Thursday, July 07, 2005
London
Update 11: Another reader, De andere kijk, writes:
Update 10: A reader and UK expat James A writes: "I'm hoping the political sniping back home doesn't get vicious as a result of this. My opinion of George Galloway will go up a few notches if he waits till monday before opening his trap."
C'mon James, you might have hoped, but you knew this was never going to happen:
The best reaction from one of the government ministers? Galloway is "dipping his poisonous tongue in a pool of blood".
Update 9: Is there a blogger not writing about the London attacks at the moment? Lots of posts at Tim Blair's and LGF, just scroll down; a huge round-up at Instapundit; some thoughts at Terrorism Unveiled.
Update 8: Call it the British phlegm:
Pretty bad tactical mistake there - Iraq is unpopular, Afghanistan is not. Call for withdrawal from Iraq, and you're merely echoing public sentiment; call for withdrawal from Afghanistan, and you suddebly remind everyone about the war on terror, Al Qaeda, bin Laden, Taliban - all the nasty things that even the French and the Russians are united against.
Update 6:
It's barbaric enough, Tony, without any need for "particularly". Terrorists couldn't give a stuff about poverty or environment, they just like to kill. That's the difference between them and us, but you know that already.
Update 3: Tony Blair: "Our determination to defend our values and our way of life is greater than their determination to cause death and destruction on innocent people to impose their extremist values on the civilised world."
Update 2: "The first confirmation that these are being treated as terrorist attacks and the prime minister is sending two messages - firstly of course of sympathy for the victims, and secondly a message of defiance to the terrorists. The visible evidence is that he will return to London in a couple of hours to be briefed by senior officers and then return to the G8 summit later to carry on. All leaders seem to have decided not to give the terrorists what they were looking for - the cancellation of the summit."
Update: Courtesy of BBC:
08:49 police called to Liverpool Street station after reports of bang
Blasts also reported at Aldgate East, Edgware Rd, Kings Cross, Moorgate, Russell Square tube stations
10:14 Reports of blast on bus at Tavistock Square
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Paraphrasing Le Monde after 9/11: We are all BritishAs we indeed we are. Unlike Le Monde, however, we'll remain so for more than a few days.
Update 10: A reader and UK expat James A writes: "I'm hoping the political sniping back home doesn't get vicious as a result of this. My opinion of George Galloway will go up a few notches if he waits till monday before opening his trap."
C'mon James, you might have hoped, but you knew this was never going to happen:
No one can condone acts of violence aimed at working people going about their daily lives. They have not been a party to, nor are they responsible for, the decisions of their government. They are entirely innocent and we condemn those who have killed or injured them.You can always count on Gorgeous George to agree with the terrorists. Iraq and Afghanistan? Wow. Should have left those peace-loving Taliban and Al Qaeda in peace. But sice the jihadis in their official statement forgot to mention a few things, Galloway helpfully added in his address to the House of Commons that it's not just Afghanistan and Iraq, but also Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. So the Secret Organisation Group of Al-Qa’ida of Jihad Organisation in Europe, pick up your act and stick to the full set of talking points, will you?
The loss of innocent lives, whether in this country or Iraq, is precisely the result of a world that has become a less safe and peaceful place in recent years.
We have worked without rest to remove the causes of such violence from our world. We argued, as did the Security Services in this country, that the attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq would increase the threat of terrorist attack in Britain. Tragically Londoners have now paid the price of the government ignoring such warnings.
The best reaction from one of the government ministers? Galloway is "dipping his poisonous tongue in a pool of blood".
Update 9: Is there a blogger not writing about the London attacks at the moment? Lots of posts at Tim Blair's and LGF, just scroll down; a huge round-up at Instapundit; some thoughts at Terrorism Unveiled.
