... but it's kind of hard to not think about stuff like this. Every time something like this happens I just want to scream. In a way that's good. It means that I've not grown used to these types of attacks. Anytime carnage like this starts seeming "normal" is, in my opinion, a very bad thing. We should never just casually accept things like this.
I've seen lots of speculation regarding whether this was related to an economic conference Netanyahu was attending or the G8 summit. Personally, I suspect they've been waiting to hit whatever city was awarded the 2012 Olympics. To me, it seems logical that if they really want to strike fear in the world populace at large, singling out international events like this would be a likely target.
We may never know the reasoning that went into this attack. At the moment I take solace in the fact that these were not nearly as devastating as the Madrid bombings.
Update: Well, I might have spoke too soon. Early reports I read put confirmed fatalities between 2 and 10. Fox is now reporting 33 confirmed deaths and I've seen numbers as high as 70. Unfortunately, these numbers may go up further.
Another Update: According to the Mirror:
An Islamist website has posted a statement - purportedly from al-Qaeda - claiming it was behind the attacks.
This could just be bluster; my recollection is that the Palestinian Liberation Front briefly, until realizing that was not a line they wanted to cross, claimed responsibility for 9/11. Still, if we find that al-Qaeda was responsible, I don't think anyone will be surprised.
Even More:
Al Qaida terrorists today claimed responsibility for the London blasts on an Islamic website and said that "Britain is burning with fear".
The unverified claim, made on the Al-Qal'ah - Fortress - internet site, was posted by a group calling themselves the Secret Organisation Group of Al-Qa'ida of Jihad Organisation in Europe.
The message, posted this morning, said: "The heroic mujahidin have carried out a blessed raid in London.
"Britain is now burning with fear, terror and panic in its northern, southern, eastern, and western quarters."
[...]
"We have repeatedly warned the British Government and people. We have fulfilled our promise and carried out our blessed military raid in Britain after our mujahidin exerted strenuous efforts over a long period of time to ensure the success of the raid," the website posting read.
"We continue to warn the governments of Denmark and Italy and all the Crusader governments that they will be punished in the same way if they do not withdraw their troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. He who warns is excused."
This is pretty typical ranting, but it seems the group mentioned in the warning has not been previously heard from. I guess we'll see if this is for real soon enough.
The last sentence seems the be their way of justifying future attacks. I don't know the exact contents, but I know that the phrase appears in several Islamic tales. This phrase has been used to justify other attacks in the past.
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