Terror in London
On September 9, 2001, I was watching the sun set between the twin towers of the World Trade Center from my room across the street at the Millenium Hilton in Manhattan. Two days later, I felt blessed to have been one of the last people on Earth to see such a sight and live to tell about it. But I also felt physically ill at the thought of those that did not escape the terrorist attacks, and the incredibly painful and senseless loss that the friends and families of those killed would come to feel once the shock wore off. This morning, many in London are feeling that same shock and loss. My heart goes out to you.
Someone opined to me that this will cause the Brits to withdraw from helping the U.S. in Iraq and Afghanistan. I disagreed, believing that Blair would not let this affect his pledge to support democracy in the Middle East. We'll see how it pans out soon enough...
posted by Le Voyageur @ 2:30 PM
3 Comments:
You're right, the terror attacks will not have the effect of making the British stop helping the U.S. Terror never has this affect, it always causes a population to rally behind the flag and its leaders. I thought that the Spanish were unfairly pillored for voting in a socialist government after the Madrid bombings because they were 'caving in' to terrorists. The spanish voters were more angry that the ruling party tried to cover up who was responsible for the bombings until after the election by blaming ETA.
The chaos and uncertainty of a terror attack brings about the instinctual need for comfort and support, often initially regardless of the political upshot. Bush was able to do a lot (domestically and internationally) that others could not have in a different situation because of 9-11 shockwaves. Will Blair use the recent attacks to modify his international agenda (more or less aggressive action, or simply staying the course), or will it be solely the inevitable domestic change?
I doubt it will change anything significantly. Blair is an idealist and he is unlikely to complete his term. As such while he is looking to cement his legacy he doesn't need to worry so much about short term opinion shifts.
There may be a stronger push towards National ID cards, but even the government admits they probably would have made no difference in this case and once the full cost of wheeling them out becomes apparent then the British public will turn against them. The last I heard was GBP300 for each card.
Post a Comment
<< Home