Over There

[WilliamPitt]

A British associate penned a quick response to the bombing attacks that took place in London this morning. “The message from those claiming responsibility says, in part, ‘Britain is now burning with fear, terror and panic in its northern, southern, eastern, and western quarters,’” he wrote. “Well it isn't, so fuck them.”

Indeed.

My first response was a wrenching horror, a kick to the gut when I checked my email and saw two hundred messages with the words ‘London attack’ in the subject line. Suddenly, the television was on and I was reading every news report I could get my eyes on. At least thirty-three people were killed and hundreds more wounded in four coordinated bombing attacks aimed at the mass transit system.

All of a sudden I was back in my classroom, back in the middle of a bright September morning, surrounded by wall-eyed students asking me if this was World War III as we watched two buildings burn, and then fall, and then unannounced I had Ani DiFranco in my head and she was singing, “And every borough looked up when it heard the first blast, and then every dumb action movie was summarily surpassed, and the exodus uptown by foot and motorcar looked more like war than anything I've seen so far…”

That was my first response, but I’m a little wiser nowadays. My second thought, bluntly, was that of all the Western cities in the world, London can handle this. From 1973 until roundabout the year 2000, bombings in that city took place with dreary regularity. In November of 1974, two IRA bombs in Birmingham killed 19 and wounded 180. A 1989 bombing at the Royal Marines School of Music killed 10 and wounded more than 30. There were more than a dozen different major incidents like these, and many smaller ones besides.

London handled the Nazi blitz. ‘Handled’ is perhaps the wrong word. Londoners watched as their city was battered to rubble day after day, and squared their shoulders, and sent out the RAF, and prevailed. A fire chief named Deasy summed up the British response: “The idea of England folding up, that's a joke. That outfit will never fold up. They've got just as much guts as anybody in this man's world has and they'll carry right on. Anybody thinks they're gonna fold up, they're crazy.”

In other words, the British associate who wrote that note this morning hit the nail on the head.

Now comes the so-called official response. Predictably, George W. Bush proclaimed that the War on Terror goes on. Conservative frother Rush Limbaugh got on the radio and made a few remarkable rhetorical contortions. To wit: The G8 summit, which was apparently the target of these attacks, is a liberal summit. Yes, you read that right. He called it a “leftist summit” aimed at achieving leftist goals like saving Africa (“Again,” he said) and stopping global warming, and so this was an attack on leftists who will now attack Bush.

The idea that the G8 is a leftist organization is a new one to me. I must have missed a memo somewhere. Apparently, the three billion people who went out last weekend to ask the G8 to do the right thing likewise missed the memo. Other conservative commentators rushed to microphones to proclaim that if we had all been standing shoulder to shoulder with Mr. Bush, this London attack would never have happened. Never underestimate the ability of the right-wing to use tragedy as a means of beating on people they don’t agree with.

I am a little wiser nowadays, and perhaps a little more callous because of that wisdom. My first response was horror, and my second was a sense that the British people have the strength to endure this. My third response was to marvel at the news coverage. Four bombings, more than thirty dead, hundreds more wounded? In London, it is a terrifying, enraging, appalling act of despicable violence that must be immediately avenged.

In Iraq, they call events like this “Tuesday.”

Tens of thousands of people have been killed and wounded in Iraq by way of deadly bombings that have been taking place every single day. These Iraqi people are no different from the Londoners who perished today. Their skin is darker perhaps, and they pray to a different God, but they have families and children and dreams and they die just as horribly as their British counterparts. Yet they earn perhaps a few sentences on the back page of the paper, and virtually no comment from the members of the international community which ginned up the invasion of Iraq in the first place.

The world was warned about this, warned and warned and warned again. An invasion based on lies and disinformation, an occupation that grinds a civilian populace, becomes the perfect machine to manufacture terrorists who will happily die in order to see others die. The CIA calls what happened in London today “blowback.” It is wrong, it is heinous, it is murder plain and simple, and it was as predictable as the sun rising in the East.

The rhetoric about Iraq has been that we are “fighting the terrorists over there so we don’t have to fight them over here.” Today, “over here” became the streets of London. Where will it be tomorrow?

