...London calling to the faraway towns
Now war is declared - and battle come down
London calling to the underworld
Come out of the cupboard, you boys and girls...
Out of context and years ago The Clash wrote that song. Just what does and what will the London terrorist attacks mean? As to damage and death the Underground and bus bombings were nothing more than a bad day in Bagdad. In terms of lives lost and physical damage the four bombings were strictly old news under the Iraqi standard but clearly the Iraq standard doesn't apply here. As to the meaning of why did the individual bombers do what they did, it appears that the bombers were firmly entrenched into the British middle class so economic opportunity or poverty aren't to blame. No danger of those men being compelled by a draft to go fight in Iraq or Afganistan so it isn't that.
What's left is ideology. An ideology that the four learned and expanded on while living in England which echos the sentiment shared by their brothers-in-arms who drive car bombs into crowds of children in Iraq for the crime of liking chocolate. I'll not expand on the ideology that drives radical elements of Islam; that has been covered so well by so many others, here for instance.
There appears to be no significant damage done to the war-fighting capability or political will of the UK; it appears that this attack was a failure on all fronts. Indeed, Europe's significant muslim population will likely see increased scrutiny of its radical elements. So, this is basically a loss for the European muslims and a gain for the various state's security apparatus.
(edited for style issues)
