Terrorist Attack in London

Shadow_Dancer · Post by **Shadow_Dancer** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 5:14 pm

For anyone who hasn't seen the news, there was a terrorist attack in London that has killed at least 33 people. The senselessness of these attacks just makes my mind reel. I can hardly find the words to express my sorrow.

CNN Report

To all of our British members, my heart and prayers go out to you.

Cyd

taekwondodo · Post by **taekwondodo** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 5:59 pm

Just been talking to some people in London on IM, hearing about the panic and the gridlock and trying to track down friends and loved ones. Can't imagine the absolute horror, the total loss of any feeling of personal safety and security, that something like that would create. And that people justify it with their religion. ><

Just hoping so hard the death toll doesn't go any higher.

Crocodile Hunter · Post by **Crocodile Hunter** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 10:12 pm

Just saw 1h news flash about it.
And it happened just after british got the information about olympics etc.
_

and they said that the one's whom are suspected to blowed it up were Al-Qaida members.

World is a fucked up place.

Im feeling sorry for the britt's though.

its pretty big crush, considering that in biggest news paper of this country there was about 12 pages about what happened.

littlebamf · Post by **littlebamf** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 8:55 pm

There are a lot of rumours flying about and it's all that's on the news....I'm really cut up about what;s happened, and my heart goes out to the people who were caught up in it...Birmingham's on a high state of alert and there were police about a lot today.
My boyfriend was in London at the weekend and I'm so glad it was only the weekend as I'd have freaked out if he'd been down there when it happened...

The city is getting back up and running, but it's slow. My dad's gone down there as he drives trucks and he won't be back for hours because of the traffic, and I'm a little worried even though I know the security is gonna be so tight.

I heard the first report on the radio, and it was about what they thought were power surges on the Underground, then when I went downstairs and saw the bus on the television my blood just ran cold. I live in Birmingham, which is a way aways from London, but it's the second city and I was scared to go out yesterday. Poeple have been playing pranks, phoning the police and pretending there's a bomb somewhere - one about a mile away from my own house and it just makes me so sick to think that people can do that, when so may have died and have lost their loved ones. A lot of people I know are really angry - I went on msn yesterday and almost every screen name was one of anger or confusion...

I'm proud to be British at this time, the country is holding up good and we won't let it beat us. Thanks everyone for your support as well.

KittyWillow · Post by **KittyWillow** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 9:37 am

I'm proud of our country too. we are strong and will not be intimidated.

My feelings are with all the families affected by this atrocity.

49 people are reported dead now with people still missing.

Thankyou for all the support from you guys over sea!

kladyelf · Post by **kladyelf** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 4:26 am

last i checked the death toll has gone beyond 49 *sigh*

prayers, hugs and good thoughts from Australia to Britain :hug

JUSTOOGOOD · Post by **JUSTOOGOOD** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 12:57 am

It's heart warming to read all the concern from you guys and gals overseas. And my heart goes out to anyone who has been directly affected by this devious and heinous act, wherever they reside.

But like many people have speculated; it seems to be an attack on all races and creeds; as London is such an ethnically diverse location. And timed during the G8 too!

Shame on the guilty parties...

Post by **Saint Kurt** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 4:27 am

I was online talking to several British Nightscrawlers members the day this happened and was happy to hear that they and their family and friends were all safe.

Still, the targeting of innocent civilians is deplorable and the fact that the London police are reporting that the bomber was likely a victim of his own blasts doesn't lessen the crime. My sympathies are with the friends and families of those lost.

It seems that too many lives are being claimed by terrorist actions these days and I'm not sure that there's an easy way to end these attacks.

-e

Hsu · Post by **Hsu** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 4:50 am

The only British guy I know had this to say:

"Eh, the tube sucked anyway."
I know the most cynical people ever I guess.

Crocodile Hunter · Post by **Crocodile Hunter** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 1:15 pm

Imo they will never find the people who did it.
They didnt find the one's that blew up trains in spain.
They didnt "actually" find osama. etc.

ofcourse my opinion is that they should be found. but still

JUSTOOGOOD · Post by **JUSTOOGOOD** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 6:34 pm

i hear what your saying Casshern, and i kind of agree but the news is all about some people from Leeds being responsible.
Not sure whether this is a morale boosting attempt or whether they actually are the ones.

Hsu: on 07/07/05 the tubes definitely did suck! maybe they'll get improved upon now...