One thing is certain. The perpetrators of this bombing bear the responsibility for this wretched act, and bear the responsibility for the gross miscalculation that many have made in the past: A democratic society is weak and decadent, and can be easily pushed. Ask Hitler if that is true. A democratic society, once enraged, is the strongest force on Earth, and those responsible for this are going to find that out to their woe.

The other certainty: Mr. Bush and Mr. Blair bear the responsibility for this wretched act, as well. They decided in April of 2002 to start a war based on false pretenses, to fix the intelligence and facts around the policy, and now the whirlwind has come to be reaped. The blood that runs in the streets of London, and in the streets of Baghdad, Fallujah, Tikrit and Mosul, is on their hands.

[Hissyspit]

1. Well said. Entirely predictable. n/t

[Toots]

67. You know what else is entirely predictable

The same thing happening in American cities. There will be more terror in America. Killing Iraqi children and women will not prevent it. We are trying to intimidate these people and they will not be intimidated. Intimidation has always worked for the Republicans. It is their Stock and Trade, but these Arab peoples aren't buying it. When they have no fear of death it is hard to intimidate. The US has committed a very large mistake and it will haunt America for years and years to come. Believe it or not there are alternatives to everything and I would try and find an alternative to killing Iraqis in a hurry.

[im10ashus]

2. Well said, Will.

A nice perspective.

[Guaranteed]

3. Great job. nt

[Finder]

4. "In Iraq, they call events like this “Tuesday.”

Well said.

[grace0418]

62. That one made me cry.

Although everything is making me cry today.

[spuddonna]

5. Beautifully put! n/t

[Orrex]

6. Self Evident

A fine post.

And a good Ani quote always earns points in my book.

[HEyHEY]

7. That quote from your associate is great

These terrorists must be stupid. You CANNOT panic Londoners with Bombs.

[muriel_volestrangler]

36. You can thank the associate yourself

it was a DUer: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[WilliamPitt]

37. Indeed

[niallmac]

72. exactly, bombs don't break spirits

London, Hanoi, Dresden, Baghdad etc. Bombs break cities but they are prone to inflame the souls of the victims. No, Londoners, Brits will not be terrorized headlong into the sea and neither will those whom we attempt to shock and awe. They will persevere. The strength of the human spirit is not exclusive to one people and neither should our be our empathy.

[WillyT]

8. Excellent Will, Just Excellent !!!

[stellanoir]

9. the utterly racist "over there"

rationalization has been posted a lot here today.

Your's once again is the most eloquent. When I saw it quoted for the umpteenth time today, I imagined the possibility of "fighting them in the blue states so we don't have to fight them in the red states." I doubt it'll happen but if we don't change course it's certainly a likelihood.

That Ani song is the most truthful thing I've ever heard inspired by 9/11. She's amazing.

[bigtree]

10. (In Iraq, they call events like this “Tuesday.”)

perfect.

[IndyOp]

11. My prayers are with the Brits, all victims of terrorists, and

all victims of the 'war on terrorism'.

Four bombings, more than thirty dead, hundreds more wounded?...
In Iraq, they call events like this “Tuesday.”

[CWebster]

12. I would only add

that the Iraqis are about as likely to give up as the British ever would.

[arcane1]

13. Amen, brother

A-fucking-men

[yvr girl]

14. Churchill said it best

We shall never surrender

The Brits are made of stern stuff.

[bspence]

15. Really great post

"fuck them"

Love it.

[StuckinBFE]

16. Great Post.

And we have to call the republicans who are currently in charge on their shit, if(when) they try to use this incident for their own means. This goes for anyone that tries to use this horrible event to move forward their twisted agenda.

[funflower]

17. God, William, that "Tuesday" remark is gold.

Says it all.

This piece deserves a wider audience.

[NewHampshireDem]

52. I agree and thank you for that

My heart goes out to Londoners--just as it did to New Yorkers on September 11th and Aussies after the Bali bombing--and to all those around the world who wake up to terror and fear as a matter of course, be they in Iraq, Darfur, or any of the other nations around the world now gripped by strife.

