07.07

Yes, we are all very sad about this, but let's not get lost in the maudlin; let us remember what actually happened, i.e. four fanatical Muslim fuckheads (although, as is par for the course, the Beeb doesn't see fit to mention their religion) decided that the best way to protest against what they perceived as injustice was to blow up themselves and 52 other innocent bystanders. It seems that their opinion is shared by others, as the P-G pointed out.

These are not positive numbers. They are extremely worrying. They are positively horrifying. Why? Let me rephrase them for you:

• 14% of those surveyed thought that there might be some justification for the random slaughter of innocent civilian bystanders who happened to be in the vicinity of a police station.


• 15% of those surveyed thought that there might be some justification for the random slaughter of innocent civilian bystanders who happened to be in the vicinity of a government office.


• 11% of those surveyed thought that there might be some justification for the random slaughter of innocent civilian bystanders in general. Can you imagine a poll of the general population of the UK where this response would be given by more a single respondent?


• 21% of those surveyed thought that there might be some justification for the random slaughter of innocent civilian bystanders who happened to be in the vicinity of an Armed Forces establishment.

Who lives and works at your average MOD establishment? Cleaners, contract caterers, wives, children. 21% think that it's just fine and dandy to kill these people. 21%.

That is not an insignificant bunch of hotheads. That is not "just a handful of extremists".

It's just 1pp short of the proportion of the electorate you need to get a 66 seat majority in Parliament. Forgive me if I don't think that the results of this survey are encouraging.

Duly forgiven, because they are not encouraging.

Strange Stuff highlights simply too many links to reproduce: go and read his whole piece. But the substantive part of his argument is this:

Islamic terrorism is not solely because of Western actions in Iraq. There have been Islamic terrorist attacks before Iraq in Bali and the suicide car bombing of French engineers in Pakistan. Nor is it a response to the attack on afganistan, there where many Islamic terrorist attacks before then such as 9/11, the USS Cole attack in Yemen, the Embassy bombings in Africa, or the first attack on the World Trade Centre all the way back in 1993. The Iraq war has not helped things, but where it the cause of Islamic terrorism then you would expect that the country that was at the forefront of campaigning against it would be less likely to be a target, however that was not the case. The Iraq war hadn't even being suggested when British born convert to Islam and Islamism Richard Reid tried to blow up an aircraft. The Islamists have their own agenda, they are not simply reacting to the actions of the west, and it is not one of peace or mutual toleration.

And, amidst all of the handwringing, let us not sit around and blame ourselves. As RightForScotland points out, you wouldn't ask that of a rape victim.

Is the rape victim ever to blame?

As the man does up his belt he turns to his victim lying on the floor. She is sobbing, shaking, bleeding. She looks up, looks into the eyes of the man who brutally violated her. He matches her gaze, looks her up and down and finally speaks;

“You only have yourself to blame love. You should not have dressed like that. I had to do it.”

Appalled yet?

Today we have a collective morality that shies away from accusations that rape victims “had it coming”. Blaming the victim is morally reprehensible to us.

Yet as we reach the first anniversary of Transport for London’s spontaneous Islamic detonation festival the leader of the MCB, the face of supposed moderate Islam, has called on Tony Blair to announce an investigation into the bombings in order “to establish the reasons behind it”. He also claims that the Prime Ministers call for Islamists to renounce the desire to kill us all is “unhelpful” and “obscuring the real reasons for last year's London attacks”.

And as he muses on today, he finishes with this:
I can recall in intimate detail two such anniversaries for my generation in the space of 4 years. We live in interesting times but we are at war.

These two incidents are no different in intent than when the Luftwaffe visited London.

They shall not grow old as we that are left grow old.

Let's not kid ourselves; even if you believe we are not yet at war, as I have been saying intermittantly over the last couple of years, the war will come. But, in the meantime, let's take Nosemonkey's advice.

And then, once that's done, let's get on with our lives - the best possible way to stick two fingers up at the tiny minority of bigoted, faith-drunk totalitarians who want to change the way we live with bombs.

Quite so.