Crocodile Hunter · Post by **Crocodile Hunter** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 8:27 pm

hmm another terrorist attack in london, and two shootings
another of the shootings was two police men taking an asian man down and shooting him 10 times in the head, it seems that they belived he was one of the bombers. Apparently he was electric repair man etc.

thats what the terrorist want, for panic to take over the world.

littlebamf · Post by **littlebamf** » Thu Jul 28, 2005 11:12 am

I think you're referring to the case of the innocent Brazillian man, who the police mistook for a terrorist and shot him seven times in the head and once in the shoulder. That didn't have to happen - the guy was seen getting on a bus by one police team, so if they thought he was a terrorist, why did they let him get on a bus, then into the train station where he was shot? Yet they brought down another, this time genuine suspect with a taser. They found him in Birmingham holding a rucksack and though he was going to blow up...

Post by **HoodedMan** » Thu Jul 28, 2005 1:11 pm

I unfortunately agree with Casshern on this point. Terrorists' main weapon is not their explosives, but how they instill fear and mistrust into any rational society. They inspire racial profiling and the fear of one's fellow men, and this effect can not possibly be underestimated. What can be done about this? This academic question is left to the floor.

Crocodile Hunter · Post by **Crocodile Hunter** » Thu Jul 28, 2005 3:19 pm

Originally posted by HoodedMan
I unfortunately agree with Casshern on this point. Terrorists' main weapon is not their explosives, but how they instill fear and mistrust into any rational society. They inspire racial profiling and the fear of one's fellow men, and this effect can not possibly be underestimated. What can be done about this? This academic question is left to the floor.

that was my point.

(and the what happened, i heard from my brother. not all the details are right).

btw how did you get your post count to -###?

Maelstrom · Post by **Maelstrom** » Mon Aug 01, 2005 4:53 pm

Over the past week I've spent away from the board, I found out that the poor brazillian guy who was shot had been living in Britian for several years, which meant he should have known better than to bolt as he did... Had me wondering for the longest time just why he ran and made himself look guilty...

Then it turned out he had an expired VISA. In fact, not just expired, but the stamp appeared to be faked. He'd been living in England as an illegal immigrant for the past two years.

Poor bastard must have been thinking the immigration people had finally caught up with him or something. In case you didn't see it, here's the CNN link:

UK: Shot Brazilian's visa expired

Once I found that out, everything fit together with depressing ease. This is just a tragedy all the way around.

A successful, modern society *cannot* exist without trust. Every day I walk down the street, I trust in hundreds of ways. I trust that no one in their car will spontaneously decide to run me down. I trust that a police officer won't arrest me because he feels like it. I trust that a judge hasn't put a false warrant out for my arrest, that the local gun club won't take pot shots at me, that my boss will give me a fair wage and a fair review. All these things I take for granted, which leaves me with the peace of mind to be productive and benefit those around me.

Criminals exploit that trust. They know that the very rules we live by make it easy for them to come in and do their work. Terrorists go one step further, because their aim is to disrupt instead of just leech. They know that in order for them to be stopped, we have to give up those rules and put stringent, even paranoid ones in their place. In a small way, a terrorist always "wins" just because he forces us to be vigilant, to devote time, energy, and resources to fighting him. We're no longer quite as productive and beneficial to those around us, and to survive we're forced to adopt tactics that degrade that way of life the terrorist can't stand.

There's not much terrorism when things are "good". Sure, you've got the occasional hateful nutcase, but when everyone else feels they have some power over their own lives, and they have their basic needs and rights met, it's pretty hard to convince them to rise against their government. It's especially hard to rationalize that the uprising is worth casualties that everyone can identify with.

As usual, though, the bulk of this movement comes from dictatorships (notably the beleguered Middle East, but there are plenty others), which aren't exactly known for open, trusting governments or behavior, or respecting the common man. Things there are definitely not "good". Let's just say far less than 1% of the population really has a say in how things are run, and the system seems set up to keep populations ignorant and unable to make informed decisions. If no one listens to you, you MAKE them listen, and historically that's been by acts of unignorable violence. And when you've got a huge groundswell of desparate citizenry, with no emotional connection to the "ruling class", nothing to lose, and everything to gain, you've got all the fanatical footsoldiers a demogogue could desire.

It's like a family unit. One lead by respectful parents who care about their kids will have few problems. One lead by an abusive parent will teach their kids violence is an acceptable expression. Everyone there hits, badmouths, undermines, and disrespects each other, so feel free to do that to anyone else. It's how you get attention, and how things get done, after all.