Bombs rip through London Underground

[Hi-Val]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/4659093.stm

British TMDers, if there are any, be safe.

The shit, so to speak, has hit the fan.

[Dozer]

And this just a day after London got the Olympics. It is horrible. I feel for all victims and their families, and I mourn their losses.
Safety is only an illusion.

[dandan]

Only 2 deaths are reported so far. That is a miracle.

I have no idea what these people are trying to achieve but I'm sure it won't adversely affect Briatain's resolve to fight terrorism.

[Matt]

If anything, it will only strengthen it. Britain has never been one to cut and run. I heard they're up to 33 dead. My deep sympathies.

[Demonic Attorney]

Casualty count reached 42 as of 1:29 PM according to cnn.com and the fatalities on the double-decker bus haven't even been tallied yet.  Reports indicate that three explosions hit the subway, and a fourth destroyed a crowded double-decker bus, at the height of rush hour this morning.  My deepest sympathies go out to those affected by this morning's tragedy.

[dandan]

The BBC is still showing 37 dead including the bus, hopefully the number won't rise.

You Americans probably won't hear Putin's reaction but his was far more interesting than Bush's or Blair's. He basically said that we have been far too weak and slow to unite against terrorism. Terrorists need to be wiped off the face of the earth.
I wouldn't want to be anywhere near Chechnya. It is unlikely that Britain will retaliate in the way America and Russia have done in the past, but I can imagine Putin seeing that the West will object a lot less to any anti-terrorist action he might take. Remember the Russians are still very very pissed-off over the Beslan school siege.

Just as public opinion was starting to question the war on terrorism, the terrorists have 'succeeded' in strengthening the resolve to fight them. I fully expect a lot less press coverage of violations of human rights of terrorist suspects.

[Machinus]

Remember the Russians are still very very pissed-off over the Beslan school siege.

I sympathize with the Russians about this. Beslan was a horrible horrible day. I hope the Russians can get something done.

[Ben Kossman]

Innocent People getting blown up affects me in a way I can't quite describe in words at this point. I know England can handle it. But they definitely don't deserve it. Neither did Spain. Or Iraq. Or Afghanistan. Or NYC. Blowing people up is fucking stupid.
 

[dandan]

The problem is they tend to get things done in Chechnya by levelling a town rather than a surgical strike.
To their credit, they managed to get Maskhadov killed although he was seen as a relatively moderate terrorist leader but have failed to get Baseyov, who planned Beslan and other attacks on scholls, hospitals etc.

[dandan]

I feel the opposite. Seeing the carnage in London and remembering Beslan, Madrid, Moscow, New York and the mess that is the Middle East, a few people deserve to be blown into very small pieces indeed. I hope and expect restraint so that innocents do not suffer as a result of this but I don't give a damn what they do with the guilty.

[Ben Kossman]

So who's to blame? The people who make a concious choice to harm innocents are wrong whether they're American  or Al-Qaida. They fuel each other. In the end you do in fact need raw force to win this war. But where do you use it? Against people who were already dirt-poor and oppressed in the first place or against the countries who are actually perpetuating the war (Saudi Arabia, Iran). At some point logic HAS to take precedence over profit.

[Matt]

Threads merged.[/color]

[Bram]

Political discussion is banned on TMD. Thank you. Good night.