London’s Hour of Reckoning

Now, the world will see the difference!

The ``spirit of 1940`` will revive itself, because the terrorist picked the wrong targets and in fact, these attacks will boomerang on the terrorists. The London Underground or the ``tube`` and the London Double Decker buses, were some of the most visble symbols of British defiance against evil of Nazism. During the height of the blitz on London, the buses worked on scheduled to signify a sense of normality and the London Underground was used as a shelter, where thousands of Londoners passed the nights during the Second World War.

By a quirk of fate, the attackers of London have helped in cementing in the minds of the British public the opinion that the evil of terrorism, just like the evil of Nazism, has to be defeated, ``no matter how hard the road or how heavy the burden``. I am, presently, remembering the words of a speech uttered in the House of Commons on May 10, 1940 and though the world may not remember the speech, it will never forget the speech, which only promised ``blood, toil, tears and sweat`` to the British people as they prepared to defend themselves against the greatest challenge to their freedoms in the modern times.

The turning point in the war on terrorism has been reached and passed. It was marked by the reponse of the Londoners, which was so markedly different than the American reaction after September 11, 2001. Whereas, the Americans were visibly panicked; the British are now determined to see this business through and that means, the British reaction will not be dicatated by notions of revenge, like the American response in Afghanistan was, but by the neccessities of cold blooded realism; seeking to shape the world, which will emerge after the war on terrorism is over.

If there was a silver lining to the bomb blasts in London, it was that now, with Great Britain in charge of the G8, there will be emphasis on practical diplomacy seeking to solve the problems of the world and in this, the British government will be supported by the British public. The British are not prone to emotionalism as the Americans are, but hard headed, when it comes to issues of diplomacy and the interests of Great Britain. The interests of Great Britain, in the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) will now be different than the United States.

Unlike the Americans, who seem to think that winning the GWOT is measured in body counts of the terrorists killed, the British opinion will be to defeat the defeat the ideology of terrorism not through a military defeat, but through a process of discrediting its politics. It will be an astute mixture of diplomacy, calculated force, political entreaties and above all, a resilent patience, based on a political consensus across the party lines in the House of Commons, to find the end of the problem. It took the British nearly seventy years to tame the Irish Republican Army and it now seems to be quite likely that Al-Qaeda will also be tamed in due time.

Ciao

Muslim terrorism is not a civilizational conflict between Islam and Christianity ... rather it is a POLITICAL conflict with the ultimate objective of control of Muslim lands by Muslim poulations rather than by proxies.

As for the means being used towards this objective, i.e. deliberate killing of innocent civilians ... wait a minute ... did America deliberately kill innocent civilians in Hiroshima and Nagasaki for a different purpose? Or Not? Give it a thought. The allies at that time started the precedent that deliberate murder of civilians is OK if the objective is sufficiently compelling !!!

zeemax: hiroshima/nagasaki bombings were undertaken to end the war with japan, thus saving far more lives than were lost in the bombings. So, try to find some other excuse for the murders of innocent people in london by your terrorist heroes.

ferozk #33 I have no doubt that time will prove you to be quite correct. These fools timed their murderous attacks at the same time as the world`s leaders were gathered for G-8. These included leaders of Russia, India and China: all three nations that would be only too happy to join hands with the UK and US in the fight against these terrorists. So, unlike 1940, Britain no longer stands alone. All civilized people of the world are with them. Muslims can either keep whining about profiling and misrepresenting the facts in Iraq. Or they can smell the coffee and get their act together. Knowing the arrogance and stupidity of most islamist types, I suspect they will learn the hard way.

I wll go with Beejay # 12 on this....


Right its time for the silent LAMBs called the Silent Muslims.... start talking....
and start telling How much they do are against this pathetic......... ways of the terrorists.....

Not words but actions are now required by the Muslims .....

