Stop the War Coalition (Sydney) statement
London Bombings: The Price of Occupation in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine
In response to the bomb attacks in London on Thursday evening (Sydney time), Prime Minister Tony Blair, President George W. Bush and Prime Minister John Howard recited clich‚d lines of condemnation about "attacks on our way of life", affronts to "freedom and democracy" and the "evil" in the hearts of those who will "take the lives of innocent folks" — as opposed to "the hearts of G8 leaders meeting in Scotland who care deeply about human rights and human liberty."
But why should it be supposed that Londoners, New Yorkers or Sydneysiders would not suffer the horrendous blowback that must almost inevitably result from a "way of life" that has sanctioned the brutal invasion, occupation, exploitation and oppression of many countries throughout history and, most recently, Iraq and Afghanistan?
This is, after all, what the so-called "war on terror" means.
Terrorism is as much about stealth-bombers decimating villages in Afghanistan, the murder of Palestinian children throwing stones at an apartheid wall, or the exploding of cluster bombs and destruction of vital infrastructure in Iraq as it is about a bomb on a bus.
Those responsible for the London bombings do not have a monopoly on the tactic of terror, which can be inflicted by states far more efficiently and effectively than any decentralised organisation.
Stop the War Coalition condemns the bombings and expresses its condolences to Londoners, the majority of whom joined with the Coalition and people around the world in opposing Blair's exploits in Iraq. Today they are paying the price for the foreign policies of their government.
But our thoughts are also with the hundreds of thousands of men, women and children in the Middle East and elsewhere who have already paid the price of decisions of governments in the UK, US and Australia.
The one clich‚ not uttered by G8 leaders meeting in Scotland at the time of the bombings was that 'violence begets violence'.
Stop the War Coalition believes that the attack in London should not be viewed as an excuse to beef up the "war on terror", to further repress civil liberties, coerce the media into self-censorship, or vilify already-marginalised Muslim populations.
The continuing occupations of Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine are at the crux of the violence experienced in Britain on Thursday. Stop the War Coalition will continue campaigning, alongside millions of others around the world, to get the troops out of Iraq and prevent more being sent to Afghanistan. This is our contribution to ending terror attacks on innocents.
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From 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly, July 13, 2005.
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