[NewHampshireDem]

53. I agree and thank you for that

My heart goes out to Londoners--just as it did to New Yorkers on September 11th and Aussies after the Bali bombing--and to all those around the world who wake up to terror and fear as a matter of course, be they in Iraq, Darfur, or any of the other nations around the world now gripped by strife.

[Just Me]

18. Great read!!!! Thanks, Will!!!

I could really identify with the callous wisdom and disdain at the usual RW rhetoric.

[In_The_Wind]

19. Thank you for your thoughts Will. War is wrong! Everyone gets hurt.

I agree a democratic society is the strongest force on Earth. We need to stop the killing. We need to stop it now!

[David Zephyr]

20. Thanks, William.

Hoping everyone will make a point of passing along these words of yours that cut through the bullshit from the White House:

"The rhetoric about Iraq has been that we are 'fighting the terrorists over there so we don’t have to fight them over here.' Today, 'over here' became the streets of London. Where will it be tomorrow?"

[Tired of Lies]

21. Wow...

That was an excellent read.

[newyawker99]

69. Hi Tired of Lies!!

Welcome to DU!!

[MagnumDB]

22. Amazing Post, 1 comment...

You said:

"The rhetoric about Iraq has been that we are “fighting the terrorists over there so we don’t have to fight them over here.” Today, “over here” became the streets of London. Where will it be tomorrow?"

But we have to remember that the attackers are claiming to be part of al-Queda. Those aren't Iraqi's.

So it really goes to show that we need to get out of Iraq and fight the REAL terrorist threats.

[newyawker99]

70. Hi MagnumDB!!

Welcome to DU!!

[LiberalUprising]

23. Great read Will

Once again you hit the nail on the head

Thank you

[Pert_UK]

24. Scared? No.......angry?.....FUCK YES!!!

Thanks for this article Will - it means a lot.

I'm going to London tomorrow - I'd planned to anyway and I'm not going to let anyone terrorise me into staying at home!

P.

[mom cat]

25. Thanks Will!

[Lex]

26. Excellent.

As always.

[yowzayowzayowza]

27. Thx Will.

Seeking similar solace in fav U2 work:

Acrobat

Don't believe what you hear
Don't believe what you see
If you just close your eyes
You can feel the enemy
When I first met you girl
You had fire in your soul
What happened your face
Of melting in snow
Now it looks like this

And you can swallow
Or you can spit
You can throw it up
Or choke on it
And you can dream
So dream out loud
You know that your time is coming 'round
So don't let the bastards grind you down

No, nothing makes sense
Nothing seems to fit
I know you'd hit out
If you only knew who to hit
And I'd join the movement
If there was one I could believe in
Yeah I'd break bread and wine
If there was a church I could receive in
'cause I need it now

To take a cup
To fill it up
To drink it slow
I can't let you go
I must be an acrobat
To talk like this
And act like that
And you can dream
So dream out loud
And don't let the bastards grind you down

Oh, it hurts baby
(What are we going to do now it's all been said)
(No new ideas in the house and every book has been read)

And I must be an acrobat
To talk like this
And act like that
And you can dream
So dream out loud
And you can find
Your own way out
You can build
And I can will
And you can call
I can't wait until
You can stash
And you can seize
In dreams begin
Responsibilities
And I can love
And I can love
And I know that the tide is turning 'round
So don't let the bastards grind you down

[AlwaysQuestion]

28. A great post, WilliamPitt -

Naturally, Blair immediately took centre stage to rail against the terrorists who he says are determined to undermine British resolve to carry through on its agenda. Huh? Run that by me again.

Of course this horrific incident must be condemned and the perpetrators brought to justice. No freakin' doubt about it. H O W E V E R...............

Blair cannot be seen as the poster child for anti-terrorism. For Christ's sake, get a spokesperson with some bloody credibility! Pleeeeeease!! For example, check out the short speech the Mayor of London gave.

