I'm going to say something terrible and then you can start yelling at me

[Bucky]

I'm going to say something terrible and then you can all start yelling at me.

A week after the fact, the London attacks turn out to not be that big a deal. I mean, yes, they killed 50 people or so. That's terrible. But this does not feel like a 9/11 thing. At the WTC attack, al-Qaeda killed over 2700 people. That's stunning. That's like adding onto the year's calendar a whole extra day's worth of deaths in the state of New York. Terrorists dramatically changed the skyline of New York City. As a society we were rattled to the core and the world--however briefly--said things like "we're all Americans today." Which felt good.

But in London they only managed to disrupt the underground traffic. It's not emotionally the same violence as slamming airplanes into buildings until they fall down. London just hasn't rattled my cage like the WTC attacks did. It's not even Pentagon level terror. London was utterly foreseeable--I've spent the last three years telling my conservative friends this is EXACTLY why Iraq was a mistake and that things like this would happen. I'm sorry it happened, but it's not really a major development.

But what's most surprising about London, which no one is calling "7/7" by the way, is the fact that it's not affecting me. It's not bothering me. I don't dwell on it. It's not making me question the bases of the security umbrella I live under. I don't think about it day after day or turn to my friends and family to tell them how much they mean to me. Partly it's the ramp down in terrorists' effectiveness--the Bali attack was less stunning than 9/11, Madrid less than Bali, and finally London less than Madrid. Shock value in the world Bush made is measured in bodybags, and so London is all but off the radar screen in just eight days.

What are we thinking about today? The White House continuing to smear a patriot, a dying Supreme Court justice refusing to let Bush appoint his successor, storms hitting the Gulf Coast, Curt Schilling getting back in the game, the hockey talks, Harry Potter shit. I'm not consciously ignoring London; it's just not having that big an impact on my world.

As it turns out, it's as easy to ignore dozens of terror murders in London as it is to ignore the far greater numbers of terror murders in Iraq.

[driver8]

1. Bucky, you hit the nail on the head with these words...

"I'm not conciously ignoring London, its just not having that big an impact on my world."

Substitute "London" with "Iraq" and you will get the attitude of the majority of this country. They don't see it; It doesn't affect them...slap a sticker on the SUV and all is right with the world.

[Erika]

4. The elitist Bushies in this country do not want to think of Iraq

or Afghanistan and our deaths, their deaths, injuries, etc.

The ribbon magnets are disappearing big time.

[Erika]

2. I'm thinking about our troops n Iraq

at www.icasualties.org

[Maple]

3. The world revolves around America

all else is background noise.

Why is it they hate you again?

[Solly Mack]

5. And there it is...

In just 3 posts - the answer.

[DemInDistress]

6. In Iraq...

4 bombings would be considered a "good day".Yet barely gets a mention in MSM.Frankly I don't ahve pity on Londoners although innocent people were killed look at how many innocents die in Iraq and not just by insurgents by America's own...

[FreedomAngel82]

15. Exactly

You never hear anybody on the news say how horrible the bombings in Iraq are. Oh, no. I do feel bad for the people of London but I agree. You can't compare the two.

[bloom]

7. I've been thinking about it quite a bit

(more than Rove, even :) ) but part of that is because I know people over there and because I've been there - so I can picture it. And so I've been looking into Gladio and stuff.

Pretty soon I'll have a relative in the Middle East again - so I'll be more aware of that area than I usually am.

While it's nice to think that ideally we think of everyone equally - it stands to reason that people think about people that they know.

Also - I think I am more aware of the London bombing because of 9/11. It's more like since we've been through it as a country - it is easier to have empathy. Sometimes I wonder if that is part of the goal of whoever is ultimately responsible.

On edit:

As far as Iraq goes - I feel horrible about it every day. But I don't identify with it - and it is difficult to imagine it. But I think it's horrible - no matter how many are killed each day.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

8. With all that we know now about the NeoCons and the lies they've....

...told on virtually every subject, do you still believe Al Qaeda was responsible for 911?

Who benefitted the most from the attacks of 911? It certainly wasn't Al Qaeda, was it?

[Bucky]

13. Yes, al-Qaeda's benefitted tremendously from 9/11.

Before 9/11, they were nothing more than bin Laden's side kicks. And we only knew about bin Laden because Clinton was so obsessed with him. Now, they're big world players and the Arab world is divided along lines of whether they cheer for or loath the al Qaeda networks.

Now let me ask you something. With all the double crossing you see going on in Washington DC over the Rove scandal, are you really so naive as to think that a conspiracy as big as Americans in the White House setting up an attack on the United States could go unrevealed for four years?

Convoluted plotlines might work in movies, but in the real world big casts of characters rarely result in such perfect cooperation.

