The Tangled Bank

Thursday, July 07, 2005

London Subway & Transit Rocked By Bomb Blasts

FROM THIS SIDE OF THE POND TO *ALL* OUR COMRADES FROM THE UK: SHADES OF THE BATTLE OF BRITIAN & WW2 COME TO MIND. PLEASE ACCEPT OUR BEST WISHES, GOOD WILL, AND OUR SINCEREST CONDOLENCES.

HOTLINE NUMBERS: 020 7766 6020 (UK) +44 20 7766 6020 (INT’L)

WARNING: London Police ask civilians to avoid the area around Victoria Station. Possible undetonated bomb there.

Eyewitness accounts from a number of survivors:

Edgware Road: "All of sudden there was this massive huge bang. It was absolutely deafening and all the windows shattered. The train came to a grinding halt, everyone fell off their seats. There were just loads of people screaming and the carriages filled with smoke, you couldn't really breathe and you couldn't see what was happening. The driver came on the Tannoy and said 'We have got a problem, don't panic'.

Aldgate East: "I think some people may have died. The blast had pulled some people’s clothes off. I was on the train and there was a fire outside the carriage window and then there was a sudden jolt which shook us forward. The explosion was behind me. Some people took charge. We went out of the back of the carriage. A carriage was split in two, all jagged, and without a roof, just open. I saw bodies, I think."

More eyewtiness accounts here.

From CNN:

Near simultaneous explosions have rocked London, killing several people and injuring dozens in what UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said was an apparent terror attack coinciding with a meeting of G8 leaders in Scotland.
From the National Post
London was thrown into a panic during the morning rush hour after at least six explosions took place -- both in the underground subway system and on buses.
No one has taken responsbility yet, but this has Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda written all over it. Reports so far confirm two dead and perhaps several dozen wounded. The explosions occurred during rush hour in the confined spaces of London's subway or as they call it, "The Tube". If that's the extant of the dead and injured, Londoners may have been lucky. It'll never seem lucky for the families of those who were killed or critically injured, but it sounds like it could have been far worse.

Update: ITN and others now reporting at least twenty dead and ninety injured.

Update: Wapo reporting Death toll now at 33 with ~350 injured.

Update: Death toll at 37, injured said to number over one-thousand. Uncomfirmed.

Not to be too cavalier but this attack was predicted after the latest video of Dr Aymen al-Zawahiri was released. No one knew where or when it would happen, but the correlation is high between video of Al Qaeda's number two man making the case for Jihad and subsequent violence.

It'll be interesting to watch our WH try to play this tragedy to their advantage. On the one hand they're probably thrilled with anything that knocks the Rove investigation and Iraq off the front page. On the other, they're aware that this happened while Bush was in the UK on a scheduled visit, and people might notice that Al Qaeda is still around or that having elections in Iraq had zero effect on their ability to carry out attacks.

So here's a legitimate question for Iraq War Supporters ... Doesn't it make sense if you want to stop terrorist attacks that you actually go after the terrorists who are planning and executing the attacks? If your answer is "no", haven't these dang ole terrorists heard that Iraq is a democracy now? Wasn't that supposed to stop terrorism somehow, someway, although no one ever bothered to explain how? Blogosphere Reaction.

From Hunter at Kos:

As bad as these attacks are, London will most certainly not be intimidated by them. London has collective memories of far worse; this will momentarily frighten, yes, but London will not be shut down by such cowardly crap. I think we in America will be surprised by the reaction we see ... Blair isn't going to get a "bounce" out of people dying, unlike the reaction to 9/11. I expect we will be hearing serious questions, in the UK, about Bush's policies of "fill the swamp." There are many other likely ramifications.
Streel level account from a UK Blog:
Fate is a strange thing. On this particular day a series of events transpired such that I ended up on a Tube train that was destroyed by terrorists. Fortunately it was only the carriage in front of me, but tragically it resulted in a serious amount of injuries. This is my story.

Trackback url: http://tangledbank.net/index/trackback/2553/WASa8fHl/

Comments:
#31030: — 07/07  at  05:41 AM
People claim the Iraq war has nothing to do with 9/11. But they miss the point! By putting troops in Iraq we turn Iraq into a terrorist magnet. So the terrorist blow up iraqi civilians rather than coming over seas bothering us!

