...it's not dark yet, but it's gettin' there...
England will save herself by her exertions, and Europe by her example.i am well familiar with two of the tube stops that were blown up today. When i studied in London i often did research at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, located at Russell Square. Some good friends of mine rented a flat only a block or two from the Edgeware Road station. When my parents came to visit me for a week, they stayed in a hotel by the Edgeware Road stop.―William Pitt
When i lived in London, i used the tube so much that i was unable to get around on the surface. i knew directions only by looking at the tube map. i lived in the West End (this was my flat) and took either the District Line or the Picadilly Line twice a day. Although there was still some residual danger of IRA terrorism, i never encountered any problems. i think there was only one bombing while i was there, and i doubt anyone was killed. Interestingly enough, if i'm not mistaken, i think it occurred up by Edgware Road, too.
During the first London Blitz of August 1940 to May 1941 over 43,000 civilians died and 139,000 were injured. The picture below was taken on December 29, 1940, at the height of the blitz. During the V-weapon blitzes of 1944, about 8800 civilians died. One might think that the British people will be strong now, as they were during WWII. But they were united then, and now i'm not so sure. They have a sense that this is America's war, and seem to forget that we once thought of WWII was their war. Until we fought side-by-side with them to victory.
Almost sixty-five years ago to the day, Winston Churchill said these words:
We await undismayed the impending assault. Perhaps it will never come. We must show ourselves equally capable of meeting a sudden violent shock or what is perhaps a harder task, a prolonged vigil. But be the ordeal sharp or long, or both, we shall seek no terms, we shall tolerate no parley, we may show mercy--we ask none.Britain stopped Hitler's invasion, Operation Sea Lion. That fight was comparatively easy, when you consider that today's invaders are already inside Britain and there are no uniforms to know them by. They got there through the EC's open borders. And their presence is protected by political correctness.
Much as i love Tony Blair, i wonder if he could ever show the same toughness as Churchill. The terrorists are calling this World War III. When will we? When our president said "Bring 'em on," he was pilloried. Yet he spoke the only language tyrants and would-be tyrants understand.
Britain was once a great empire. They bowed to no one. (Except when they fought us.) Now what are they? Half the country embraces moral relativism, but in the pubs, you still can hear the voice of the working class. They're anti-Europe, proud of their heritage as well as their football teams, and i'll bet they're pissed tonight. (In the American sense of the word, if not the British.) Britain's soul is in a state of flux, and i hope the side that understands the epigram i chose for this post will win out. Perhaps today's attack will wake them up.
i woke up to the news of the bombings on the radio, and immediately switched on CNN, who i believe is still the best at covering breaking news, especially international. However, after i criticized Fox News only a few days ago, i have to say that Fox's coverage was superior, at least this morning. That's probably because they relied on a feed from Sky News.
i'm so exasperated by the left that i don't even have the stomach to read about their predictably defeatist attitude toward these attacks. i don't have the energy to rant about them right now. It should suffice to say that the only acceptable reaction to the bombings is, i believe, anger. The only acceptable response is to seek vengeance on those responsible and their sympathizers. i believe the time for a measured and proportionate response is long past, if it ever existed.
Michael Savage, whom i dislike by the way, did have an interesting opening to his show today. He played audio from a jihadist "rally" that took place in London only two months ago. The crowd was led in various chants that were chillingly prescient. "Death to America." "Death to Tony Blair." "George Bush you will die." etc. etc. etc. This was another unheeded warning. Unheeded because of political correctness.
It seems to me that if our enemy is bold enough to profess their wish to kill us openly, and we do nothing about it, we should not be surprised when they do kill large numbers of us. Savage is an extremist and he gives conservatives a bad name, but when he predicts that the day is coming when all European Muslims will be rounded up and interned, i wonder if he's right. Or, if he's not right, i wonder if he should be right.
And how could such a disturbing pogrom be averted? Not by pulling troops out of the Middle East. Not by abandoning Israel to the wolves. No, not even by signing the Kyoto treaty. It can only be averted by creating Democracy in the center of the storm. A stable and democratic Iraq is the best hope for the survival of Western Civilization.
One other London observation just came to mind. When i was there, i never understood the romantic fascination a lot of people had with "arab men." Especially the British women. They talked about them like we sometimes do about latin men over here, like they were these incredible lovers. More than once in a pub, i heard stories about rich arab men who came in and offered women like a million dollars to go back to Saudi Arabia to be one of their wives. i didn't get it. Chicks talked about it like they almost wished it would happen to them. The thought disgusts me.
Nicely said, Annika.
Wee Kim Wee, former president of Singapore said that Al Qaida’s reason for attacking us is to get us out of the Middle East.
Once we are gone from the Middle East Al Qaida will establish a Taliban-type country that encompasses all the oil-producing nations of that region.
That Taliban nation will then cut off the oil supply to the Western World. Millions of us will die starvation as there will be no way to transport food to the people.
Wee Kim Wee says that the Western World cannot rest until every member of Al Qaida is dead. I agree.
I wrote on my blog that my shock and pain over London is rapidly dissipating. I am resolved to point - as often as it takes - to the root cause of this atrocity:
from Den Beste:
"The root cause (is) Arab frustration caused by Arab failure...
[...]
They fail because their culture is diseased...."
Repeat it as often as you possibly can. The West must awaken.
They hate the West because they keep losing to the West. They've been losing to us since the 1400's and they're sick of it.
The left's answer is to let them win this one.
Our answer is to get them to join the winning side.
Posted by: annika on Jul. 7, 2005If anyone is interested this WILL be my goatfucker response when I ascend to the appropriate power.
Vaporize away towelhead scum!
