Attack in London Today

Narcissism must really hurt, you know.

goodfielder wrote:

That was a powerful piece - no way could it be edited, no way should it be.

Glad you liked it, too GF.

Any special bits that stood out for you?

dlowan wrote:

goodfielder wrote:

That was a powerful piece - no way could it be edited, no way should it be.

Glad you liked it, too GF.

Any special bits that stood out for you?

Helie-Lucas.

the guy at Stockwell was being followed. He suddenly dived into the tube station was followed by special branch and ended his life on the floor of a northern line train with several bullets in his head.

if he was loaded with bombs we would have been told of this by now

like I said he was probably trying to use the tube without paying

Shot man not connected to bombing

A man shot dead by police hunting the bombers behind Thursday's London attacks was unconnected to the incidents, police have confirmed.

A Scotland Yard statement said the shooting was a "tragedy" which was regretted by the Metropolitan Police.

Two days after the atrocities of July 7, we congratulated British Muslim leaders for their patriotism. "None of the Islamic organisations was so tasteless as to try to add a 'but'," we said. No longer. Yesterday the "buts" were in full cry, with people lining up to suggest that the bombers had been forced into their terrible actions by the policies pursued by our own government.

The man, who died at Stockwell Tube on Friday, in an incident which Scotland Yard described as a "tragedy", has been named by police as Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes, 27.

He branded any Muslims who attended the Trafalgar Square vigil last week as "hypocrites and apostates". In an interview, Bakri said: "God forbids us from praying with Jews and Christians side by side. These are part-time Muslims or chocolate Muslims. I cannot be British. I cannot be English. Even if I change my colour, like Michael Jackson, I could not be English."

Omar Bakri: "I cannot be British. I cannot be English."

Quote:

He branded any Muslims who attended the Trafalgar Square vigil last week as "hypocrites and apostates". In an interview, Bakri said: "God forbids us from praying with Jews and Christians side by side. These are part-time Muslims or chocolate Muslims. I cannot be British. I cannot be English. Even if I change my colour, like Michael Jackson, I could not be English."

Whine on, Omar.

...but not to be outdone, the press blames the Jews...

British police kill Brazilian in bomb probe blunder By Paul Majendie
25 minutes ago

LONDON (Reuters) - British police hunting London bombers admitted killing a Brazilian electrician by mistake -- a blunder that dealt a blow to their efforts to track down militants they fear could strike again.

ADVERTISEMENT

In another dramatic twist to the massive manhunt, police believe they may have established links between the teams of bombers who struck London twice.

Police hunting four men who tried to bomb London's transport system chased and shot dead a man on Friday who had been under surveillance and refused orders to halt.

Thursday's attempted attacks came two weeks after four suicide bombers killed 52 commuters in similar attacks.

Police expressed regret for the tragedy and named the innocent victim as Jean Charles de Menezes, a 27-year-old electrician who had been living in London for three years.

Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim demanded clarification from Britain about the shooting.

The victim's cousin, Lady Menezes, said: "It's an injustice, something needs to be done."

Security experts said police had clearly adopted a "shoot-to-kill" policy in confronting suspected bombers.

Anti-terrorism expert Robert Ayers of the Royal Institute of International Affairs said police have "demonstrated that they are operating on the premise right now that if they suspect that someone is a bomber, and that the public is going to be endangered by him, they have shoot-to-kill orders."

Massoud Shadjareh of the Islamic Human Rights Commission said the killing was a direct consequence of British police officers being sent to Israel to receive training on how to prevent suicide bombings.

"To give license to people to shoot to kill just like that, on the basis of suspicion, is very frightening," Azzam Tamimi of the Muslim Association of Britain said.

But former London police chief John Stevens defended the tactics.

"I sent teams to Israel and other countries hit by suicide bombers where we learned a terrible truth," he wrote in the News of the World.

"There is only one sure way to stop a suicide bomber determined to fulfil his mission -- destroy his brain instantly, utterly. That means shooting him with devastating power in the head, killing him immediately."

