London Blasts

[one man band]

As I'm sure you're all aware, four bombs went off in London on Thursday, killing around 52 people, with the death-toll rising as it becomes clear to doctors that they can't save many of the more seriously wounded. Three explosive devices were set off in the London Underground and one was set off on a bus in Tavistock square.

That morning, I was due to see my sister who lives in Notting Hill (use a tube map if you don't know where it is), and I live in Camden, So i went to King's Cross St. Pancras (where 21 people died), got on the Circle line, went past Edgware Road (where 13 people died) about ten minutes before all the bombs went off. I was clearly a little shaken by the attacks, but now i've come to realise what a cowardly action the bombings really were.

The people killed were not just white British christians, the assumed targets of Al-Qaeda (or whichever Islamic fundamentalist group it was) - Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus and Jews were all killed along with them. The very nature of London's ethnic backdrop means that any attempt to kill white British christians will also endanger the lives of Arabic Muslims.

From what i've seen here in London, we Londoners have not succumbed to the terrorists. We may be slightly anxious the next time we board a tube or bus, but our lives will not stop. The futility of these attacks cannot be over-emphasised. If they are attempting to force us to move troops out of Iraq and Afganistan, they have been grossly misled. London is not 'burning with fear'. We Londoners have seen it all before, and much worse, from the IRA and before in WW2. Thousands of Londoners have died because of bombings, and we didn't give up before and we won't give up now. The general feeling amoungst most of my friends is that we got off comparatively lightly - the attacks in the US and Madrid we far more devastating. Since we were expecting this attack (and have been for the past 4 years), we weren't as shocked as the Americans or Spanish surely were. Both America and Spain have bounced back from both attacks,and have become stronger nationally as a result. The same is sure to happen in Britain. Our great city will not fall prey to a few jealous, misled, callous bunch of religious extremists - we'll bounce back, stronger than before. The terrorists will not stop lives in London. We'll carry on with that grim determination that served us so well in past times of conflict.

They may well strike again, but it will accomplish nothing. Britain expects another attack. We just hope some of the Islamic fundamentalists see the futility of their actions too, so that we can stop this jealousy-fuelled war of terrorism.

I'll be getting the tube on Monday, and so will everyone else. We will not be scared by the cowardly and ultimately selfish acts of the few Muslims who hate the western way of life. We will continue our lives, and in this way, the terrorists will eventually lose their war on the West.

[worshipper pa]

You were lucky one man band!

The whole world was shocked by this cowardly attack. I know London is determined to fight terrorism.

I express my sympathy for the people in London.

[Zara]

such a pathetic person you are OMB...you should have blamed tony blair..bush..osma rather than encouraging such a pathetic things...you think you are bringing proud to your country by killing millions of innocent ppl..you dont feel sympathy for them...i'm a Arab girl a muslim...but i openly criticise Osma and his deeds...we never felt proud of him... i put Bush,Blair and osama in a same slot..they need to be slaped right on thir faces...i feel sad and my prayers are for ppl of london

[Capt Snow]

Pretty sure you just completely misread everything he said in his post. You took offense to things that clearly aren't there.

[worshipper pa]

such a pathetic person you are OMB...you should have blamed tony blair..bush..osma rather than encouraging such a pathetic things...you think you are bringing proud to your country by killing millions of innocent ppl..you dont feel sympathy for them...i'm a Arab girl

[Zara]

Pretty sure you just completely misread everything he said in his post. You took offense to things that clearly aren't there.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

may be captain...i was bit crreid away...

we Londoners have not succumbed to the terrorists. We may be slightly anxious the next time we board a tube or bus, but our lives will not stop. The futility of these attacks cannot be over-emphasised. If they are attempting to force us to move troops out of Iraq and Afganistan, they have been grossly misled<------------- these are his words right and btw who is WE?...there is so much proudeness and ego in this statement...and he is completely biased..

@PA...thanx

[Capt Snow]

The idea of terrorism is simply to destabalize, and strike fear into people, OMB is just speaking for his fellow Englishmen, by saying they won't be brought down no matter what these people intend to do to innocent people.

What people don't realize is that, when change is needed, people's toes are bound to be stepped on. No one can argue that the situation in Iraq needed a change, which it got. The argument can be taken up in how that change was put into effect. Yes, everyone by now agrees that there were far better ways to go about Iraq than the one chosen, this is the beauty of hindsight, being able to look back and see our mistakes. Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do now but try to do things right from now on.

Saddam Hussein ran a corrupt regime, which harbored terrorists, that alone should have been enough to convince the UN to allow action to be taken. Terrorists were allowed to roam freely and make plans to attack more innocent people. Some people will say that Saddam had no part in harboring terrorists. But he sure didn't attempt to help round the ones in his country up to help the cause.

Bush and Blair took oaths upon entering office, to do what they thought necessary to keep harm from coming to the citizens of the countries they have been entrusted with running. If that means removing a regime which should have not been allowed to stand in the first place for the last 30 years, then so be it. As I mentioned before, toes get stepped on when you have something of this magnitude and historical importance happening in the world. Innocent people in Iraq have been killed, by US and coalition troops, but these casualties, are nothing compared to the lives lost in terrorist attacks across the world.

