by Two thoughts ran through my head yesterday night when I heard about the bombings in Britain. The first was, “I wonder what the percentages are.” I haven’t seen a figure yet, but just thinking about land mass,
I wonder if 50 Britians dead is close to the percentage of Americans that died in 9/11. The reactions are pretty similar.
My second thought was whether this was a wise move for Al Queda. At a time when America and Britian were more focused on Gitmo and the prisoners and whether we should be doing this at all, to have someone hit our homelands would seem to refocus our thoughts on what this fighting is all about. It’s easy to say that we’re wasting time and lives if everything occurs in Iraq. It’s another thing if it hits home. Fox News’ Shepherd Smith said something like this is the first terrorist attack in Britain since WWII.
The other thought, though, was that Al Queda needed some show (albeit a small one) that it was still relevant outside of Iraq. Since a lot of people have been talking about it being ineffective and being beaten, it sure would help them to look like they were still around.
One has to question the timing though– why right before the G8 conference in Scotland? To refocus the leaders of the world on terrorism above Africa and Global Warming? I guess if you want fear you certainly couldn’t beat everyone talking about it.
Remember, terror only works if people are afraid– that’s it’s greatest strength.
How can you compare 50 deaths in London with the 9/11 tragedy? 50 deaths in London is the same as 50 deaths in New York, is the same as 50 deaths in Thailand. It is 50 families who are left to grieve, and 50 bodies to bury. Trying to make some sort of comparative scale based on landmass or population size is totally pointless.
And Shepherd Smith is talking out of his backside… Britain has had it’s fair share of terrorist attacks in recent years. The Libyan Embassy siege (London 1984), Canary Wharf bomb (London docklands, 1996), Manchester bomb (Manchester city centre, 1996), Omagh bomb Northern Ireland, 1998). A little more research wouldn’t go amiss down at the Fox Network…
Finally, at this stage the speculation that it was a group linked to Al Queda which was responsible for the bombings yesterday is just that, speculation. Unless, of course, you know something that the Metropolitan Police don’t.
I am in no way trying to downplay the deaths. I guess I was trying to rationalize why this was as big a news story and getting as much play as it was. I mean, the interviews and talk about this thing were comparing it to 9/11 and the only way it made sense to me was by thinking of it in terms of percentages.
I did no research in regards to the terrorist attacks, nor do I know if I quoted Smith correctly. I thought it was a pretty strange statement, and I’m glad you gave more information.
I always wonder about those groups that like to take credit for a mess right away. So far, the only information released about the source was that it looks like the Spain bombing. It will be interesting to see the results of the investigation– which will probably get a lot less press if it’s not Al Queda.
Over all, thanks for some great comments, and keeping me thinking!