Thanks to the Iraq War we needn't worry about terrorism ever again on home soil. I'd rather we fight them over there than on our own streets!!!



#31031: DarkSyde — 07/07  at  05:45 AM
Yeah they're so busy in Iraq they'd never be able to attack anywhere else like Madrid or London! By Jove it's brilliant Fred!



#31032: Mark Trodden — 07/07  at  05:58 AM
I just spoke with my Father in England and he tells me that reports there are that there are many more casualties than I'm hearing on the US news so far.

Fred, generally I try to remain somewhat detatched when blogging/commenting, but maybe I'm a little overheated by this attack on my home country - your comment is one of the stupidest, shortest-sighted, least nuanced things I've heard in a while - and this is from someone who listens to W's news conferences.



#31033: DarkSyde — 07/07  at  06:01 AM
Mark I didn't realize you had family in London. Glad to hear your father is not hurt.



#31034: — 07/07  at  06:07 AM
btw ive been meaning to ask this for a while, but its always been offtopic as there hasn't been a thread on global warming for a while. But now I bite the bullet. My question is why is there not a resource like TalkOrigins for the global warming issue?



#31035: — 07/07  at  06:10 AM
I mean its nice to see that almost any forum on the internet where someone attacks the science of evolution there are people who pop out of nowhere with rebuttles and links to talkorigins.

However I notice that with global warming the science attackers tend to get away with it.



's avatar #31037: Nullifidian — 07/07  at  06:25 AM
Fred, while it's a blog layout, Real Climate is a good resource for the mainstream scientific view on global warming.

"We are obliged, therefore, to spread the news, painful and bitter though it may be for some to hear, that all living things on earth are kindred.” Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire



's avatar #31038: Nullifidian — 07/07  at  06:29 AM
And I'd like to extend my condolences to the families of the dead and injured. I think saying anything else belabors the obvious. By any standard, major terrorist attacks were up ever since we got involved in this Iraq debacle (and not just in Iraq, where the Iraqis, apparently, are supposed to be overjoyed that they're a magnet for terrorism in exchange for a democracy in which the occupying powers completely ignore the result of the Iraqi's vote viz. the platform of the UIA). Something like this was, frankly, nearly inevitable as long as our attention remained divided.

"We are obliged, therefore, to spread the news, painful and bitter though it may be for some to hear, that all living things on earth are kindred.” Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire



#31039: — 07/07  at  06:30 AM
http://www.cnn.com/2005/EDUCATION/07/06/teachers.evolution.ap/index.html



#31040: — 07/07  at  07:06 AM
Even though these attacks will still be a slap in the face to the president, that he didn't stop terrorism like he said.. much less slowing it down. He'll still use them to his advantage, by stressing calm in Iraq and of course pushing more civil liberties asside for the sake of national security...

-----
"As with all of ID, the important thing is first to have the concept. Production can then follow as a matter of course.” -Dembski



#31041: Alon Levy — 07/07  at  07:18 AM
Why couldn't they at least blow up buildings above ground, to help clear away some of London's sheer ugliness? </sarcasm>

I expect the pro-war crowd to immediately chant the usual mantras of how this attack proves that the USA and Britain must continue their quest for global domination. If there aren't any terrorist attacks, it proves neoconservatism's point; if there are, it also proves neoconservatism's point. Falsifiability is for sissies, apparently.



#31042: — 07/07  at  07:26 AM
Obviously this means we need to attack Iran now.



#31044: — 07/07  at  07:43 AM
Even though these attacks will still be a slap in the face to the president, that he didn't stop terrorism like he said.. much less slowing it down. He'll still use them to his advantage, by stressing calm in Iraq and of course pushing more civil liberties asside for the sake of national security... I’m wondering how Tony Blair will spin this a lot of people here during at the start of the Iraq war were aware that it had nothing to do with the war on terrorism and by turning our backs to Al-Qaeda reduced our security and publicly said so. I have a feeling that in a few days there are going to be increasing calls for troops to be withdrawn from Iraq to be sent on the hunt for Bin laden were they “might” actually do some good and improve our security. But that would mean him having to admit he was wrong about Iraq.



