Terrorism in the UK

We've had a bad week. And that doesn't even consider the pandemic flooding all over the north of England.

Tony Blair's alliance with George Bush has put this country in grave danger. And the threat persists.

I was lucky to not have been anywhere near London when the 7/7 attacks were launched. But we have friends and family (Marc's cousins) who both live and work in London. And whilst no one was injured we were all psychologically impacted.

I still have a wee bit of anxiety when I get on the tube or a bus in London. The trouble is that I do both of these things with my children. They love the excitement of transportation. Whenever we have days out scheduled we use public transportation because it is so much more convenient and responsible. Have you ever tried to park in London? A day's parking can cost well over £30 ($60). Now I just hold my breath and close my eyes and hope for the trip to end soon.

In the last week 2 car bombs have been found in central London. One of the cars had even been towed away for being parked illegally. The vigilance of ordinary people on the street led to the discovery of the suspicious car in Haymarket. And some out of the box thinking led to the discovery of the bomb in the car that had been towed away (unfortunately to a more dangerous location than where it had originally been parked). Luckily, the bombs did not detonate and no one was injured.

These plotters are not the most clever of terrorists I would hazard. I mean everyone knows you don't park illegally in London any more than you do in New York City. They parked these cars at 2 am. Did they think no one would spot them in the deserted city streets before the start of the morning rush hour? Haven't they ever met a London traffic warden? No? Then they are not from around here! And they haven't lived here long (if at all).

All this goes with the territory of living in London. Remember London had been the target of terrorist bombings for years during the "Northern Ireland Troubles". There were never any rubbish bins in the underground or on the city streets for fear that these would be used for locating bombs. When my husband used to travel as a member of the school cadets (like boy scouts with a military bent) when he was 14 or so, they had to travel in civilian clothes so as not to be targeted by earnest terrorists. Some would have chosen to stay home. Today, most would. But not the British. They just adapted and carried on.

Yesterday's car bomb was driven into the front of the Glasgow airport. Luckily, no one was injured (unless you count the bombers and I don't). It merely the disrupted the flow of travelers trying to escape the grey, rainy, dreary June weather.

Glasgow is far away from London. And it is in Scotland. The Scottish, whilst British, are not English and hence, imagine themselves somewhat immune from the terrorist threat. No one needed to remind them yesterday that our new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown is Scottish. I mean very Scottish. Mr. Brown is only one of 4 educated Prime Ministers that didn't got to Oxford or Cambridge. The Right Hounorable Mr. Brown went to the University of Edinburgh. Unlike, Mr Blair, who although he was born in Scotland, immediately left for south of the border. Does anyone think this has anything at all to do with the airport explosion yesterday?

Only the terrorists know. What I do know is that it won't stop me from traveling into London. The 7/7 bombs did. I experienced extreme forms of anxiety (shortness of breath, pounding and accelerated heart rate) in the aftermath of the 7/7 attacks. I didn't take my children into London for almost a year. And when we did go after that we avoided trains, buses and the underground.

But it won't happen again. Not the attacks. I'm sure there will be more of those. But my fear will not win. And the terrorists will not win.