Posted by: Radical Redneck on Jul. 7, 2005i heard stories about rich arab men who came in and offered women like a million dollars to go back to Saudi Arabia to be one of their wives. i didn't get it. Chicks talked about it like they almost wished it would happen to them.
C'mon Annie, you could be his first two-legger!
Posted by: Radical Redneck on Jul. 7, 2005These guys aren't even in the same league as the Nazis, Annie. They're openly present in the U.K. but it's taken them, what, 3 & 1/2 years to kill 40 people? Buncha fuckin' incompetent asswipes. (Not that I'm complaining.) My money's on the Brits.
And I sure hope I'm right.
Posted by: Matt on Jul. 7, 2005Meanwhile we have more G-Bay self-flagellation:
Washington Times: Belgian Lawmaker Urges Gitmo Be Shuttered
"We recommend terminating the Guantanamo detention facility," said the report's author, Anne Marie Lizin, who is also the Socialist president of the Belgian Senate.She said keeping the camp open was damaging the reputation of the United States and causing the "radicalization" of detainees.
The 55-nation trans-Atlantic security organization has not acted on the study, which Lizin said followed interviews with senior officials at the Pentagon, members of the U.S. Congress, and others who have access to the prisoners at the camp.
"The longer the detention is in the camps the more hatred against the U.S. and the West becomes anchored in hearts and minds," said Lizin.
Great idea Comrade Lizin! The terrorists in Guantanamo also recommend closing of Guantanamo (so they can resume bombing civilians, like those in London today).
amazing how the left's usual response is to always capitulate - well i don't think that those that died did so in vain. remembering world war two all the terrorist accomplished is to rile the old english bull dog. someone is gonna get bit in their arse! and the dog won't let go!!!
Posted by: bill on Jul. 8, 2005Bill:
One wonders if the London bombing would have taken place if Spain had stood up to the Al Qaida after their bombing?
Posted by: Jake on Jul. 8, 2005Jake, great point. Spain not only did not "stand up to" al Qaida, they elected a socialist government with a so-called leader who vowed to remove (and eventually did remove) all Spanish military from of Iraq.
Posted by: Mark on Jul. 8, 2005It won't be a pogram to round up and monitor Muslims any more than it was a pogram to intern Japanese, German, and Italian nationals in the US during WWII.
All of the foreign wars and all of our homeland security measures are stupid if we don't get a handle on the growing threat from immigrant extremists. We have the equivalent of an armed posse roaming about inner city neighborhoods and a state of the art surveillance system in our home, but we neglected to install a door and take a look at who is inside.
Posted by: Roach on Jul. 8, 2005amazing how the muslim clerics (peaceful ones) abhor what has happened in London; ya da yada! well clerics heres the deal- declare a fatwa against the terrorist! you know a real honest to GOD fatwa. then you kill the bastards and maybe you can gain some credibility in your contritness and wont have to tell everyone to lay low.....
Posted by: bill on Jul. 8, 2005Well put, Annika. Like you said, the Left's answer is to bend over and take it in the ass -- by dropping our alliance with Israel, withdrawing our troops from the "muslim land," and abandoning Iraq to the Zarcawis of the world. Doesn't seem like much of a response to me.
The Right's answer is to plant that seed of democracy in the middle of the desert. Freedom, liberty, and hope will be the irrigation that allows that seed to grow and flourish.
On the front door of hatred and extremism, democracy will ring the doorbell, enter, and kick some ass.
All we need to do is stay vigilant, and support our decision to go there, and our men and women fighting there.
Posted by: Rob on Jul. 8, 2005We will all win - we always do even if the terrorists sure think they are clever. What smart people to hurt and kill men, women, and even CHILDREN in the recent London bomb blasts. Now, world citizens will surely say, “Okay, we give up, come control our lives with your ideologies.” Right? The problem with the leadership at al-Qaeda is that they haven’t figured out that people have no love for killers. Their point of view will only attract the very young and impressionable or the very old and desperate. They miss the largest demographic- law abiding citizens who want peace. If it’s the masses a group wants to affect, do something absolutely worthwhile and positive with the resources. Win hearts. The world may be talking about al-Qaeda , but it’s not in love with it and the goods it’s selling. Without winning hearts, MommyCool.com notes the change al-Qaeda hopes for will always be shallow.
Posted by: MommyCool on Jul. 8, 2005if you wanted to see blather, you should have watched abc's nightline last night.
god i hope someone somewhere cancels/pulls the plug on that fucking excuse for information.
jake, i believe what you are describing is a caliphate.
Posted by: louielouie on Jul. 8, 2005MommyCool..."people have no love for killers"...I wish I could believe that, but I think significant numbers of people are in fact fascinated by killers. That includes people of both genders, and specifically includes many people who consider themselves "pacifists."
Annika, I'd be interested in your thoughts on the roots of the "romantic fascination" you mention.
Posted by: David Foster on Jul. 8, 2005Hi Annika
Well said. Britain must remain strong in this dreadful hour. The reactionary forces that threaten global stability must not be allowed to succeed.
Gavin
www.lonelythinker.com
i hear ya louielouie, that was awful. diane sawyer is flub-headed and then some journalist was trying to cry, it was horrible tv...
..but enough about that, we'll see what happens in the aftermath of this attack. I have a fear that the current generation is too short sighted for any beneficial effects to last from these horrific blasts.
Posted by: Scof on Jul. 8, 2005This pc shit we've all had to swallow is going to be the death of us. Maybe London will be the mental enema that finally cleans us, maybe not. I'm so tired of those turdfaced assholes and their butthole religion. Hey, Bush, can I borrow your football just for a little while?
Posted by: c on Jul. 8, 2005