Terror Shows Its Face
July 07, 2005
This is the face of barbarism.
This is the face of nihilism.
The Al Qaeda attack in London on the morning of July 7 will go down in history as a futile spasm of a deranged group that thinks nothing of targeting innocent people.
The bombs killed at least 38 Londoners and wounded about 700 others, the BBC reported late on the day of the attack.
The Secret Organization Group of Al Qaeda of Jihad Organization in Europe bragged about carrying out the assault, according to the BBC, which located a statement by the group on the web.
“Rejoice for it is time to take revenge against the British Zionist Crusader government in retaliation for the massacres Britain is committing in Iraq and Afghanistan,” the statement said.
This is appalling and revolting in so many ways, starting with the word “rejoice,” followed by the anti-Semitism of calling the British government Zionist. (The crudest anti-Semitism has been central to Al Qaeda from the very beginning.)
Then there is the immoral notion that committing a massacre is justified in response to a massacre.
And on top of it all is the total blurring of the line between civilians and government officials.
In what possible way do the passengers of London’s transit system represent the British government?
Most people in London oppose the U.S. and British war against Iraq. So why was Al Qaeda attacking them?
As it has before, Al Qaeda has once again shown its puerile fascination with, and macho glorification of, violence.
And once again, it has shown how seriously deluded its leaders are. “Britain is now burning with fear, terror and panic in its northern, southern, eastern, and western quarters,” the statement said.
But that’s not how Britain looked on TV today. The British people, even some of the injured and bandaged, were showing amazing fortitude and calm. They have confronted far greater foes than Al Qaeda. The leaders of Al Qaeda were fooling only themselves with their blood-dripping bravado.
Twice in 200 words, the Al Qaeda statement refers to the attack as a “blessed raid.”
There was nothing blessed about it.