In one of the biggest police probes in British criminal history, security sources indicated there could be links between the two London attacks.

The sources, cited by British media, said two of the July 7 bombers attended a whitewater rafting trip at the same center in Wales as some of the July 21 bombers.

This was based on evidence discovered in rucksacks left behind by the failed bombers. Detectives believe the trip could have been used as a bonding exercise.

The Abu Hafs al Masri Brigade, an al Qaeda-linked group, has claimed responsibility for Thursday's bombing attempts and those of July 7, but the group's claims of responsibility for previous attacks in Europe have been discredited by security experts.

London's Mayor Ken Livingstone argued that terrorism was an international scourge that could strike anywhere and he was dismissive of the decision by Italian soccer club Inter Milan to cancel a pre-season tour of England.

"I think that it is a very silly thing to do because it is playing the terrorists' game. They want to change the way we live. The terrorists, I am sure, will be celebrating their decision," he said.

Yeah really, ranks right up there with Jerry Falwell.

Update by the BBC (same link as above):

Quote:

The man, who died at Stockwell Tube on Friday, in an incident which Scotland Yard described as a "tragedy", has been named by police as Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes, 27.

Comment
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Isolated young men must join mainstream

Shahid Malik
Sunday July 24, 2005
The Observer

The events of the past two weeks have shocked Britons. The knowledge that there were young men, born and bred in my part of the country angry enough and fanatical enough to blow innocent commuters to pieces has been hard to digest.
Since it emerged that one of the suicide bombers of 7 July, widely assumed to have been the ringleader, was from Dewsbury in West Yorkshire, many people have asked me: what elements in my constituency could have spawned such radicalism? What influences could lead a husband and father, a primary school assistant to detonate a bomb, killing seven innocent people and himself in the process?

Apart from pointing out the obvious - that Mohammad Sidique Khan was born in Leeds, attended mosques there, and only moved to Dewsbury recently - I have to tell people that none of us in Dewsbury can understand it either.

It is true that some young Muslims in my constituency have been angered, and frustrated by what they see as the double standards of the 'West' in relation to international Muslim areas of conflict: Palestine, Kashmir, Afghanistan, Iraq or Chechnya.

There is a feeling of alienation, often isolation; a feeling that somehow you don't belong; a feeling made much more acute by the fact that the party that came second in last year's local elections - ahead of Labour [the BNP] - says it wants an 'all-white Britain'. No wonder young Muslims who travel to Pakistan come back with a sense of belonging and an inner peace that eludes them in their own country.

None of this is meant to justify or excuse terrorist actions. Those of us in leadership roles must make it clear to our young people that in a democracy the way we express such feelings is by debate and through democratic institutions, not through violence. We must drag them into the political mainstream.

The attacks of 7 July have shown us the danger that words can become deadly deeds. We must confront head-on those few who preach violence and hatred in the name of Islam and, in doing so, poison the minds of vulnerable young men.

When I, and other British Muslims voiced condemnation of extremists in the past, we feared giving ammunition to far-right extremists. Equally, some feared stoking up tensions within the community.

Hence, when I challenged the perceived status quo within Britain's 1.8 million-strong Muslim community I expected to provoke a wave of disapproval. But it seems I tapped into a nerve. Challenging the community to confront this evil gained widespread approval from everyone except extremists.

For British Muslims there is a sense of relief. We are no longer in denial. We will no longer pretend not to see or hear the fanatical few who stand outside our mosques, polluting young minds. The events of 7 July have changed that. The choices are stark yet clear - we either confront the enemy within, or are seen to condone.

On 14 July I stood with some of my constituents outside Khan's home in Dewsbury to observe a two-minute silence in memory of his victims. In doing so we sent a powerful message: the battle for the hearts and souls of British Muslims, here in Dewsbury and across the country, has truly begun.

· Shahid Malik is MP for Dewsbury