#31045: — 07/07  at  07:51 AM
I'm not an Iraq war supporter. But I know a few of them, and I know how they'd respond to your question.

"Sure, one attack slipped through. If we hadn't invaded Iraq, and if Bush wasn't in office, there'd probably have been even more attacks by now. Its only because of Bush and the Iraq war that there are so few."

Its a conveniently unfalsifiable claim, but none of them want to hear me explain that.



's avatar #31046: — 07/07  at  08:04 AM
We may be expecting now any moment a message from that messenger of God Ossama Bin Laden to the innocent people in London he has just massacred in cold blood:

In the name of God, the merciful, the compassionate.

Greetings to our Muslim brothers in Iraq, may God's peace, mercy, and blessings be upon you.

O you believers, show fear of Allah by doing all that He has ordered and by abstaining from all that He has forbidden as He should be feared.

Obey Him, be thankful to Him, and remember Him always, and die not except in a state of Islam with complete submission to Allah.

I have delivered a message from God to the Cruzader unbelievers ...

Quod natura non sunt turpia



#31047: Bartholomew — 07/07  at  08:09 AM
I used to work and study at SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies), very close to Russell Square and King's Cross, and I used both stations almost daily. I've currently got friends at SOAS telling me by email that they're OK but they saw "bodies everywhere".



#31048: — 07/07  at  08:29 AM
When I studied in London I lived on Tavistock Square, where one of the bus bombings was. It's one of London's many small, lovely parks. this particular one is dedicated to Mahatama Gandhi, and has a bust of him. It's tragic to think of a place dedicated to peace, non-violence and democracy the site of something so awful. I've having a hard time with it.



's avatar #31049: Chris Clarke — 07/07  at  08:30 AM
Why couldn't they at least blow up buildings above ground, to help clear away some of London's sheer ugliness?


Alon, some of us are waiting to hear from friends and family in London. People are dead and dying. And you joke about upping the ante.

You really are a piece of work. You should be ashamed of yourself.

"I do not think we should antagonize the religious when it is not warranted, though I think we should be willing to do so whenever it is.”
-- Glen Davidson



#31051: Alon Levy — 07/07  at  08:47 AM
Alon, some of us are waiting to hear from friends and family in London


and some of us are finding opportunities to flame other members.



's avatar #31052: — 07/07  at  08:54 AM
A statement issued by an organisation that calls itself the Secret Organisation Group of al-Qaeda of Jihad Organisation in Europe that claims to have carried out the bombings:

In the name of God, the merciful, the compassionate, may peace be upon the cheerful one and undaunted fighter, Prophet Muhammad, God's peace be upon him.

Nation of Islam and Arab nation: Rejoice for it is time to take revenge against the British Zionist Crusader government...
That was fast. Hope those "fighters of God the merciful" shall hang soon.

Quod natura non sunt turpia



's avatar #31053: Ken Cope — 07/07  at  08:59 AM
Gallows humor is often a first response to rough emotional news. A thread on a list populated by London animators started with the question, "Anybody know what's going on in London?" One reply was, "Yeah, my shot came back and I had to reanimate the left hand." I understand the impulse.

As for Mark's response to Fred, Fred forgot to close his sarcasm tag, because he's quoting the flypaper theory of keeping all the terrorists in Iraq. It's a classic Bush admin/supporter position, because even when falsified, there would have been so many more terrorist attacks, don't you see. I expect to hear it often today, on the "moderate" talk shows.



#31054: — 07/07  at  09:01 AM
So here's a legitimate question for Iraq War Supporters ... Doesn't it make sense if you want to stop terrorist attacks that you actually go after the terrorists who are planning and executing the attacks? If your answer is "no", haven't these dang ole terrorists heard that Iraq is a democracy now? Wasn't that supposed to stop terrorism somehow, someway, although no one ever bothered to explain how?

Well, a logical person would fathom that the concept of spreading Democracy as a buffer to terrorism would be almost a generational change, a strategy rather than a tactic, I suppose. In the short term, it's perfectly likely that challenging Islamist and autocratic rule in the Middle East would cause more attacks. In the short term.