Ozer!.There`s always a silver lining to every cloud!.Figure this.When you get thrown outta the UK to Pak, you will be that closer to India.You can get a visa, visit our open society, dance all you want, drink all you want, eat all you want,pray all you want,watch any kind of movie,watch hundreds of tv channels, travel all you want(we`re the world`s 7th largest nation), meditate all you want, in other words, ANYTHING YOU WANNA DO, YOU CAN!!!.Visit the cities, towns,villages, rain forests, beaches, deserts, hill stations, mountains and valleys of India.Why stay in that dingy,damp, dank and dark little island when you can visit `Incredible India`?. I hope the indians issue you a visa.

#20

The obsession with justifying every act of barbarism and mass murder by connection to middle-east (aka: israel) betrays a deep hypocrisy and a mind that has been poisioned by propaganda. It demonstrates a colonized mindset where only the arab mastahs politicial concerns are of interest.

A million people died in the iran-iraq war. Today, a genocide is taking place in the sudan with muslims taking the lead. In south asia from where i originate (and I suspect you do too) muslim women are amongst the most ignorant and have barely 10% literacy. In india, the last cases of polio continue to fester in the muslim community due to illiteracy and hyper-ignorance.

But these things are irrelevant to you. You will never lead a march against them or make a demonstration against them. This is why you are a loser and a hypocrite.

Now, increasingly, the world has started talking about this very important topic – the muslim mindset. I knew someday the world will wake up.

Yesterday on CNN Aaron Brown interviewed the Shia Imam from Orange County, California. He raised questions that would have been considered shocking and unpermissible only a few months ago (unpermissible because of Gulf Oil, of course).

Some of the discussion threads (I’m paraphrasing here):

One thread:

Q: Why do Muslims show no PUBLIC condemnation and outrage over terrorist incidents like what happened in London.

Imam: Oh, they condemn these actions. We talk about this in our homes, mosques etc.

Q. But why do they not express their condemnation PUBLICLY and en masse.

Imam: (NO answer)

Another thread:

Q: Why don’t the Muslim Religious leaders all over the world condemn these actions?

Imam: Oh they do, they do.

Q: But we don’t see any of that condemnation.

Imam: They do, but they need to do more.


Another thread:

Q: Why do Muslim Religious leaders not issue Fatwas against Osama Bin Laden and other terrorists.

Imam: Oh, God has already issued fatwa against them, the clerics don’t need to.

Unasked Question: So why are they so quick to issue fatwas regarding OTHER people? Why not leave it to God then also?


Hypocrites!

Re: # 36

Greetings! Nice to hear from you, as always! How have you been?

T. Ahmed sahib, Muslims will never get their act together and they will continue to whine, as is their destiny in life. There seems to be a sadistic streak in the Muslim character, which loves to be whipped because it gives them a reason to play the victim. I have no hopes that anything worth while will come from the Muslims, as Muslims will once again play the osterich and hide their heads in the sands of their own ignorance.

The time for smelling the coffee is over!

A while back I predicted that there will be a battle for the the soul of Islam and now, it seems that hour of the battle has arrived. This battle will be fought between Muslims and each Muslim will have to decide, where they would stand, because the lines are already forming up as we speak. One side will fight for what it believes and it will oppose another side, which also will fight for its believes; it is the battle of good against evil. As far as the Muslims are concerned, Armageddon has arrived and accounting for past appeasements has started and in this battle, for each side, failure is not an option.

It is a time, when the Muslims who claim the benelovence of Islam, will have to stand up and retake their religion from the ones, who have held it hostage to violence, extermism, hate, anger, fear mongering, ignorance, intolerance, backwardness, reactionism and injustice. Right now, the time has arrived either the vast, and so called and self-proclaimed, silent majority of the Muslims fight for the salvation of their religion and for the sake of their own souls in the Hereafter or they capitulate to the forces of darkness, which seems to eating their religion from the inside like a cancer.

