A Stiffened Resolve?

The attacks this morning in London are despicable and cowardly acts.

I was not surprised to learn of them, however.

It appears that the major incident plans of London and Great Britian are doing what they're designed to do - clamp down on the affected areas, treat the injured and instill a sense of calm among the citizens. I commend GB for their outstanding work in the face of uncertainty and peril.

I hope that these attacks stiffen the resolve of the citizens in GB that support PM Blair and the war on terror, and persuade those who in GB, France and worldwide that denounce Blair and the United States as "barbaric terrorists" to support those making our world safer.

On a personal note, the picture above is eerily familiar. I was in London in 1996, and my brother and I were evacuated from the same train station, King's Cross, because of a bomb scare. At that time, the fear was that the IRA had planted a bomb at the tube stop or on the train we were riding. The train we were riding came to a sudden stop at King's Cross, and when the doors opened, an ear splitting siren, along with shouting policemen were the first sounds we heard. Nobody told us why we were being evacuated, and after we ran up five or six flights of stairs and emerged on the street, only then did we learn that there may have been a bomb on the train or at the station. A suspicious package or briefcase had been found, and due to the well executed plans of the city government, we were delivered to safety with minimal effort.

At the time, a good five years before the 9/11 attacks, the entire concept of terrorism was foreign to my brother and I. The Londoners around us were accustomed to it and dealt with it accordingly. I must say though, although there was much uncertainty and possible danger, we remained calm. I credit my fellow passengers and the London emergency workers for maintaining calm that day and this morning.