7/7/05
We live in scary times indeed when the news of around forty dead in a spate of bomb attacks on London’s transport system is greeted with relief — relief that not more people were killed, that not more damage was done, that this wasn’t the big one everyone had been dreading. Analysts are talking of a “message” sent to the G8 leaders — the most powerful men on earth — and of a “wake-up call;” while no doubt true, this also begs the question, what would the real thing look like if this was merely designed to send a signal?
The truth is, and this has been stated many times before, that as open societies we cannot control every single suspect or check every single passenger on the subway. Israel and the tactics it employed is a good example that even using fairly coercive means will not in itself stop determined terrorists.
There is no obvious way out of that situation at all: there will always be people, and even if they’re only a handful, who will take joy in killing innocent people and attacking our way of life.