The world, and the Muslims who live in it and subsribe to a more enlightened view of Islam, do not have the luxury of ``getting their act together``. The time has come, when to the victor will belong the spoils, and in this case, a victory of a violent and extermist Islam is not an option. Islam has to be re-taken; with guile; with conviction; with force, and with blood, if necessary.

The `hinge of fate`` has turned. Now, it is not possible to sit on the fence. What this means for the Muslims is that they have to decide, where they will stand and where they will fall in this battle. Muslims are standing on the threshold of a critical choice and one fork in the road leads to progress and enlightenment and humanism and decency and other to leads to barbarism, darkness, moral myopia and spiritual bankruptcy.

Ciao

Re: # 37
//....Right its time for the silent LAMBs called the Silent Muslims.... start talking....
and start telling How much they do are against this pathetic......... ways of the terrorists.....//

``Silent Lambs``? Not really - It`s more like passive supporters and closet-admirers. That`s why there won`t be any ``talking``, there won`t be any actions, there won`t be commuity activism aginst terrorists. ...... Because Muslims at large identify with the ``causes`` these bombers are fighting for..... they consider these attacks necessity as a revenge and as a deterrent.

Ferozek #33:``the British opinion will be to defeat the defeat the ideology of terrorism not through a military defeat, but through a process of discrediting its politics. It will be an astute mixture of diplomacy, calculated force, political entreaties and above all, a resilent patience, based on a political consensus across the party lines in the House of Commons, to find the end of the problem.``

The British and the European population had already come around to this, a while back. They understand the problems of the world, far better, than the US population. The EU`s stance on international conflicts is far fairer and more realistic than that of the USA. This includes their stances on Palestine-Israel, and various other conflicts. Including Iraq.

Europe saw the world`s biggest demonstrations agains the Iraq War. They were gigantic, by any historical account. Much larger than those, in even any Muslim country. This was right after the WTC were attacked. There is not a single country in Europe (including Eastern Europe) whose majority population was not against the war.

The people of London, themselves, were against the war. The Brits completely reduced an overwhelmingly majority of an otherwise very popular Labour govt. in the House. In Germany the elections were decided on this issue. In Spain a govt. was thrown out due to its participation in the war.

These are not small events. It indicates an understanding of world events and a realization that terrorism is not a one-way street. It is basically a recognition of the concept of State terrorism as a participant in this circle of violence..........

So I don`t think the Brits and Europeans needed this attack to have them tackle these issues. They are already tackling them, quite well. France is today, in a poll by the Economist (?) one of the three most popular non-Arab countries in the world, amongst Arabs. More popular than nearly all Muslim countries. Every Arab I meet in Canada (and I meet a lot) loves France. They love Canada also. They used to like UK, before Iraq War. And they have a lot of respect for Germany etc. But they hate the USA. Each and every one of them.

One of the reasons Europeans protested so heavily against this war was based on moral principle - a principle for which they have my admiration. Another was was because they knew that it would eventually reach their own streets. It was realism.......

What is needed now is sane thinking. Not emotional rhetoric and flag waving. Hopefully, the Brits will show the same sanity they have been showing all along, through this war, by opposing it. I think they have put two and two together. They know there would have been no bombings had the Brits not invaded Iraq. Infact, they, including their mayor, told Blair this, loudly and clearly, even before he invaded........

This is the difference between the Brits and Americans. In Britain, it was only a leader who invaded Iraq. In the USA, it was the whole population (60% of which has now realized its mistake).

There is obviously a clear soluion to this. The UK should leave Iraq. Anyone actually concerned about the lives of human beings - be they in London or Iraq - will suggest this. Usually such solutions are right in front of everyone, but leaders remain in denial, i.e. Blair should do what his population has been telling him even before he invaded. However, he is now, personally, too deeply stuck in this conflict. His political future is tied to it. And that is more important to him than anyone`s life........