Thousands and thousands of people have been killed by terrorists, for no more reason than they think we are attacking their way of life. This country went into Iraq to remove someone who was standing in the way of progress, in this case, progress in the eradication of global terrorism. As a result, the people of Iraq have had to endure some hardship, as the country gets itself back on track after 30 years of dictatorship, and the resulting fall of that dictatorship. Obviously some things aren't going to go as planned.

The resulting terror attacks within Iraq against the coalition are setting things back, and causing more strife and a longer recovery and transition period. The people need to realize that the US, will leave when the Iraqi government can adequately protect itself from the terrorist threat, and these ongoing attacks are simply making that possibility ever more difficult to achieve.

OMB was simply stating, that if these recent attacks in London, were meant to sway the British government's decisions to remove troops from Iraq, that the attacks would not have the desired effect. No amount of attacks on our countries will make us decide to simply leave that country in shambles to fend for themselves. Doing this would allow terrorism to run rampant through Iraq, allowing free access for terrorist to travel wherever they desired with the greatest of ease.

Removing the government in Iraq, and allowing the people of the country to form a new one of their own choosing, while destabalizing the area initially, will eventually bring about much stability. Things take time, and in this day and age it seems that people have forgotten this. Everyone expects things to be over so quickly, and to be perfectly neat and tidy while the change is taking place. This is the real world and things just don't work that way.

Of course there are always people who are going to make things more difficult for change to happen, and in this era, it happens to be terrorists. This is just something that has to be dealt with, and sometimes, it requires alot of stomach to be able to take the good with the bad when you are trying to make things better for people.

Middle Eastern peoples have been unfairly targeted due to the actions of a few people with extreme views, and this is just another unfortunate side effect of the changing atmosphere of this world. It is simply human nature, and self preservation.

If you are walking through the woods, and a Bear attacks you, the next time you see a bear are you not going to be wary of just what it's intentions are? Of course this is a wide generalization, as people are more distinguished than the average Bear, but I think that any lay person should be able to pick up the symbolism. Of course some people have more self control than to just flat out accuse every middle eastern person of being a terrorist when they see them, but some people of course do not, and these are the people who have had a detrimental effect on the middle eastern peoples reputation.

Personally I live near the largest concentration of middle eastern people outside of the middle east. I have encounters with many middle easterners, and can say first hand that they are absolutely just like every other one of us people on this earth. But like every other type of people, there are trouble makers. During this time in history the biggest problem makers just happen to be from the middle east. Down through history that cast has been filled by a number of differnet people's and the same thing will happen in the future.

I feel bad for these people in London, as an American citizen I know exactly the way many people are feeling there at this very moment, anger, frustration, hatred. All of which are absolutely expected, considering what they have just suffered through, and without a valid reason as to why they had to suffer through it. OMB, is just showing the type of heart it takes to get through these types of things, and not simply duck and run when something like this happens. If there weren't people taking stands against these types of people the world would be a much more terrible place to have to live in, and I'm glad that OMB decides to wear his heart on his sleave, and not let these things put a hole in his armor like it does for a lot of people that have to deal with such attacks.

[Guest quasicartes]

Already the conspiracy forum in totse.com, is buzzing with new allegations.

http://www.totse.com/bbs/Forum8/HTML/002592.html

[Capt Snow]

I wonder is Gustave still around there? He was usually pretty in deep into a lot of the good discussion there. May have changed his name back to Guswut.

[robinson22]

From what I understand the object of terrorism is to change social and political practices of a country/group through the use of fear. From what all the experts say; when a country/group bounces back to its feet and carries on with life as usual this puts a major thorn in a terrorists ass. Thus, one of the best weapons to fight terrorism is to do exactly as OMB suggested.

I express great sympathy for the people of London.

[Guest quasicartes]

I wonder is Gustave still around there? He was usually pretty in deep into a lot of the good discussion there. May have changed his name back to Guswut.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Snoopy and Rust. They are the best.

[Chicken]

As I'm sure you're all aware, four bombs went off in London on Thursday, killing around 52 people, with the death-toll rising as it becomes clear to doctors that they can't save many of the more seriously wounded. Three explosive devices were set off in the London Underground and one was set off on a bus in Tavistock square.

That morning, I was due to see my sister who lives in Notting Hill (use a tube map if you don't know where it is), and I live in Camden, So i went to King's Cross St. Pancras (where 21 people died), got on the Circle line, went past Edgware Road (where 13 people died) about ten minutes before all the bombs went off. I was clearly a little shaken by the attacks, but now i've come to realise what a cowardly action the bombings really were.

The people killed were not just white British christians, the assumed targets of Al-Qaeda (or whichever Islamic fundamentalist group it was) - Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus and Jews were all killed along with them. The very nature of London's ethnic backdrop means that any attempt to kill white British christians will also endanger the lives of Arabic Muslims.

