London Attacked
Jul 7th, 2005 by cadmus
I’ve been watching and reading about this all day and I don’t have much to write. But I wanted to post something. Somebody should have given the terrorists a London history lesson about the The Blitz and the IRA attacks.
For something different than the American news media try out the UKBlogs Aggregator for personal thoughts and accounts from the Britons themselves. Visit the BBC link to the right for more news.
I can’t find a full text of London Mayor Ken Livingstone’s speech this morning from Singapore but I watched the speech and he said something very true (from limited sleep deprived memory):
Prime Minister Tony Blair’s statement from Gleneagles, 1200 BST Thursday
It’s reasonably clear that there have been a series of terrorist attacks in London.
There are obviously casualties, both people that have died and people seriously injured and our thoughts and prayers, of course, are with victims and their families.
It’s my intention to leave the G8 within the next couple of hours and go down to London and get a report face-to-face with the police and emergency services and the ministers that have been dealing with this, and then to return later this evening.
It is the will of all the leaders of the G8, however, that the meeting should continue in my absence, that we should continue to discuss the issues that we were going to discuss and reach the conclusions that we were going to reach.
Each of the countries round that table have some experience of the effects of terrorism and all the leaders, as they will indicate later, share our complete resolution to defeat this terrorism.
It’s particularly barbaric that this has happened on a day when people are meeting to try to help the problems of poverty in Africa and the long-term problems of climate change and the environment.
Just as it is reasonably clear that this is a terrorist attack or a series of terrorist attacks, it is also reasonably clear that it is designed and aimed to coincide with the opening of the G8.
There’ll be time to talk later about this.
It’s important however that those engaged in terrorism realise that our determination to defend our values and our way of life is greater than their determination to cause death and destruction to innocent people in a desire to impose extremism on the world.
Whatever they do, it is our determination that they will never succeed in destroying what we hold dear in this country and in other civilised nations throughout the world.
Prime Minister Tony Blaris’ statement from Downing Street, 1730 BST
This is a terrible and tragic atrocity that has cost many innocent lives.
I have just attended a meeting of the Government’s emergency committee. I received a full report from the ministers and officials responsible.
There will be an announcement made in respect of the various services, in particular we hope the Underground as far as is possible and rail and bus services are up and running as soon as possible.
I would like again to express my profound condolences to the families of the victims and to those who are casualties of this terrorist act.
I would also like to thank the emergency services that have been magnificent today in every respect.
There, of course, will now be the most intense police and security service action to make sure we bring those responsible to justice.
I would also pay tribute to the stoicism and resilience of the people of London who have responded in a way typical of them.
In addition, I welcome the statement put out by the Muslim Council who know that those people acted in the name of Islam but who also know that the vast and overwhelming majority of Muslims, here and abroad, are decent and law-abiding people who abhor this act of terrorism every bit as much as we do.
It’s through terrorism that the people that have committed this terrible act express their values and it’s right at this moment that we demonstrate ours.
I think we all know what they are trying to do, they are trying to use the slaughter of innocent people to cow us, to frighten us out of doing the things we want to do, of trying to stop us going about our business as normal as we are entitled to do and they should not and must not succeed.
When they try to intimidate us, we will not be intimidated, when they seek to change our country, 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 a quiet and 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.
I would like once again to express my sympathy and sorrow for those families that will be grieving so unexpectedly and tragically tonight.
This is a very sad day for the British people but we will hold true to the British way of life.
BBC NEWS | UK | In full: Blair on bomb blasts
London Calling – The Clash
London calling to the faraway towns
Now war is declared – and battle come down
London calling to the underworld
Come out of the cupboard,you boys and girls
London calling, now don’t LECTURE us
Phoney Beatlemania has bitten the dust
London calling, see we ain’t got no swing
‘Cept for the reign of that truncheon thingCHORUS
The ice age is coming, the sun is zooming in
Meltdown expected, the wheat is growing thin
Engines stop running, but I have no fear
Cause London is drowning – I live by the riverLondon calling to the imitation zone
Forget it, brother, you can go at it alone
London calling the zombies of death
Quit holding out – and draw another breath
London calling – and I don’t wanna shout
But while we were talking I saw you running out
London calling, see we ain’t got no high
Except for that one with the yellowy eyesCHORUS x2
The ice age is coming, the sun is zooming in
Engines stop running, the wheat is growing thin
A nuclear error, but I have no fear
Cause London is drowning – I, I live by the riverNow get this
London calling, yes, I was there, too
An’ you know what they said? Well, some of it was true!
London calling at the top of the dial
And after all this, won’t you give me a smile?
London CallingI never felt so much ALIVE ALIVE ALIVE ALIVE