So, while a majority of Londoners oppose the Iraq invasion, Blair has now started making the same soundbytes as Bush. ``They hate our freedoms. They hate our way of life. They will never crush us.`` etc. I have yet to hear him say, this is directly related to my (his) decision to invade Iraq. I hope he, at least, acknowledges that.........And then figures out what the best way to protect his citizens happens to be.......All he has to do is to listen to the common sense of his own people. And do what they have been asking him to do..................

This whole circle of violence is nothing but a few leaders, on both sides, like Bush and OBL etc. trying to push their own political agenda. In it, they are supported by communalists, neo-cons, terrorists, etc. And the victims are innocent civilians (and innocent soldiers) on both sides.........

Luckily the debates I see on BBC are more sane than the debates I see on CNN. The USA commentators, want to use this attack to get the Brits riled up in support of USA`s invasions. They want the majority of Brits to, now, support the invasion. Not oppose it. The Rush Limbaughs and Bill O`Reillys are hard at work, now..........

However, I think the Brits will make the sane decision. They will actually put two and two together. And realize that this, unlike various other attacks, could have been avoided. And will encourage Blair, even more, now to listen to their opinions.............

We have seen three years of flag waving and loud rhetoric by Americans, on how they will crush this and destroy that. Did it solve any problems? Is the world safer today? Obviously no. To the point that evern the hard-core Republican leader, who switched French Fries to Freedom fries, is now asking for a timetable for withdrawl from Iraq.............

It is thus time to sideline the flag-wavers. They are a part of the problem, and not a part of the solution.........It is time for some sane thiking, outside the boundaries of religion and nationalism.................

Re: # 41
//...One side will fight for what it believes and it will oppose another side, which also will fight for its believes; ... Muslims who claim the benelovence of Islam, will have to stand up and retake their religion from the ones, who have held it hostage to violence//

Yeah - let me tell you right now which side will loose: your side, the side which claims ``benelovence of Islam``. Your side is too small in number, you don`t have the ideological conviction or any historical precedent which drives the other side. You have no platform, no strength whatsover.

You can`t ``retake`` the religion - the religion firmly belongs to other side - the religion IS the other side....... Only way you can win is by discrediting the religion, taking it down hard - the way church was discredited, the way brahiminism and casteism was discredited.

Islam is an ideology - it`s an ideology of exclusivism and isolationism. That ideology has to be defeated.

Ferozek #41: ``It is a time, when the Muslims who claim the benelovence of Islam, will have to stand up and retake their religion from the ones, who have held it hostage to violence, extermism, hate, anger, fear mongering, ignorance, intolerance, backwardness, reactionism and injustice.``

What exactly do you suggest?

I am quite wary of such emotional statements. These statements are quite similar to statements that one hears OBL make. He is also asking Muslims to stand up and retake their religion. The RSS is asking Hindus to stand up and retake their religion. The Israeli rabbis are doing the same. The Christian Evangelists are asking the Americans to stand up and retake their religion............

In such a scenario, with every group asking others, emotionally, to, ``retake`` religion, the only winner is violence. Religion is not a piece of furniture or a monetary loan that one can, ``take`` or, ``retake.`` Religion is not owned by anyone......

So, instead of encouraging people to take and retake, a better approach would be to discourage people to take and retake it. And to look at all these things outside the spectrum of religion. Do you really think that OBL has taken these actions due to some religious belief? Do you really think that Bush has taken his actions to liberate the Muslim world, or to make the Middle East safe for the second coming of Christ? Do you really think that RSS organized the Gujrat killings for religious purposes? etc.

All these are political phenomenons. Religion, in many of them, is just a vehicle that is being used. The easiest way to rile up a bunch of Christians is to tell them that it is the Muslims who are killing them. The easiest way to rile up a bunch of Muslims is to tell them it is a bunch of Christians killing them. Same for Hindus, Jews etc.

So perhaps a better approach and suggestion would be to ask the Muslims to retake their politics. And create a situation where neither their own leaders, nor the leaders of invading countries, can harm and occupy their citizens. And where no one can use their countries as a basis of harming other countries citizens, i.e they commit niether State terrorism, nor individual terrorism against anyone. Nor do they allow other countries to do so against them..........

