At approximately ten to nine this morning London was rocked by a
series of explosions in underground trains. Blasts were reported at
Aldgate East, Edgware Rd, Kings Cross, Liverpool Street, Moorgate and
Russell Square tube stations. A bus was ripped apart at Tavistock
Square and London’s transport network was paralysed. The capital was in
a state of chaos. Scotland Yard declared the emergency a “major
incident”. The Home Secretary Charles Clarke reported that the
explosions had caused “terrible injuries”.
Eyewitnesses reported “multiple casualties” at Liverpool Street. One
witness who had been in a train at the time of the explosions reported
seeing bodies everywhere in the carriages and limbs lying on the floor.
She said the carriage where an explosion happened was “black on the
inside”. She saw people who appeared to have their clothes blown off,
and she saw bodies lying inside the carriage.
There were many more stories of horror. Shocked passengers spoke of
victims covered in blood. People were seen streaming out of one
underground station covered with blood and soot. Passengers were
evacuated from stations across the capital, many in shock and with
their clothes ripped to shreds. Hospitals have said they are no longer
accepting non-emergency cases. They report serious head injuries, loss
of limbs and injuries caused by smoke inhalation.
Loyita Worley, who works for a City law firm, told the BBC she was
on the underground train when an explosion took place in the next
carriage, while it was in a tunnel. The 49-year-old said: “All the
lights went out and the train came to an immediate halt. There was
smoke everywhere and everyone was coughing and choking, but remained
calm. We couldn’t open the doors.”
The entire system was shut down and major thoroughfares were blocked
off by police and ambulance services. Police sealed off large areas
around other underground and mainline rail stations. Firemen donned
chemical protection suits before rushing into stations. Emergency
services crews were attending wounded passengers outside Aldgate
station, and there were reports of passengers covered in soot emerging
from King’s Cross.
British Transport Police initially attributed the explosions to
power surges but the electricity company later stated that nothing in
the electricity supply could explain such a thing. The self-evident
truth soon became clear: London was the target of a savage terrorist
attack. It appears there were up to seven blasts. Officers were sent
into the network to assist with rescue operations and were working at
tunnel and platform level to help get people out. Travellers emerged
from tunnels covered in blood. A British Transport police spokesman
said that two trains remain stuck in tunnels. The effects of an
explosion in a confined space, with flying shards of glass can only be
imagined.
The first bomb on a bus exploded near Russell Square not long after
several blasts were reported on London subways. A witness said the
entire top deck of the bus was destroyed. A passenger said the bus was
packed with people: “It was a massive explosion and there were papers
and half a bus flying through the air,” she said. One caller to BBC
Five said his friend had seen “the bus ripped open like a can of
sardines and bodies everywhere”.
The causes of the incidents are so far unclear. But following the
Madrid atrocity of last year, a link to the Middle East cannot be ruled
out. As in Madrid, it was a well-planned coordinated attack. As in
Madrid, no warning was issued. As in Madrid, the target was
indiscriminate and calculated to kill and maim the maximum number of
people. This has all the hallmarks of fanatics of the al-Oaeda type.
Arab websites linked to al-Qaeda have apparently stated that the
terrorist organization was behind the attacks. Though this has not yet
been confirmed, it is entirely probable.
The explosions on the underground were timed to go off at a certain
time, when a large number of ordinary working class people were
travelling to work. This was then followed by an explosion on a bus.
The bombings occurred one day after London was awarded the 2012
Olympics and the sense of collective shock was even greater as a result
of the cruel contrast with the scenes of popular jubilation the day
before. It also occurred as leaders of the Group of Eight rich nations
met in Scotland. It seems probable that the attack has been planned to
coincide with the latter.
The London attack is intended as a message. The content of this
message is quite clear: you claim that the war on terror is being won,
that the world is now a safer place, and the invasion of Iraq has
succeeded, but all these claims are false. The identity of the
terrorists is unknown, but whoever was responsible showed no mercy to
the innocent victims of their actions. Such activities are utterly
repugnant to anybody who defends the cause of socialism and the working
class. This kind of action serves only to bolster the forces of
reaction. There is absolutely no justification for it. It must be
condemned outright.
Our condemnation of terrorist atrocities has nothing in common with
the hypocritical condemnations of Bush and Blair. In his statement Tony
Blair said: “Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their
families.” In the next breath he then reiterated his determination to
“defeat terrorism”. These gentlemen shed no tears over the tens of
thousands of innocent men, women and children slaughtered in Iraq as a
result of their policies. That is also terrorism – terrorism on a far
vaster and more inhuman scale. They have no moral right to condemn
violence when they themselves are responsible for spreading wars and
violence throughout the world in search of their own cynical agenda.
Horrific as they were, compared to the eleventh of September, the
London attacks were on a relatively small scale. That was a spectacular
attack that struck at the heart of the USA. But what was the end
result? Only the strengthening of the most reactionary right wing
elements of the ruling class, the strengthening of imperialism, the
victory of George Bush, the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq. In cases
of murder the lawyers ask the question: cui bono? – who benefits. The
only people who benefit from terrorism are the worst enemies of the
working class, democracy and socialism.
We condemn the methods of the terrorists not only because they
slaughter innocent people. We condemn them because they play into the
hands of imperialism and reaction. We condemn them because they provide
all the excuses Bush and Blair need to continue their criminal
policies. It is a present to those right wing elements who are trying
to restrict civil rights. The police will be given new powers. The
state will be strengthened. Public opinion will be softened up for new
acts of repression and military aggression with the excuse of “fighting
terrorism” that will, in turn, increase the risk of terrorist attacks.
This is horror without end. It is a disease that is spreading like a
global pandemic from one country and continent to another. Nobody is
safe. No country is secure. The speeches of the leaders to the effect
that “we are going to win the war on terror” ring hollow in the face of
this.
The picture is still very confused. The population is stricken by
shock and grief. It is natural that people are shocked and horrified.
But when the smoke from the explosions finally clears, and when minds
clear, some hard questions will have to be asked. It was clearly only a
matter of time before the terrorist madmen would attack London. By his
actions Tony Blair has placed his people in the front line of this
madness. The result was entirely predictable.
The latest atrocity may seem to demonstrate the efficacy of the
methods of terrorism. A small group of fanatics with bombs can paralyse
a great city. Yet in the last analysis, the terrorists cannot succeed.
These insane and barbaric acts only serve the interests of imperialism.
Terrorism and imperialism feed off each other. The barbarities of the
one serve as the pretext for the barbarities of the other. And it is
always the ordinary people who pay the price.
The mass media will now have a field day. Blair and Bush will use
this atrocity to try to justify their policy in Iraq and at home. But
when people begin to reflect calmly on these events they will draw very
different conclusions. The war on terror has not been won. The invasion
of Iraq has destabilized the whole Middle East and made many new
recruits for terrorist organizations like al-Qaeda. And the world is a
far more dangerous place than it was before the invasion of Iraq.