[manic expression]

9. Of course the London attacks aren't as shocking

as the WTC attacks, and no one is claiming that much. People ARE using this as a way to make people afraid and blind, and I wish people would keep things in perspective. However, the thing that pisses me off about the attention on London is that those kinds of things happen on a daily basis in Iraq because of our actions.

That being said, the loss of life is immense in all of these cases, and it seems a little callous to start making a list and checking it twice about which people we should give more of a crap about and which we shouldn't. Don't value your 'stun' factor as much as the reality of what happened (as well as the reasons and effects).

[chalky]

10. Actually I AM thinking about London this week

But my reasons are a bit unusual.

If I'd been home during the week of 9/11, your post would have had my attitude nailed.

[melissinha]

11. No worries

You said it all with:

As it turns out, it's as easy to ignore dozens of terror murders in London as it is to ignore the far greater numbers of terror murders in Iraq.

what a telling sentiment. yet not uncommon.

[Erika]

12. Tommy Franks loved his shock and awe campaign

against a primitive third world nation with a tin horn dictator who was never a threat to us. But he had the Bushies global corporatists backing him all the way.

[Carolab]

14. It bothers me, and here's why.

What's Behind the London Attacks?

By Matt Hutaff
Jul 7, 2005

Only one word sprang to mind when I heard about the bombings that claimed the lives of dozens of Londoners today – convenient.

Is there anything convenient in death, or in thousands of lives destroyed from catastrophe? No – and words cannot express the sorrow I feel for the men and women changed by today's events. But governments with skeletons in their closets have a great deal to gain from a national tragedy bolstered by "terrorism."

As I sit in my office today, I hear the whispers of co-workers now utterly convinced our war on terror must continue. Despite American and British involvement in the Middle East birthing wave after wave of rebel forces, the Bush doctrine is now justified in the minds of millions. Petty grievances such as the Downing Street Minutes, the President's flagging support and Karl Rove's treasonous outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame are unimportant. A shadowy conglomeration is out to kill us.

Sound familiar? It should – the same emotional ploy was used to great effect on Americans in the wake of September 11th. Question nothing, particularly your cries for vengeance or that nagging feeling in the back of your head. Justice delayed is justice denied.

EDITED BY ADMIN: COPYRIGHT

http://www.thesimon.com/magazine/articles/canon_fodder/0889_what_behind_london_attacks.html
_________________
"we don't buy newspapers, it is much cheaper and more effective to buy journalists."

- R. Wing leader in 1930's France

[smirkymonkey]

18. That's exactly what is bothering me.

I can't even articulate it, but I find something very disturbing about this incident besides the loss of life and the impact on Londoners. I just have this gut feeling that this is something more sinister than a few "suicide bombers" attcking civilians. The arrogance of the "powers that be" for starters. It just doesn't add up.

[bloom]

19. That bothers me quite a bit as well

partly because I want to believe there is somewhere in the world that isn't crazy like the US. I want to believe they aren't all corrupted.


"EU: One Week After London Blasts, Europe Moves To Tighten Antiterror Laws"


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4081103#4099215

http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2005/7/9854EECC-9E22-47E0-8B57-0FE067F78D07.html

[Moderator]

21. Carolab

Per DU copyright rules
please post only four
paragraphs from the
copyrighted news source.


Thank you.


DU Moderator

[Carolab]

22. Oops I did it again.

Sorry. I'm STOOPID.

[rumpel]

16. You are right. In a sense, it is numbing after a horrible incident such as

911.
But when you think abou it, hundreds of thousands died in Hiroshima and Nagasaki from the A-bomb. The reaction by the people there may very much be the same towards 911 or not.

The suddeness and shock must be the same, maybe it is the proximity of the incident to the observer (us)?
The treatment by the media is also different. Everyone watched 9/11 as it happened live on TV, London, just as Madrid and Bagdhad, we only see the ruins, the aftermah of it. Maybe the perception changes with how we get the information?

I don't know.

But the good thing is, we all know it is wrong, and we all know what contributed to it, and perhaps therefore we direct our shock, dismay and anger towards hopefully a part of the culprit to make it better?

[aquart]

17. Yup. So?

[Bluebear]

20. never mind

[AnnInLa]

23. We have become so desensitized, especially since 9/11...

and maybe that is a natural thing. (But should not be.) However, I was shocked when I heard some freepers and RW talking heads express the view that the London bombings were nothing, just nothing compared to 9/11...almost as if they were jealous that another place had pre-empted OUR tragedy. I would have thought these types would have been crying, "terra, terra," but they were putting-down the suffering of the British. I also found it a bit callous that people treated the bombings so dismissively, saying, The Brits are strong, they can take it....now, watch this drive.

When we lose the ability to become outraged and hurt over terrorism in ALL its forms, that is perpetuated on any people, we are in trouble, my friends. We become Stepford freepers.