So I doubt there is anything you can suggest that will stop OBL or anyone else from his agenda. Including retaking religion all one wants. However, I see OBL becoming more and more popular. He has turned into a cult figure of sorts. Everyone in Muslim countries he is a terrorist, yet their seems to be a certain support for him, since many Arabs see him as the only source trying to kill Americans, in the same proportion that the Arabs are getting killed. This, and not, religion is the source of its popularity.....I have a Christian Palestinian acquitance, who the other day, surprisingly declared OBL to be his hero. The guy is a Christian!!

So retaking religion is not the answer. This is a political problem. And it is politics that needs to be retaken. And the West could greatly assist in this, by not invading and bombing a Muslim country 24x7. It is actually in its own interest. Because every bomb it drops and every neo-con it elects and every communalist radio talk show host it generates, makes the live of OBL, that much easier.........And it make OBL`s word resonate far louder amongst the weaker amongst the Muslim society than the words of various other Muslims............

As I keep saying, all this flag-waving and this emotionalism is just going to make the circle of violence wider. The only victims will be the people who never wanted to be a part of this circle, and actually opposed it. Like the people of Iraq and London...........I think it is about time, some of the flag-wavers and gung-ho war enthusiats also started taking some responsibility for this violence.........

Re: # 43

Romair, I agree with you. The BBC coverage was far better than CNN`s, which was pure emotional blackmail to tarry up the British to support the American GWOT.

Blair has made a few soundbytes, which suggest that he is slightly admitting to the mistake of Iraq, but has not yet come out openly in favor of diplomacy over military force. Also, unlike the United States, there will be a robust debate in the House of Commons over Britain`s role in Iraq and the consequences to Britain from supporting GWOT. The debates in the House of Commons are more bruising and more meaningful than all the rhetoric in the United States` Congress and in the debate on the London bombings, the Blair government will have to justify a lot of its actions in the past four years and particularly, in the last two years.

One only has to see the Question Hour to realize how transparent the functions of the government can be in the United Kingdom. The British members of parliament are known to brutalize a government by their questions and the government has to deal with the opposition face to face and it cannot hide behind the words of the spielmeisters as the American governments do. :)

Compared to the House of Commons, the United States` Congress is a ``Star Chamber``. :)

The attack, if anything, seems to have crystallized the British public opinion to consider what is necessary to defeat Islamic fundlementalism and given the British sagacity, there will be a more even handed and realistic response to the crisis. Romair, remember the IRA problem was solved politically and Britain has a long history of hammering out political compromises and from, what I heard on BBC; the there is consenus that this is a political problem, which needs to be solved politically. The British reponse will much more mature than the emotionalism of the American response and that is what, gives me hope that this problem will eventually be solved.

I only hope that the Americans do not get in the way of solving this problem. :)

Ciao

Re: # 44

Thank you for your kind support.

Ciao

Re: # 45

Romair, I am suggesting that Muslims have to make a choice. Either they defeat the forces of evil working in the name of Islam or see Islam destroyed in the process. Right now, in the eyes of the world, Muslim silence on the atrocities in London signifies a tacit approval of the terrorist acts. Muslims have to either walk the walk or simply shut up with talking the talk, because they have been proven as hypocrites; practicing violence but claiming peace unto others.

Muslims cannot have their cake and eat it too. Either the Muslims are against violence or they support violence; either the Muslims are for progress or they are for backwardness. Muslims now have a choice - swim with the rest of the world to a bright future or see the world cut them off as a dead weight and sink because they are not willing change with the time.

I understand that this a political problem, which not be solved with violence, but the Muslims who support such acts will not be convinced politically and thus, will have to be terminated, with exterme prejudice.

Romair, what I am suggesting is that time to sit on the fence is over. You have to decide where you stand on this issue. It is no longer about ideology; it is about decency and humanism.

Ciao