Terrorism in London?

[akots]

quote:Originally posted by grahamiam
... Anyone heard if the officials have confirmed if it was a suicide bomber or a timing device? Newsies here were not helpful this morning.

They won't tell you, even if they find out. Based on experience in Moscow and Madrid, they never tell, it is classified. Even if they do tell something to the public, this might be not true.

[akots]

quote:Originally posted by kryszcztov
... The existence of the UN, the existence of democracy, the existence of mass-media, the globalization, etc... makes our era unique in a way. ...

So, US can bully the countries in some parts of the world which were even not known to exist when France was on top... And make their troops get to anywhere within 24 hours (I'm not talking about bombers, that's down to 16 hours). That's it for globalization and other stuff IMO.

[Matrix]

quote:Originally posted by romeothemonk

Britain is a constitutional monarchy.

They don't have a constitution.

[yndy]

First let me add my regrets to the London bombings and I'm gratefull that none of you or your relatives were hurt. I do feel sorry for the ones that were hurt or died and for their families.

I'm not going to dig into the 'role of US' dispute but rather into how to successfully combat terrorism. Raw power does not help, it actually increases the likelyhood of terrorist attacks because as the people and nations oppressed by the US (and Allied) intervention cannot war on similar terms they need to resort to other means and terorism is the most convenient one. It's the local terrorism in Iraq and Afganistan and the international terrorism in US, Spain and now UK. It might not be clear if it's Al-Quaeda or not but I assume it is. Simultaneous hits seems to be their trademark, also their intent on targeting the 'average joe'.

I admire the reaction of Uk who apart from cries for revenge, added 'we will not be let down by this'. I guess this is the action to be taken in front of terrorism coupled with precision military strikes and political opennes.

Also I see there are two ways to combat terrorism, one is the way UK finally seems to have dealt with the IRA and the other is the way Israel handles their terrorist threats. Israel is a militarized state and will continue to be indefinitely. I only hope the rest of the world will not follow this route.

Last, I see a clear pattern in these strikes (NY, Madrid, London), there is a significant time lag between which tells me that there is intense preparation behind and that now since the London strike has consummated, preparations for the next one will start. In a year or so there might be Amsterdam, Toronto, Copenhagen, Warsaw, Melbourne, Rome or Bucharest.

[Beam]

Livingstone both has guts and a brain imo.

At CNN today: http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/eu...cks/index.html

London mayor: West fueled terror

London Mayor Ken Livingstone has said that Western "double standards" in the Middle East have contributed to the growth of Islamic extremism and terrorist groups such as al Qaeda.

Livingstone told BBC radio on Wednesday that Western intervention in the Middle East since the end of World War I had been motivated by a desire to control the flow of oil.

While condemning suicide bombings, Livingstone indicated that he recognized the conditions that had led Palestinians to take that route in Israel.

"Under foreign occupation and denied a right to vote, denied the right to run your own affairs ... I suspect that if it had happened here in England we would have produced a lot of suicide bombers ourselves," said Livingstone.

"But I don't just denounce suicide bombers. I denounce those governments which use indiscriminate slaughter to advance their foreign policy."

But Livingstone's comments were rejected by a spokesman for British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

"The Prime Minister and Ken Livingstone have different views of the world and that remains the case," he said.

"Equally, however, we recognize that Ken Livingstone has provided, as an elected official in London, a lead to the people of London at this tragic time -- at the same time as he expresses views which we fundamentally disagree with."

On Tuesday, Blair rejected speculation that British foreign policy had influenced the London bombers.

"When people talk about the links between Iraq, Afghanistan or Palestine and what has happened, yes it is true these people will use these things as an excuse," Blair said.

"My view is that they will use whatever is going on in foreign policy to justify what they do ... or just generally the fact that Britain is an ally of America.

"It is not that their means are wrong but their ends are right. Everything about their ideology and what they stand for is wrong."

Livingstone later praised Londoners' resilience and solidarity in the aftermath of the July 7 bomb attacks that killed 56 people, including the four suspected bombers, and injured hundreds more.

He said the city would never concede to the threat of terrorism.

"London's communities will continue to stand together in condemnation of anyone who attacks the city," Livingstone told London Assembly members.

He said the city's Underground system would likely be disrupted for some time to come. Three of the four bombings occurred on tube trains.

One of the bombed carriages was lifted out of Edgware Road station Tuesday and taken to an undisclosed location for further forensic examination.

Rail operators say the station will probably remain closed for another two weeks.

Transport police said on Wednesday that sniffer dogs had been deployed on the Underground network for the first time.

"They operate just like dogs who search for drugs except they have been trained to sniff our explosives," a police spokesman told the UK's Press Association.

"They have already started patrolling the Tube with their handlers and they will carry on indefinitely."

British Home Secretary Charles Clarke is set to brief parliament on Wednesday on proposed legislation to expand anti-terror laws.

His proposals may include ways to exclude from Britain people who are likely to support acts of terror.

In a bid to tackle homegrown Islamic extremism, British Prime Minister Tony Blair met Muslim leaders on Tuesday. (Full Story)

Blair said that those present -- clerics, lawmakers and business leaders --shared a "strong desire" to "confront this evil ideology, take it on and defeat it by the force of reason."

Lawmaker Shahid Malik, parliamentary representative for Dewsbury where one of the bombers lived, said that Muslims faced a "profound challenge."

"We recognize we've got to work better at confronting those evil voices -- as minute as they are -- inside our communities," he said.

On Monday, British imams issued a fatwa condemning violence that will be read at mosques during prayers later this week. The religious edict ruled that suicide bombings were "vehemently prohibited."

[Socrates]

Yup, "Red Ken" (?) is not as dumb as I thought. The US+UK argument that "whatever we do, terrorists find excuse" leaves me in doubt as for my stand on the issue. I'm sure they'll always find something to express themselves. Another thing I'm sure of, is that for the moment islamic terrorists expressed themselves in the USA, in Spain and in the UK, and are directly threatening other members of the so-called coalition. France, Germany and... Russia (lol) are spared for the moment. It doesn't mean we're safe, far from that. But the later the better.