RESPONSE TO LONDON TERROR ATTACKS

British Prime Minister Tony Blair responds to the terrorist attack on London, from the G-8 Summit in Auchterarder, Scotland (AP Photo)

This morning, terrorists struck London in a series of blasts. At least 33 people were reported dead and at least 360 others wounded. With no advance warning, this surprise attack on London's public transportation system took the Nation by surprise.[1]

British Prime Minister Tony Blair got the news from the G-8 Summit in Scotland and made a brief announcement before leaving for London.[1] He said, "There will of course now be the most intense police and security service action to make sure that we bring those responsible to justice.... When they try to intimidate us, we will not be intimidated. When they seek to change our country or our way of life by these methods, we will not be changed. When they try to divide our people or weaken our resolve, we will not be divided and our resolve will hold firm. We will show, by our spirit and dignity, and by our quiet but true strength that there is in the British people, that our values will long outlast theirs. The purpose of terrorism is just that, it is to terrorise people, and we will not be terrorised."[2]

London's Mayor Ken Livingstone echoed Prime Minister Blair's sentiments in this open statement addressed to the terrorists responsible for the attacks: "I know that you personally do not fear to give your own life in exchange to taking others ... but I know you do fear you may fail in your long-term objective to destroy our free society ... in the days that follow, look at our airports, look at our seaports and look at our railway stations ... you will see that people from the rest of Britain, people from around the world, will arrive in London to become Londoners, to fulfill their dream and achieve their potential … whatever you do, however many you kill, you will fail."[1]

According to FOX News, "a previously unknown group, 'Secret Group of Al Qaeda's Jihad in Europe,' claimed responsibility in the name of Al Qaeda for the blasts, saying they were in retaliation for Britain's involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. The group claimed the attack in a website posting and also warned Italy and Denmark to withdraw troops from Iraq and Afghanistan." As of press time, the claim could not be verified.[1]

In response to the attacks on London, the European countries of Italy, Czechoslavakia, Hungary, Russia, the Netherlands, France, and Spain raised their terror alert status.[1] The United States also raised the terror alert to "orange" for U.S. mass transit systems.[3]

A statement from the G-8 Summit said, "Those responsible have no respect for human life. We are united in our resolve to confront and defeat this terrorism that is not an attack on one nation but on all nations and on civilized people everywhere. We will not allow violence to change our societies or our values...."[1]

President Bush added, "We will not yield to the terrorists. We will find them; we will bring them to justice."[1]

Russian President Vladimir Putin issued this surprising statement in a televised address: "What happened today shows that we all do too little to unite our efforts in the most effective way for fighting terrorism." And then he urged world leaders to "give up double standards in evaluating bloody crimes."[4]

Putin was actually referring to a Sept. 7 2004 reference he made to the double standards concerning Chechen separatists, but the term could easily be applied to opposititon to the War on Terror in Iraq.


The Omaha World-Herald //
KOTERBA
War of the Worlds
6-30-2005
Copyright © 2005



The problem is, by and large, we just don't get it. This editorial cartoon[5] ran locally in The Parkersburg News on July 5 and I thought it made a lot of sense. Many people today (specifically, liberals) don't seem to understand the whole threat of terrorism to our world today. They don't understand why we are fighting terrorists in Iraq, they don't understand why we're fighting terrorists in Afghanistan, and they don't understand why so many Conservatives are making a fuss about illegal immigration and our unsecure borders.

Well, this editorial cartoon says a lot. The aliens are attacking us. I'm sorry if it looks like I'm racial profiling, but let's be real. It wasn't blond-haired, blue-eyed, Norwegian cheerleaders who flew three planes into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon on 9/11. It wasn't little old Catholic Italian grandmothers who slit the throats of innocent American hostages while they screamed for mercy. And it wasn't Cousin Jethro from the back-hills of West Virginia who bombed London this morning. It's the aliens. And they are sneaking across our borders to perpetrate these attacks on our own soil.

Now, I'm not against Mexicans or Muslims coming to America and grabbing their piece of American apple pie (that's a metaphor for the American dream, by the way), but they darn well better be doing it legally. I'm not opposed to law-abiding immigrants seeking a better life, but I am opposed to terrorists and other criminals sneaking into our country in order to rape, rob, and kill American civilians. In this day of heightened security and terrorist threat, we must be diligent in protecting our homeland. And that means, in part, tightening security on our horrifyingly lax borders.

According to Canadian Intelligence officials, there are reportedly "at least fifty terror groups now operating north of the border, including al-Qaida, Hezbollah, and Hamas."[6] David Harris, director of the Canadian Terrorism Consulting Group said, "I think there's got to be a decisive focus on this issue and the U.S. government has got to keep hammering away at this so that we in Canada can't avoid the obvious fact. Canadians themselves in general are more or less asleep on this issue because we're not used to seeing ourselves as being at the front of any kind of global conflict, certainly not since the Korean War, really... So it's got to be a focus and the U.S. can be of a great help to itself and to Canadians in putting that kind of focus on us."[7] So the threat isn't just coming from the southern border, but also from Canada to the north. For our own safety, both borders need to be secured and those who violate them need to be stopped at all costs.

Liberals (and let's be clear here; I said "liberals", not "Democrats", so don't go accusing me of being partisan. This is not about partisan politics; it's about National Security.) don't seem to understand just how dangerous it is to turn a blind eye to illegal immigration. But the threat is there, and the threat is real. American liberals and a large portion of the European populace want to stop the terror, but they're not willing to do what it takes to actually accomplish it. Nobody said it would be easy or quick, but we need to be unified with resolve behind those who are fighting for our freedom and safety; because if we back down and retreat now, this will be the VietNam of our time.... but only because we quit too soon.

In regard to these most-recent attacks, our sympathies and prayers are with the people of Great Britain. I am sure that the United States will stand beside them in resolve to bring their attackers to justice, as they have stood with us in the wake of 9/11; for this evil cannot be permitted to continue to threaten the peace and security of the free world.

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SOURCES:

[1] "Terrorists Strike London in Series of Blasts", FOX News, 07/07/05, http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,161768,00.html
[2] Transcript of statement made by the Prime Minister Tony Blair, 07/07/05, http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page7858.asp
[3] "U.S. Hikes Terror Level for Transit", Associated Press, 07/07/05, http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,161773,00.html
[4] "G-8 Leaders Vow to Defeat Terror After London Blasts (Update 2)", Bloomberg, 07/07/05, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000082&sid=aho4BtaNimUw&refer=canada
[5] Editorial Cartoon, The Omaha World-Herald, Koterba, "War of the Worlds", 06/30/05, Copyright © 2005
[6] The O'Reilly Factor, 07/06/05, 8:00 pm ET, FOX News Channel
[7] David Harris, Director of Canadian Terrorism Consulting Group, ibid.