The Bombs and the Backlash 07/05

And so the inevitable happened. On the morning of July 7, as rush-hour commuters headed to work in the sunshine, London was hit by a series of simultaneous bomb blasts on the underground (and another shortly afterwards on a bus), killing 55 and injuring hundreds more, with the death-toll looking likely to rise. Al-Qa'ida had brought their bloody terrorist campaign to the heart of the nation's capital. The murder was indiscriminate, the victims arbitrary - colour or religion unimportant.


London had been in euphoric mood before the attacks, having staged the impressive Live8 concert, and just the day before, having been awarded the 2012 Olympics. This had no bearing on the timing of the bombings though. With Tony Blair currently chairing the G8 summit in Scotland, world-leaders including Bush, Chirac and Putin all on British soil, the eyes of the world were already watching us. This is what makes it hard to understand why the security-alert level wasn't at its highest - with so many powerful politicians here and countless police officers north of the border in Gleneagles.

So why are we a target?

We had been told it was not if but when we would be hit and apparently there is absolutely nothing we can do to stop this. Blair has also claimed that the attacks have nothing to do with the war in Iraq. This is a display of breathtaking arrogance. When you declare an unprecedented pre-emptive war on an Islamic nation there are surely going to be factions that fight back. This is the nature of war. It is a two or more-sided grisly affair. After the London bombs, Blair has said that the killing of innocent civilians is 'totally unacceptable', yet under his (and Bush's) orders, nearly 100,000 innocent civilians have been killed in Iraq. Over there they are regarded as 'collateral damage'.

Iraq is the new breeding ground for 'Islamic' extremists and Mr Bush and Mr Blair have given them their cause. The continued killing of Muslim civilians (not only in Iraq) gives al-Qa'ida the potential, which is rising exponentially, for the recruitment of operatives. The extremists are of course completely un-Islamic and to give them a title pertaining to Islam is unfair to Muslims everywhere.

The backlash has already begun with mosques in Leeds, Birkenhead and Bristol being subjected to arson attacks by right-wing groups. The Muslim community should no more be under suspicion for the atrocities in London than the indigenous-white, heterosexual population were in 1999 when right-wing extremist David Copeland was placing nail-bombs in Soho, Brixton and Brick Lane, targeting ethnic minorities and homosexuals. The Muslim community at large have no more influence over the radical extremists than I do over the activities of Combat 18 and their political wing The British National Party. These attacks were an attempt to cause suspicion and mistrust - to divide people. They have sectarian violence in their plans. It is wrong to say that to be critical of the war in Iraq is to legitimise al-Qa'ida's agenda. It has gone beyond that now. We have seen bloodshed on the streets of London, suicide-bombers committing cold-blooded murder that was previously confined to places like Jerusalem, Grozny, Bali or Beslan.

Clearly the War on Terror isn't working. We need to look at our alignment with US foreign policy. We need to address the issue of the withdrawal of Israeli settlements in Gaza with more veracity.

The problems are multi-faceted. They need to be tackled at the root-causes. These suicide-bombers were homegrown. We need to address the poverty and social deprivation of a large majority of the young British Muslim population - the disaffected youth who are vulnerable to being coerced into committing atrocities in the name of a twisted version of the Koran by nihilistic criminals with promises of being martyred for the worldwide jihad, thereby cementing their place in history.

Londoners have of course reacted with bravery and dignity.

Did the cowards of al-Qa'ida really expect anything less?