You know, a reasonable person.

For a web site that spends so much time arguing against ridiculous creationism and ID assertions that use diversionary aguments, and for the concepts of falsifiable logic and reason, it's pretty ironic that you would offer such a distracting, poorly reasoned argument.



#31055: DarkSyde — 07/07  at  09:24 AM
I appreciate you stepping up to the plate Bill. Let me play devil's advocate though.

You said on the Politburo Diktat (Great site BTW for those of you who are conservative but not drinking the BushCo/Dobson koolaid)

1. Not only is he making political arguments before the bodies are cold

As are right winger right now across the Blogosphere and war and violence is a pretty damn appropriate discussion to be having here considering what has transpired.

2. He’s making them poorly: “Wasn’t Iraq supposed to reduce terrorism?!” Jesus

Yes that's excatly what Bush and supporters have been claiming ever since you came up snake-eyes on WMD and links to AQ in Iraq. If it has nothing to do with reducing terrorism then how the hell does it have anything to do with the President's War on Terror Bill?


If you have a nation in which the electorate is full of folks who don't like the US and/or are sympathetic to bin Laden, isn't it plausible they might elect some leaders who dislike the US and are sympathetic to bin Laden? Wouldn't it be likely a politician would even recognize this dynamic and run on an anti US pro bin Laden platform to curry favor with voters in at least some nations and for some offices?

Democracies basically reflect the public sentiment, that's how they work. If the public is of a mind that the US is the Great Satan, whether that's a fair judgement or not, wouldn't that be reflected in any government the public elects?

Let's stipulate a miracle occurs: Democracy breaks out all over the Middle East and not one politician is elected who openly hates the US or openly embraces terrorist orgs. Why would that make the terrorists within the population give up? It's easier for them to travel and plan in a democracy than it would be in a police state. Having a democracy here for example made it easier for McVeigh to blow up the Fed Building in Oklahoma than it would have been in a police state. Having democracies here and in Spain sure didn't stop AQ attacks form being carried out here.

So again, why would having a democracy in Iraq make Al Qaeda less of a threat? In fact why would having a democracy in Saudi Arabia or Egypt make them less of a threat?

Democracies do attack each other and they do have bad relations with each other. The US planned and funded a coups which over took democratically elected governments everywhere from Iran to Latin America and other nations have done the same thing. Iran is technically a democracy now and they elect folks that hate us.

It's like the Underpants Gnomes

Step 1 Iraq becomes a democracy

Step 2 ______________________


Step 3 World safer from Al Qaeda

What is it that goes in line two that makes it work?



#31056: pough — 07/07  at  09:35 AM
I kinda hate to say it, but I pretty much agree with Bill from INDC. I don't think this has ever been about instant presto change-o no more terror. The killing and oppression in Iraq is only part of a long-term strategy to calm things down in the middle east (because killing lots of their neighbours and friends and forcing a government on them that they never wanted is the bestest ever way to reduce the number of kooks or to make the kooks less kooky.) It's the reduction of civil liberties in your own homeland that are meant to reduce the chances of terror happening where you live.

Going after the terrorists themselves would take time, be less flashy on the news, and would reduce further opportunities to say, "see? we need to reach further into your pockets and then further strip you of your rights. Oh, and rape the land."



's avatar #31058: Hank Fox — 07/07  at  09:41 AM
BTW, before all this happened, Bush fell off his bike in Scotland, injuring himself and a Scottish policeman.

As the BBC said, "This is not the president's first accident. In May 2004, he was badly grazed after falling off his mountain bike during a ride at his Texas ranch and, in June 2003, he fell off his hi-tech Segway scooter. In January 2002, he grazed his cheek after choking on a pretzel and fainting."

He just cuts such a magnificent figure, doesn't he?

I'm so proud of our American president, that he could rally from such an injury and then go out and save the world again by making this morning's fine speech about them dang terrorists.



Page 1 of 9 pages  1 2 3 >  Last »

Next entry: About this course

<< Back to main

Info

email PZ Myers
About The Tangled Bank...
Search

Members

Login | Register | Members

Syndicate

RSS 2.0

Recent articles