The London Blasts: Some Reflections

Date: 8 July 2005

HORROR IN LONDON

The explosions in London yesterday provoke mixed feelings of stunned horror and disbelief and, at the same time, resignation and a curious lack of surprise.

After years of warnings from senior police officers, intelligence officials, and leading politicians, London has finally suffered its first major terrorist attack of the new era, of the 'war on terror'.

WHAT WE CAN DO

What is needed is a firm, principled response. What is needed is action and persuasion; deeds and words that can help to increase our security, and to create a more just society, both here and abroad.

Action and arguments that help to prevent terrorist attacks like the ones that we have witnessed today.

As ordinary citizens, we can and should demonstrate:

compassion for those suffering directly as a result of the London atrocities,

solidarity with those who are threatened with a violent backlash, and

commitment in resisting policies and laws that deepen injustice and further undermine the security of the British people.

As an anti-war movement, we can and should explain to our fellow citizens:

how these outrages can be brought to an end,

how the policies of the British government heighten the risk of such attacks, and

how our action can help to build justice and truly 'counter terrorism'.

THE DEBATE TO COME

In the coming days and weeks, ordinary people in Britain (and elsewhere) are going to be discussing and debating burning questions: Who carried out these attacks? Why did they do this? Is Islam itself (or the Muslim community in Britain) at all responsible for this kind of terrorism? Is there any way to stop future atrocities like this?

The answers to these questions are of enormous significance, for Muslims and for Asians in Britain, for all British citizens threatened with repressive legislation, and for countless numbers of people abroad, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The answers that the British public arrives at, and the answers embodied in the mass media, will have enormous significance for the freedom of action of the British Government.

It is therefore vitally important for the British anti-war movement to play a vigorous part in the public debate around these

WHY DO THEY HATE US?

There is a conventional explanation for the bombings, which are (almost certainly correctly) taken to be the work of a group aligned with al Qaeda. The conventional explanation is that the terrorists responsible for the London atrocities were attacking Western values of freedom and democracy.

The G8 responded to the bombings by describing them as 'an attack not on one nation but on all nations and civilised people.'

Tony Blair, in his first response to the attacks, suggested that the bombs were aimed at Britain's 'values', and were designed to 'impose extremism':

'It's important however that those engaged in terrorism realise that our determination to defend our values and our way of life is greater than their determination to cause death and destruction to innocent people in a desire to impose extremism on the world.'

He went on: 'Whatever they do, it is our determination that they will never succeed in destroying what we hold dear in this country and in other civilised nations throughout the world.'

Well outside the corridors of power, similar sentiments can be heard coming from London, defending 'the democratic values that terror seeks to destroy'.

WHAT BIN LADEN REALLY WANTS

The only flaw in the conventional explanation of 'what al Qaeda is about' is that it is completely wrong. That is the opinion not of anti-war campaigners or radical academics, but of one of the best-informed al Qaeda experts in the Western world, the man who led the CIA's bin Laden unit for four years.

Michael Scheuer (who wrote two books as 'Anonymous' while a serving CIA officer) says that the conventional explanation of Osama bin Laden as anti-freedom is just plain wrong. (For more, please see JNV Anti-War Briefing 77.)

The public debate around terrorism desperately needs a serious understanding of what al Qaeda is really about, and how its brutal campaign can be brought to an end. Unfortunately, as the press coverage of the bombings demonstrates, the mass media will, left to its own devices, leave the public in the dark as to certain vital realities.

Concerned citizens, and the anti-war movement, must supply information, credible sources, and powerful arguments, to help resist repression, propaganda, further military adventures, and the demonisation of the Muslim community.

What is needed is a firm, principled response. What is needed is action and persuasion; deeds and words that can help to increase our security, and to create a more just society, both here and abroad.

Last year Justice Not Vengeance drew up a programme for just the circumstances in which we now find ourselves. It was in a statement we called 'Counter Terror: Build Justice' (which you can find elsewhere on this website). The central paragraph stated:

'In the event of a major terrorist attack against our country, we commit ourselves to supporting victims and their relatives, defending the rights of those threatened by a vengeful backlash - particularly Muslims and Arab people in our communities, and nonviolently resisting any military response by our government.'

We now need concrete action throughout the UK to fulfil this positive programme of action, to prevent further atrocities from occurring and to help build a better world for all of us.