FinishMySong Blog

You won't be able to browse the internet or turn on the television or radio today without being acutely aware that this day marks the one year anniversary of the 7/7 bombings of London's public transport network - the first suicide bombing attacks ever witnessed by the UK.

For the victims and their families, particularly those whose loved ones lost their lives in the atrocities of this time last year, this day will be difficult enough without the horrific scenes of the wreckage of tubes and buses and the carnage it inevitably left behind being plastered all over every newspaper and television programme for the next 24 hours or more, so I'll spare anyone visiting this site the harrowing scenes in graphics.

But I think some things do need to be addressed about the events of last year that do not seem to be being properly covered in the mass media : a reflection on the causes of these incidents and what we can do in the future to make sure that more disgruntled individuals don't choose to take their own and many other lives for the sake of 'martyrdom' and a war that isn't real.

Firstly, it would seem all too painfully clear for the families of those lost - families of all national, cultural and religious backgrounds - that the men who carried out the bombings on London did not do so without some reason; they felt justified in their actions. Tony Blair and his cronies continue to deny that our involvement in the Iraq war has had any direct negative impact on the security and ongoing peace in the United Kingdom even when the evidence is clearly contrary to his arguments - do we have to show Blair pictures of those whose lives were ruined this time last year before he will see the light of day? He is as stubborn on this issue as he is about the justification for going to war in the first place despite, again, it being clear that the lies we were told prior to the war were just that : untruths designed to get a nation behind the illegal occupation - an occupation that DID benefit those men whose business it is to sell oil and arms. Is it really any wonder that, in this context of a government that dresses unlawfulness, lying and moral degradation up as self-sacrifice, those with extremely anti-Western views and murderous desires find it easy to convince receptive audiences to take the law into their own hands?

This is not to say, of course, that there is anything ethical about what the likes of Shehzad Tanweer did on July 7th 2005. On the contrary, their actions displayed a total lack of empathy or respect for their fellow human beings and also demonstrated utter ignorance as to the feeling on the streets of Great Britain today. That these people attacked the everyday man and woman going shopping or to work on a hot summer day says to me that they see all of the British public as enemies to their cause - they want to believe that we, the people of Britain, are at fault for the ongoing occupation in Iraq and should be punished as such. This is, of course, not the case : 1,000,000 people took to the streets in protest against our government's decision to go to war and many groups are still very active with their anti-war agenda. No, the people of Britain did not want this war and had no power to stop it, but in a country that heavily guards its statesmen the public ARE an easy target for those who choose violence as the means of expressing their political grievances. My question to the London bombers who blame the British people for not doing anything to stop Blair carrying out murder on Iraqi soil would be this : you too were born and brought up in the UK - what did you do to help the anti-war cause?