In any event, what in blazes does the poodle think the U.K. and the U.S.A. are doing to Iraq? With no Iraqi provocation, he and Bush have bombed the hell out of a city decimating its infrastructures, killing thousands, maiming thousands more, terrorizing those left standing, and torturing those they've imprisoned. And Blair, the twisted twerp, has the unmitigated gall to deliver a speech condemning terrorism!?!?

Enraged!? Words fail me.

What effrontery! What insolence! What hypocrisy! What a bloody poor excuse for a human being.

[KoKo]

29. Excellent!

[ms liberty]

30. The gift of your words is priceless...

Thank you for expressing with such clarity the feelings I have been living with today.

I've learned in the time I've been here at DU to cherish your posts. This time, you've topped yourself. This piece should be read by everyone.

[Generator]

31. Excellent and to the point

So sad that we are now in the age of endless terrorism with leaders made of tin ears and black hearts and motives so suspect that every word as come to sound of nothing but blatant opportunistic propaganda to further whatever it is they believe in most.

Someday, the "Right" will understand what the "Left" wants is merely for everyone to find a way to live in peace. And the best way for everyone to merely even live certainly isn't war after war after war. Iraq has only made things worse. Who feels safer riding the tube, the subway, flying today? It's rhetoric, and propaganda. It's lies built on lies.

How many more lives sacrificed for an idea of global gain? For fear? For lies? Next it will come back to America, I have no doubt. These leaders have done nothing for us. We are alone..comforting ourselves with all with have, the thin razor edge of truth and nothing more.

[WilliamPitt]

32. .

.

[baby_mouse]

33. Correct, sir

Thank you, and God Bless

[Zorra]

34. An outstanding post.

One of the best, if not the best, that I have ever read.

Nice work!

[Spinzonner]

35. Actually they pray to the same God

in a different way.

It's the extremists on both sides that have to believe that the other side is made up of infidels with a different god - or none.

[TroubleMan]

51. I was just going to say that.....Christians, Muslims, and Jews all believe

in the same God. They just have different ways of worshiping him.

Besides for that it's an excellent post. Thank you.

[Name removed]

38. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Disturbed]

41. "a war based on false pretenses"

An illegal Invasion on the sovereign nation of Iraq based on lies.

[VOX]

39. "In Iraq, they call events like this 'Tuesday.'" Brilliant!

With no offense to the people of London and Great Britain, of course.

Excellent piece, Will.

[tjwash]

40. "In Iraq they call events like this tuesday"

Well put. I just may have to use that in a minute.

I am trying to get an explanation from a ditto head coworker, after he wipes the spittle off of his chin following one of his rants about "Islamic extremists", and "Moslem Terrorists" of course.

I want to know why he thinks this event, because it was perpetrated by brown skinned Moslems, is so much more horrible, than the thousands of innocents in Iraq that are killed by blond light skinned, freckle faced Christians.

Mind you I am in no way making light of the situation in London, but the outrage I feel today for the British, is the same outrage I have personally been feeling on a day in and day out basis since the US occupation of Iraq began. I want to know where the outrage that they are feeling today has been all along.

[tilsammans]

42. Absolutely brilliant:

"In Iraq, they call events like this 'Tuesday.'”

Will, thank you for verbalizing so well all that I'm feeling today.

[cornermouse]

43. Agree.

They have completely misjudged the British. Once I was over the initial shock, I too remembered accounts of the nightly Nazi bombing runs and the toughness of the British people. This attack is also a failure.

[WilliamPitt]

44. LINK TO FINAL

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/070705A.shtml

[dalloway]

45. thanks to giving us words, Will, to both grieve and to fight

We can grieve, yes. But there we NEVER AGAIN be another Sept. 12th, when we went to sleep and watched our reason be hijacked.

[lildreamer316]

46. "In Iraq, they call events like this “Tuesday.”

Fukin' love this line. Should be the title. More power to you.

[Merope215]

47. That was an amazing piece.

Thanks for writing it.

And my condolences and thoughts to everyone in pain.

[concord]

48. You gave me the words

Sent to all, and then some.

Thank you Will.

[Zorbuddha]

49. In Iraq, they call events like this “Tuesday".

After my initial revulsion, that was sort of my thought on it.

