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What happened:
On the first reports this morning at, about 08.45am, we were told that a power surge had caused an accident between Liverpool Street station and Aldgate East. People, hurt & covered in soot & dirt, were seen on TV coming from the Underground Station. A little later, the news that we were all waiting for came - Terrorist attack. There was little panic, Londoners don't panic! Most of the public on the scene helped where they could, tendered the wounded and consoled the distressed. Whilst waiting for the brave emergency teams to do arrive and do their spectacular work, Londoners coped admirably. With little panic, the majority evacuated the areas of destruction. In interviews, later on TV, scarred (not scared) victims told their stories bravely. No fear in their eyes, just sadness at what had happened. We knew it would come, sometimes when you choose your friends and allies there is a price to pay!
Heroes!
Not daunted by the thought that other bombs may go off, our brave emergency plans went into place and our great emergency teams went down to help the victims down in the darkened underground tunnels - Heroes! Later we heard a bus exploded in the Russell Square area. 6 Bombs!(?) All except one on the Underground! A bus? My belief is that this was a mistake, this bomb on the bus went off by accident whilst being transported by a terrorist to another underground station. A bus wouldn't cause the disruption the terrorists were looking for today. That was not the plan was it? The innocents on that bus are, at the time of writing this, unknown, and I mean no offense in this theory, but the bus bomber was after a bigger target - and he failed! Like the 4th plane of 9-11, perhaps someone on the bus made a move to stop this bomber - perhaps these bus bomb victims were also heroes? Maybe we will never know, but they prevented others from dying today! I will always think of them this way - heroes! I salute them and all the others who died today.
Why?
Unlike in New York, America, their was no disbelief or questions 'Why us?' We know why us! We interfere. Yes! Us! We interfere! - With injustice, with organizations & governments who use fear to control people, with global policies that are unfair, unjust or just damned wrong! With people who believe in things that are wrong! Simple! Terrorists don't like it, they are evil, they want people to bend to their will. Mistaken they are, if they think London will ever bow to their way of thinking! You can take us all, one by one, and the last Londoner left standing will say, "NEVER SURRENDER!". Those words will echo around London, even if you scorch it bare! NEVER SURRENDER TO HATE!, TO FEAR!, TO INTIMIDATION!, TO TERROR!
We will remember!
Now Londoner's mourn their dead, but we continue on. Soon, starting today, we will rebuild! We will continue, heads held high! We will remember what was done to this proud beautiful city today and the poor families left behind with their loved ones gone. We think of those families, and will every day! They grieve - We grieve with you! We support them, we honour them and we love them. Together we are strong for them. We have known terrorism for centuries! We can't be intimidated in London! We are stronger than that! Sometimes we accept our government makes wrong decisions, and we don't condone everything they do - but we in Londoners also know how to change it, through peaceful means, without bombs, without terror! And we we stand up! Knock us down and we'll get up again! We call it the "Blitz Spirit". You can call it arrogance, stupidity or whatever you like - you will never change it!
We've said it before and we will continue to say it until the end of time - WE WILL NEVER SURRENDER!
As one!
Our way of life is good and fairly just. We are a multicultural society made up of people from all races & religions, we are all Londoners and are as one! We will never bow to cowards and killers who kill or injure innocents! Tomorrow we will continue, using the trains, the underground, the airports, the seaports, the roads! Our way of life, our belief in freedom, justice and global well being will never change - this is a war that may never be won, but it will never be lost by us - the terrorists have achieved nothing today! The deaths to Londoners will not be forgotten and in the end they will be avenged, by us in this world or in the next. "
Cowards.
With today's cowardly attack on London, the world again was shown what cowards these killers are. Preying on soft targets, these scum killers deserve the scared lives they lead - hunted by all the governments and police forces of the civilized world, they have to creep about like rats, vermin! They are told they will reach paradise for their actions, and they probably believe it! What they will actually get, (if you believe that sort of thing), is eternal damnation in the deepest reaches of hell, each minute being subjected to the terror they themselves inflicted on their victims, forever!
Just causes.
Only last Saturday almost a million Londoners protested about poverty and injustice in Africa, not for their own benefit, but for that of others. Other's around the world joined us, but we were the lead, the instigators, for the good of the world we pushed a just cause - and this is not the only just cause we follow! We follow good men, like Sir Geldof, not dishonourable people like bin Laden. What does the al Qaeda terror network of Osama bin Laden do for world injustice? What does he do about righting wrongs? I 'll say it clear, NOTHING! He's a rich son of a Saudi Arabian wealthy family, he knows little of poverty, of doing what's right! Those people that follow him are blinded by clever manipulation of a bible that was never intended to preach the hatred that bin Laden teaches. He directs his disciples of evil to kill themselves and others, whilst never going to the front line himself. He's not protected by god - he's a donkey hiding in a stable, a rat in a sewer, making others do his bidding and then laughing at his dead followers. He was trained by the USA government, so he knows nothing will be achieved by Terrorism! Each time a disciple of bin Laden dies or is caught and tried, where is the leader? COWARD! He is hiding, letting others do his fighting! What a waste - bin Laden could have used his families wealth to construct, sway and push for the good of his region, his continent - instead he brings the world down on his people.
Not in our name!
To preach hate is to receive hate! We don't hold Muslims accountable for this attack, we won't use scorched earth policies to act out our vengeance - we will not be responsible for this - not in our name! Mosque's won't be burnt down by real Londoners - we understand the real world, we know that the real Muslims would never act like this! We want justice - yes! But not at the expense of innocents! We will never lower ourselves to the depths of the terrorist minds - not in our name! I call upon every Londoner to stand firm, to push for greater security, yes, but not for vengeance - that is not our way!
What next?
Whilst writing this I have received a text message from 'Transport for London' - the London Mayor's office. Here is the message as I received it at 19.01pm 07/07/2005...
"National Rail, London Bus and Docklands Light Railway services are returning to normal. London Underground will be closed for the rest of the day. London Underground will start running a reduced service tomorrow morning. For updates visit http://www.tfl.gov.uk or teletext."
As I stated earlier - we will never be beaten by thugs or terror! We will never surrender!
Written with great sadness and resolve by Keith Ceeney.
Note for Overseas Readers:
I thank you for reading this - and please, don't be afraid! Come to London, walk among us, live among us. Visit our great ancient city and sites and get a taste of what we are about in London. We are proud people, and strong people! We are welcoming and love life. We want you to come and join us, even if just for a short while. But be warned, when you come, a little bit of you will never leave - we have that affect on people. London grabs you by your feet and tugs your heart. Old and new buildings live side by side, just as old and new residents do. The ever changing face of Londoners, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Secular/Non-religious/Agnostic/Atheists, Hindu's, Sikhs, Spiritists, Baha'i's, Jainist's, Shinto's, Cao Dai's, Zoroastrianists, Tenrikyo's, Neo-Paganists, Unitarians-Universalists and Rastafarians can reside here, without fear of persecution. So can you. Don't be afraid of Terrorism - that only let's terrorists win a battle, which they should not! The risk is no greater now than it was yesterday, no greater than it will be in two years time. Yes it's scary to think of terrorism, but if you thought about heart attacks every time you ate a burger or something sweet, you'd never get that great taste! Every city in Europe has had some kind of terrorist problem at some stage - what do you do? Hide in a hole, move to a desert island somewhere? No, you carry on! We look forward to seeing you soon in our great city!
Keith Ceeney - London 07.07.2005
This article is the authors own personal material and does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the KGC Group or subsidiaries, nor does it represent my workforce or their families. It doesn't even represent my family! These are my thoughts alone, my conclusions! The Author.
