Terrorism in London

It's true that the institutions of government in Britain have a good history of withstanding these kinds of attacks. But there are always consequences.Apart from the poor people who were directly affected by the attacks, the long term sufferers will be anybody who "looks like a Muslim" (read that as "not white") living in London. During the IRA's campaign against the UK, anybody with an Irish accent was considered suspect by the cops, and this resulted in numerous mistrials and people being fitted up for crimes they didn't commit.I predict a similar situation recurring, but this time it will be young asian men who are targeted. We have already had a taste of this with Hazel Blears, a government minister, and one of the East End chief constables (I can't remember which) saying that Muslims should get used to the idea that they will be stopped and searched in the street much more often than white people. This situation will get worse and breed more resentment.I do hope none of the UK members here were affected by this tragedy.Mick

Oh please, that really is too much. When you talk about Bush's new committment to human rights and democracy, do you mean Bush's documented support for President Nazarbayev of Khazakstan, a man with a miserable human rights record who has shut down opposition political parties and has therefore shut down democracy? Or his government's involvement in a short-lived coup against a democratically elected president in Venezuela? Or his full support for a coup against the democratically elected president of Haiti? Or do you mean his support for the Uzbekistan government, where according to the British ambassador, ripping out of fingernails and boiling alive of prisoners is commonplace and systematic?Give me a break.This message has been edited by mick, 07-08-2005 04:13 PM

The debate has sunk pretty low when this kind of point is made. Hiroshima vapourised tens of thousands of civilians including 91% of the city's doctors and 92% of the city's nurses, and destroyed all of the city's 42 hospitals. By the end of 1945 the death toll was 145,000.Next suggestion, please.

Then, like clockwork monkeys, 'Sick' BNP attacked after seizing on bus bombing in council poll leaflet

quote:

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The leaflet produced for Thursday's council byelection in Barking, east London, in which the [fascist] party hopes to gain a seat, shows an aerial photograph of the bus that was devastated by an explosion in central London, killing at least 13 people. The headline is: Maybe now it's time to start listening to the BNP.

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mickThis message has been edited by mick, 07-11-2005 07:18 PMThis message has been edited by mick, 07-11-2005 07:19 PM

we don't know the difference. That's why Hindus and Sikhs have been attacked post-bombing. Black is black, basically.

crashfrog,I know it's weird. It probably varies depending on where you live in the UK. London is far more cosmopolitan (in terms of the general public's understanding of race) than the northern cities, despite the fact that many of the northern cities have very diverse and concentrated ethnic groups.Where I come from (in the kind of North-Midlands) both Kung Pow Chicken and Tikka Masala would be called "Asian Food". The level of discrimination might go down to "Chinese" or "Indian" but that's about it.I approve of your use of pictures to make a point. To get what I would call the UK point of view, at least in the part of the country where I live - if you look anything like the bloke below, you are likely to get hassled by cops and by drunken people. Even without the orange jumpsuit. This is the archetype of what people in Nottinghamshire would consider a "muslim person" and an "asian".