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Direct impact of London bombing on July 7th in North America was decline in the rider-ship on the transit system in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Toronto and other places. On July 8th, crowd in the Toronto subway system was unusually thin. I know this for a fact as my family and I take this transit system everyday in the morning. Usually it is packed with standing room only. But a day after 7/7, it was another story. The rider-ship did not return to its usual, until about four days. Then the second attempt to disrupt life in London took place on 21/7. This time the rider-ship did not drop. People in Toronto had taken a cue from the Londoners. Toronto riders returned to the transit system with thumbs down at the terrorists. This story was repeated in the other cities in North America also. Net result, the terrorists did not gain their objective i.e. disruption of life by scaring the population with death and destruction. It was quite unlike 9/11. Days following the 9/11, life in New York and other cities did not return to normal for a while. In the end, what the terrorist gained out of 7/7 was the displeasure of a very hospitable people in the Europe and North America. Hospitable in the sense that four million Muslims live in England, another ten million live in continental Europe and five million live in North America. All the above live or work and preach with practically no hindrance. Then one may ask why would anybody in his right mind, bomb the very system which is vital to the prosperous existence of them and everybody else?

Politically, this is the worst move the Osma Bin Laden and his henchmen have made. For some reasons, Madrid bombing did not result in excessive displeasure in Europe or America. London Bombing has earned them the wrath and anger of everybody.

To be safe and lead a normal life

A lesson in handling fear born out of terrorist act has been very well handled by the Londoners. Even when the underground system was shutdown both during 7/7 and 21/7, they took to their bicycles or walked to work. Those who could drive to work picked up additional passengers. When the transit system was opened, the riders retuned. Bravo!!! It is reminiscent of London’s refusal to be cowed down by Hitler’s bombing during WWII. In all, by this act, the Al Qaeda and its friends have come under the British microscope. Now, they may find it difficult to escape from the British security services dragnet. Prior to that, the Brits were a bit slow to respond. Now shoot at sight order has been given. That means that the terrorists who are planning any act of murder and mayhem will face the British sword. If they survive, the justice system will put them behind bars for a long time to come.

Laws that will be changed to Hound Terrorist and Terror Sympathizers

Tony Blair’s government has already put Britain on notice that to curb the terrorists and others with their sympathizing attitude towards them, extreme measures will be taken. A few of the civil liberties will fall victim to the safety and welfare of the people. The extreme elements, which recruited, trained and motivated the young boys for 7/7 & 21/7 will not have the freedom of living in British society. The young men (Muslim) and Mosque nexus will be broken. Saudi Arabia’s money lifeline, which has built so many mosques in England, will be cut. The Mosque will be strictly a place of worship where honest Mullahs will conduct an honest religious service. Young men will go there not for recruitment and training but to pray.

US (and Canada) are watching as to how Tony Blair government undertakes changes to the laws without holding the civil liberties at ransom. Consultations with the local Muslim leaders have been instituted. New laws should be forthcoming soon. The purpose of the new laws will be to grab the Mullahs who preach anti West message, followed by converts who cannot be dissuaded from these crimes. Threat of deportation of the whole families’ irrespective of their birth in UK will be a new tool to root out sleeper cells. These are extreme measures, which may be hard to implement. But mere existence of these laws will send a shudder through the spine of would be terrorists and their sympathizers.

US Congress in days following the 7/7 bombings and attempted bombing on 21/7 passed the provisions of the Patriot Act, which had come for renewal. The Patriot Act is the toughened US attitude after 9/11. Prior to the 7/7, there was a muttering noise by the civil libertarians in US to repeal some of the strictest provisions of the Patriot Act. This liberal’s opposition vanished after London bombing and the passage of the renewal of the Patriot Act was made easy in the Congress. Canada has not undertaken any changes to its excessively liberal policies. But, for how long Canada can postpone it. The transit system in Canada is as vulnerable to these attacks as any such system in Europe and US. After all Osma Bin Laden and his henchmen have declared Canada as one of the states which is to be targeted for acts of violence. If Canada does not grab these anti-social elements now, then they will not mind targeting Canada.

Test of Will, whether US/Europe Succumbs to Al Qaeda pressure

If the West succumbs to the terrorist pressure, it will be a victory for the Muslim fundamentalists. Even projected withdrawal of US/UK from Iraq in 2006 will be interpreted as victory in the face of daily acts of violence in Iraq and now bombings in Madrid, London, Egypt, India, Israel and Indonesia. During the Western Crusades in the eleventh and the twelfth century, there were no clear-cut winners. The Crusaders won a few military victories and Muslim won a few, but the former left the Holy Land unable to govern. The latter claimed it as a victory. Should UK and US decide to leave Iraq now, even though on paper they have won, the Muslim terrorists will claim it as a victory and so will the history record it as their victory. The point is that unwittingly, the West has opened a can of worms in Iraq. The whole Muslim world of about a billion souls, regards US/UK intervention in Iraq as an invasion. Saddam Hussein has been forgotten as a villain. Now the villain is US & UK. Hence various nationalities of terrorists are prepared to sacrifice their lives in Iraq and in Europe and US to force a US retreat. One may wonder why Pakistani boys born in UK were involved in terrorist bombing on 7/7. The explanation is simple; they do not believe the US explanation of WMDs and evil man Saddam. These gents have fallen prey to the clever manipulation of the Mosque and the Arab trained Mullahs who preach in there.

Hence the will of UK and US is under test. Who so ever relents, will be the ultimate looser? The looser (if it is the West) may get further unprecedented bum rap from other smaller nations like Cuba, North Korea, and Iran, who are under pressure from US for one reason or the other. They will stop paying any attention to them. But if the Muslim terrorists are controlled, the dividends will be great. Terrorism, which is a fashion today with the Muslim youth, will decline. Safety in air travel, city transit system and cargo shipment will return. The Mullahs will preach something else instead of hatred. They understand it well that the choices are a few. For them, it is deportation and anonymity of their homeland or a comfortable life style in the West. The same is going to be true about the Muslim youth. They will risk deportation even if they are born in the host countries.

Civil Liberties and Murder of Innocent Bystander

This is a group who is unmindful of death and mayhem. They worry about a few bad apples and have dedicated their lives to protect them. Unwittingly, they are aiding the enemy. Nobody wishes to curtail hard won liberties, but also nobody wishes to be killed if excessive liberties result in a body blow to the very existence of a nation or a state or self. There is a need for careful balance. Bad apples have to be chased until they are caught. In return, security services are not to be allowed to unduly trample upon the citizen’s rights. The West had in previous three hundred years never faced such a threat. All previous threats were very much military with well-defined goals and objective (Hitler and Napoleon wished to rule the Europe or the West wanted to colonize the weaker nations). Enemy today is different. Its philosophy is medieval in nature. Death and destruction are part of its norms. They wish to convert you to their faith and their definition of God. Should you refuse, their orders are to kill you. When civil liberties were guaranteed, no such threat existed. Now, a different threat has emerged. It has to be contained and it cannot be contained if the enemy uses the guaranteed civil liberties to his advantage and escapes the dragnet.

In the end, I would say that the terrorist threat world over is so grave that handling fear born out of terrorism is difficult, while trying to lead a normal life. This fear has to be taken out of our psyche and terrorists who are driving this fear are to be challenged head on. Brave are those people, who under such trying circumstances have managed to continue with their lives.

Hari Sud

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