From what i've seen here in London, we Londoners have not succumbed to the terrorists. We may be slightly anxious the next time we board a tube or bus, but our lives will not stop. The futility of these attacks cannot be over-emphasised. If they are attempting to force us to move troops out of Iraq and Afganistan, they have been grossly misled. London is not 'burning with fear'. We Londoners have seen it all before, and much worse, from the IRA and before in WW2. Thousands of Londoners have died because of bombings, and we didn't give up before and we won't give up now. The general feeling amoungst most of my friends is that we got off comparatively lightly - the attacks in the US and Madrid we far more devastating. Since we were expecting this attack (and have been for the past 4 years), we weren't as shocked as the Americans or Spanish surely were. Both America and Spain have bounced back from both attacks,and have become stronger nationally as a result. The same is sure to happen in Britain. Our great city will not fall prey to a few jealous, misled, callous bunch of religious extremists - we'll bounce back, stronger than before. The terrorists will not stop lives in London. We'll carry on with that grim determination that served us so well in past times of conflict.

They may well strike again, but it will accomplish nothing. Britain expects another attack. We just hope some of the Islamic fundamentalists see the futility of their actions too, so that we can stop this jealousy-fuelled war of terrorism.

I'll be getting the tube on Monday, and so will everyone else. We will not be scared by the cowardly and ultimately selfish acts of the few Muslims who hate the western way of life. We will continue our lives, and in this way, the terrorists will eventually lose their war on the West.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I was @\King's Cross St that day ...I love london alot,I hate those ppl so much right now..I'll be on the tube on Tuesday..i'm shitting myself

[Chicken]

one man band,Thank God you've made this thread.I was beginning to think I was the only one here that was outraged by this cowardly attack. Good speech by the way I totally agree with you.I'm surprised that you didn't start swearing coz I would be! and I dont think your being biased either..Its more like the truth!

And if anything bad ever happened to my family becoz of them.. I will hate them forever(I think this is pretty mild,since so many British people are angry)

I think the British Muslims are gonna have a rough time ,people are gonna attack and abuse them...already this has happened in the UK.

Anyways I'm glad that your your alright...on that note,I'm gonna go shopping at harrods

PS: Thank God Maxwell is out of the Big Brother house

[red_ed]

I don't want to deal with the matter of who is "right" and who is "wrong". I don't know too much about the topic, but I don't think either side is clearly wrong or right.

I'd just like to say that my heart goes out to the British and especially to the Londoners, those who were effected by the blast directly or indirectly. The Brits are strong and because of that, they'll be able to rebuild and get their lives on track again.

[Chicken]

I don't want to deal with the matter of who is "right" and who is "wrong". I don't know too much about the topic, but I don't think either side is clearly wrong or right.

I'd just like to say that my heart goes out to the British and especially to the Londoners, those who were effected by the blast directly or indirectly. The Brits are strong and because of that, they'll be able to rebuild and get their lives on track again.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

...BTW.I was just agreeing with OMB for saying that ppl in London should be strong

[red_ed]

sorry I didn't really pay much attn to the posts before mine. When the argument started I just decided to skip everything cause (a) I didn't really care and (b) I couldn't be bothered reading it all

I'm lazy like that...

[Chicken]

sorry I didn't really pay much attn to the posts before mine. When the argument started I just decided to skip everything cause (a) I didn't really care and (b) I couldn't be bothered reading it all

I'm lazy like that...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

its ok,i'm like that all the time

[one man band]

Thanks for the messages guys. And Zara, I think you may have misunderstood. As a matter of fact, I was for the war, but now can clearly see that the method used was vastly inappropriate. A UN led coalition force would have been much more readily accepted by the Arab world. The (mainly) US and UK led force did not succeed in taking 'the hearts and minds' of the Iraqi people. Any ego and bias you detected were there because in times like these a little bit of patriotism helps one feel safer. Pride in my country, what it has been through in the past, the stoic nature of the British people - these qualities will help get me and many other through these difficult times. It's just a coping mechanism. If you don't like it, or are offended by it for whatever reason, i'm sorry but that's just the way I am.

[Don]

Personally, I think it was retarded to bomb London both from a moral perspective (duh), but also from a strategic perspective. You remember what happened once the Germans went after the English in WWII and the London Blitz happened, and the Battle of Britain? The English aren't exactly pushovers (especially if you ask the French). So.. give terrorists a round of applause, they have now given two of the leading nations in the world a moral obligation to bring the fire to their doorstep.

Anyway, moving on(to a rant). I'm not a big fan of patriotism. It's a very fine line, and a lot of people end up being more nationalistic than patriotic.. and that's never fun. So I prefer not to walk that line. Annnnd it becomes a bit dangerous as part of a justification for your actions and reasoning for blind trust.

Besides.. which reaction would scare you more after you threw a haymaker at a bigass dude and managed to connect completely?

(a) He gets angry, and begins to jump up and down yelling "OH! GRR! THAT DIDN'T HURT! I'M GONNA GET YOU GOOD NOW!"

or

(b) He calmly shakes it off, wipes away some of the blood, begins to roll up his sleeves and cracks a few of his knuckles.

[Avenger]

b.