Update 8: Call it the British phlegm:
Workers in the city of London are still trying to take in what has happened. And almost every pub around Liverpool Street is packed with people wanting to watch the One o' clock news.Update 7: More: "Rejoice, Islamic nation. Rejoice, Arab world. The time has come for vengeance against the Zionist crusader government of Britain in response to the massacres Britain committed in Iraq and Afghanistan... We continue to warn the governments of Denmark and Italy and all crusader governments that they will receive the same punishment if they do not withdraw their troops from Iraq and Afghanistan."
At the East India Arms, a small pub on Fenchurch Street, bankers quietly sipped their pints of Young's bitter while listening to the news and watching the pictures of how their city has been changed. Those in the pub were recounting tales of the morning's events, some of them speculative, much of it rumour. When the prime minister's statement came up on the news the pub almost immediately fell silent.
However, the strange thing is that despite this terrible attack, there really is an air of people just trying to get on with things. As soon as the prime minister stopped talking, the pub erupted in conversation with all the usual talking points - contracts, deadlines and projects.
Pretty bad tactical mistake there - Iraq is unpopular, Afghanistan is not. Call for withdrawal from Iraq, and you're merely echoing public sentiment; call for withdrawal from Afghanistan, and you suddebly remind everyone about the war on terror, Al Qaeda, bin Laden, Taliban - all the nasty things that even the French and the Russians are united against.
Update 6:
Al-Qaida terrorists today claimed responsibility for the London blasts on an Islamic website and said that “Britain is burning with fear”.Update 5: Remember all the post-9/11 conspiracy theories how all the Jewish workers at World Trace Center didn't turn up to work that day? Now, a slight twist:
The unverified claim, made on the Al-Qal’ah – Fortress – internet site, was posted by a group calling themselves the Secret Organisation Group of Al-Qa’ida of Jihad Organisation in Europe.
The message, posted this morning, said: “The heroic mujahidin have carried out a blessed raid in London.
“Britain is now burning with fear, terror and panic in its northern, southern, eastern, and western quarters.”
Israel was not warned about possible terror attacks in London before at least six blasts ripped through the city, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said today.Update 4: Blair, again: "It's particularly barbaric this has happened on a day when people are meeting to try to help the problems of poverty in Africa, the long-term problems of climate change and the environment."
A Foreign Ministry official had said earlier that British police warned the Israeli Embassy in London of possible terror attacks minutes before the first explosion.
“There was no early information about terrorist attacks,” Shalom told Israel Army Radio. “After the first explosion an order was given that no one move until things become clear.”
Israel was holding an economic conference in a hotel over the underground stop where one of the blasts occurred. Israeli Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was supposed to attend the conference, but “after the first explosion our finance minister received a request not to go anywhere,” Shalom said.
It's barbaric enough, Tony, without any need for "particularly". Terrorists couldn't give a stuff about poverty or environment, they just like to kill. That's the difference between them and us, but you know that already.
Update 3: Tony Blair: "Our determination to defend our values and our way of life is greater than their determination to cause death and destruction on innocent people to impose their extremist values on the civilised world."
Update 2: "The first confirmation that these are being treated as terrorist attacks and the prime minister is sending two messages - firstly of course of sympathy for the victims, and secondly a message of defiance to the terrorists. The visible evidence is that he will return to London in a couple of hours to be briefed by senior officers and then return to the G8 summit later to carry on. All leaders seem to have decided not to give the terrorists what they were looking for - the cancellation of the summit."
Update: Courtesy of BBC:
08:49 police called to Liverpool Street station after reports of bang
Blasts also reported at Aldgate East, Edgware Rd, Kings Cross, Moorgate, Russell Square tube stations
10:14 Reports of blast on bus at Tavistock Square
A bus was ripped apart in an explosion in central London today and several blasts rocked the Tube network leaving dozens of people injured.The underground explosions were initially blamed on power surges, but since the incident took place at 8.49AM, that's a bit too much of a coincidence with September 11. Besides, taken together with at least one exploding bus, we're seeing Great Britain's very own Black Thursday. It's probably not a coincidence either that the attack took place one day after London has won the right to host the 2012 Olympic Games.
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