damn..... that's f***ing awful.
ordinarily i'd think i might go.. ah, londoners, sod 'em... but there is a limit. just thinking of what being in that sort of situation would be like, regardless of who you are, is enough.
(takes a lot to sh*t me up enough to drive into work merely on principle but this managed it --- also strengthened my resolve to keep the hell out of city centres esp. london as much as possible)
my brother has suddenly become politically very knowledgeable (dunno how) and dropped some interesting points on me during a dissection of the day's news...
me: wondering why, if anyone was making a political statement, they didn't just drive a truck of explosives into gleneagles, or thru the gates (cast iron? pfah) and past no.10 when tony's home ... and what exactly is it they're trying to acheive, because most terrorists have a cause - al qaeda's main objective, at least so far as our mass media is concerned, seems to be mainly to sink a lot of cash and human resources into blowing stuff up just for the hell of it whilst shouting "down with america!".
(or words to that effect, spread throughout a long conversation)
him: 1. don't you think they play the stock market on this sort of thing? they've probably earnt their money back already (stock market did go bananas directly after), and there's always tons of willing psychos to use for suicide runs. 2. they're trying to start all out civil war within the targeted countries - christian, jew & secular vs muslim, however peaceful things currently are -- their jihadist vision is that of overall islamic rule (taking small bits of the qu'ran to the extreme) and they reckon, if a barney can be induced, it will spread, and they have the numbers and will (i.e. unrelenting psychosis) to acheive this. Only after the dust settles will the unwitting pawns on all sides realise quite what has happened and how they themselves facilitated it, but it'll be too late.
(where did he get that from? very insightful)
so basically... like a school bully... they're best ignored.
(of course, bombing public transport in a city like london is one of the very best ways, in terms of cost vs effect, to strike at a country - an entire city was basically shut down for a day, it's hospitals overloaded, much genuine terror induced - and it didn't stop there. birmingham, and i suspect other cities, were on high alert, my own hospital put emergency preparation procedures into place, and a floating nurse who operates between there and the diana childrens hosp reported it had gone even higher, putting on-call specialists on alert, as it's the closest one to the city centre... not to mention some road closures, public transport woes.... and motorway snarl ups etc)
maybe we need a more laid back approach to it.... it would take an enormous effort on their part to affect a very large part of the tube or bus system (you think the palestinians / israelis haven't been aiming at such an effect for years and years on their cross border enemies?) so instead of shutting the entire system down ... keep traffic and people flowing, but continue making way for the emergency services. If what they do has no effect, then why bother?
PS
Personally I think Australia is too much of a risk area too, though there's plenty enough desert, bush, or semi-jungle bits to lose yourself in if needs be, and make like Ray Mears. Canada is a good option instead, though there's too many french
, it's a bit close to america and too cold. Not much of a common target though. Or, New Zealand... not the warmest of spots either (pretty much a uk climate but with more glacial valleys) but quite peaceful and low-key.
