scenario with a 100% accuracy and effectiveness - but the who the hell does?
I don't know. Let's work our way through all the candidates until we find someone who does. We've certainly wasted enough time on the idiot we have now.
59 - Eric Berlin
Andy - So I take it you'd like to invade and occupy your way through the Middle East until a situation arises that is more to your liking?
60 - Eric Olsen
well-put Dawn, thanks
Turkey is about last on that list, EB
61 - Jon Sobel
an Arab nation had to be taken by force and beaten severly about the head and neck - Iraq was, good or bad, the most obvious choice.
I've been seeing this sentiment a lot lately, expressed by seemingly rational people. Once I get past the shivers of disgust, I try to understand in what possible way it could make sense to somebody. I just can't. Terrorists are not nations. Nor are they motivated by mainstream Islam.
Yes, nations sometimes fund and give safe harbor to terrorists, but the terrorists are elusive and slippery and not dependent on any particular national government. That's precisely why they're so hard to combat. Beating up on a nation like Iraq is having the opposite effect to what you're thinking. It's firing up the terrorists and creating more of them.
62 - Eric Olsen
we have discussed this before Jon, you are still looking at the situation too narrowly, I believe. It's the entire region that had to be shaken out of its debilitated torpor
63 - andy marsh
a situation arises that's more to my liking...you mean like...no more terrorist attacks?
OK...if that's what it takes for these people to get control of themselves...I seem to remember hearing that a lot of the insurgents in Iraq right now are coming from Syria...they don't shore up their borders...somebody's gotta do it.
Tell me how to understand them EB! Tell me how there lot in life...with all their billions of dollars is our fault.
64 - Eric Berlin
I don't understand "them," Andy, so I can't help you there. And I never stated that conditions in other parts of the world are the fault of the United States.
Is the US presence in Iraq creating an unending nightmare of terrorist recruitment and quagmire for US troops, or is it the harbringer of peace?
I don't have the answer there, either.
What I did imply was that you can't (always) invade your way to the solution you desire. Setting aside whether it's right or wrong, it's just not possible.
Jon - I largely agree with you, particularly in terms of being taken aback by otherwise rational folk.
65 - Bikram
We Hindus are suffering from Islamic terror for last 1000 years. Britain joined Islamic terror and divided our land. Pakis were given shelter in Britain to terrorise Kashmir. and, now here you are. we call it KARMA. You thought that Islamic evil will be useful to destroy the soviet evil. so in the cold war time, Britain joined uncle Sam to boost Pakistan's terror network,and then come Taliban and BinLaden. And, now here you are. I fully sympathesize British people, and I am as an India, I am with you. We Hindus are fighting against Islamic horror for 1000 years, and we are ready to fight a million year. Just try to open your eye, and read Koran a little bit. Koran will tell you what kind of faith this Islam is. To make things short, Islam killed all the Buddhist in Gandhar(Now Afghanistan), and we Hindus are borne to revenge that. We are going to liberate the land of Bharat from Islam. Then we will go to Mecca to rescue our Shiva Lingam from Islam. Now you guy fight. We are with you.
66 - Jon Sobel
It's the entire region that had to be shaken out of its debilitated torpor
Agreed, but was war (against a country that did not attack us) the only, or even the best, way to accomplish this? The jury is still out on that. Libya seeing the light of nuclear reason - good. Iran electing more hardliners - bad. And then there are the deeper questions - even if it "works," will it have been worth the cost in bloodshed? And will it have been morally justifiable?
67 - Bennett
John - "british aint a bunch of pussys like the spanish or the americans"
Feeling uneducated? Yeah, and the next time England needs help we'll send a few hundred thousand of our "pussy" soldiers over to do the job.
My dad was over there doing that in Belgium, eh?
68 - HW Saxton
Dawn speaking of Islam in general:"They are scrutinized & marginalized even more than usual,I wonder how long until they turn on their own and start flushing out the savages in their ranks". Good question Dawn. I hope it's very soon as it's one of the only things that can really give us an advantage over the always growing hate movement being taught in the Muslim schools these days.
69 - Eric Olsen
those are very reasonable questions Jon: in some ways I am less sure than at the time of the invasion (the future of Iraq itself), but in others even more so (the future of the region), despite the very real and tragic costs
70 - andy marsh
Jon Sobel - you say they didn't attack the US...the way I remember it...this started in 1991 when Iraq attacked a US ally...the very tiny country of Kuwait...we came to their rescue...we fought the fair war...we did not try to conquer an evil dictator. We just helped out a friend. Pushed the Iraqis back into their own country and then Iraq surrendered, made promises at the peace table and didn't keep any of those promises...and it wasn't just WMD's...it was a whole slew of shit...but of course...that's all conveniently forgotten...like I mentioned before...the asshole had a plot to assassinate this sitting presidents father who just also happened to be a US president...but forget all that...let's just shake his fucking hand...let byegones be byegones...what a bunch of shit!
71 - Eric Berlin
Great thoughts, Jon & EO: I share that ambivalence... if that's the right term. Both hope and fear spiraling around one another.
I also think the US has to do a better job of building coalitions, making friends, presenting a friendly face, and so on, as opposed to just opening up the bomb salvo death and dance destruction party.
72 - JR
They are scrutinized and marginalized even more than usual. I wonder how long until they turn on their own and begin flushing out the savages within the ranks.
Yeah, 'cause I saw on TV how if someone gets knocked on the head and loses their memory, you can knock them on the head again and it will come back.
So, the way I figure it, if we just marginalize them an even number of times (which would be an odd number of times more than usual), we'll be good.
73 - Bikram
We Hindus do not understand why on earth Islamist are allowed to run their religious school of hatred in the heart of London. Once we went to ask them if we can do Yoga in their schools. they said, Islam does not allow Yoga. We asked why? They said, Yoga will open the door to hell. We asked, what hell? They said, Yoga will open the door for asking questions about God, about self, and these are prohibited in Islam. The problem with Islam is that it just does not want to change. It is a like a big Dinosaur, Very big, but does not know what to do with the changing world. This is very serious problem for all of us including are Muslim brother/sisters. We need to do something to change Islam.
74 - Eric Olsen
good point, and I hope you get your lingam back
75 - Jon Sobel
this started in 1991 when Iraq attacked a US ally
Kuwait, as I understand it, was a nation created to secure an oil supply for the West. And who mentioned anything about shaking Saddam's hand? That's in your own head, Andy. Anyway, we wouldn't have needed to shake his hand since we'd propped him up for all those years in the first place. Then when it was convenient to use him as the punching bag to "shake up the region," and the U.S. populace was all fired up from 9/11 and the alleged WMDs, it was time for Saddam to go.