What a tangled web.

[Meldread]

50. Very well put... now if we can...

Now if we can just make our supposed Democratic "Leaders" say what you wrote...

[newscott]

54. Bravo Mr. Pitt, Bravo!

[WilliamPitt]

55. .

[bread_and_roses]

56. Oh, well said, and so well written, thank you

for so lucidly expressing so many of my own thoughts as I drove to work this morning listening to this horror.

[knowbody0]

57. man oh man

thank you for these wise words.

[AceAlmighty82]

58. Priceless:

1. Price for Iraqi/Afghan Wars: 200 billion plus dollars
2. Price for oil: $62 dollars a barrel( or whatever its at now)
3. Attacks on London/NYC: time, lives, money, and politicization
4. Knowing the DSM can bring down Blair/Bush...Priceless

You couldn't have said it better. My heart goes out to those that have lost loved ones in both London and NYC attacks. But to politicize it to further your "career" in politics..not a good idea. As you can see for what he says..an enraged democratic society can't be stopped. So keep pushing us..cuz we will push back just as hard. Even harder.

[forintegrity]

59. Thank you for making the connection to Iraq

You're absolutely right...this is what happens!

So how many people is Bush responsible for murdering?

137 in Texas
1750 Americans in Iraq
100,000 Iraqi's
??? soldiers from other countries
37 in London today

Am I missing any?

[leesa]

60. Very nice. Let's investigate it this time though so we really know who

did it, rather than simply believing the neoconservatives who have been lying without stop since 2000.

I agree. Why do white people count more than Iraqis or Afghans? Why such an outbreak of horror about this and complete lack of concern for Iraqis or Afghans?

Please UK, be mature like the Spaniards were and investigate and arrest/prosecute. Don't be testosterone addled fools like the US.

[Pallas180]

61. William. Send it to the NYT. It's the strongest thing you've ever written.

wow.

[jwirr]

63. Thank you WilliamPitt. Your words are our words.

God help us that bushie and Blair do not use this one for personal gain once again. Find the people who ACTUALLY did the bombing and make them pay this time.

[bklyncowgirl]

64. Thank you for your insights.

That this sort of attack would happen was predictable and was predicted before Bush and Blair ignored anyone who counseled caution, lied to their people and charged headlong into Iraq.

The chickens are coming home to roost and the flimsy excuse that we are fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them over here has just been blown to bits all over the London streets.

That does not excuse the terrorists and I'm glad you made that clear.

Deliberately targeting innocent civilians is never justified.

[JCMach1]

65. Violence begets violence

ad nauseum...

[Coventina]

66. Love the essay Will, but I feel I need to say

that there may be one tiny inaccuracy.

You say the Iraqis may pray to a different God. I'm not sure what assumptions you are working with, but if you are assuming that the Brits (in general) are Christian and the Iraqis (in general) are Muslim, then actually they are praying to the same God.

[Mark Baker]

68. London isn't really a Christian city anyway

The assumption that Brits in general are Christian may be wrong. There are a lot of Muslims, particularly in London, and a high percentage of them will attend mosque every week. On the other hand, there are a lot of atheists, and only a small percentage of those who would claim to be Christian ever set foot in a church; this is particularly true in London which has a lot of younger people.

I don't know the figures, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were as many active Muslims as active Christians in London.

I'm sure that among the casualties yesterday there will have been quite a few Muslims.

[newyawker99]

71. Hi Mark Baker!!

Welcome to DU!!

[bigwillq]

73. Great post, Will.

I would've nominated it but it's older than 24 hrs. I didn't post at all yesterday so this is my first view of your post.

"In Iraq, they call events like this "Tuesday."
Great line.

I was also in a classroom (as a student on 9-11) so those words in your post brought me back to that bright, sunny, hopeful day.

[AgadorSparticus]

74. '..they call it Tuesday." beautiful. just beautiful.

[Pachamama]

75. Great Editorial Will! Every Brit and every American should read!

Your summary of the situation is fantastic...thank you....


In Iraq, they call events like this “Tuesday.”....sigh.....