$2.269

I’ve had a day to sit and stew over the latest heinous animal attack, this time on London. It’s obvious that July 7th will carry for Britain a similar shadow that March 11th does for Spain, and September 11th does for those of us in the States.

This morning, I read the text of the statement of those who claim to have done this act in the name of God. They didn’t do it in the name of my God — my God doesn’t condone the slaughter of innocent people in His name.

From the text, they appear to believe that if they warn opposing governments, dictating to those sovreign nations how to run their affairs, these crazy people somehow are absolved of their crime because they sent a warning. Telling someone that you’re gonna commit a crime, minor or heinous, doesn’t excuse you from the responsibility and consequences of that act.

Diversionary or not, these yahoos have now “warned” Italy and Denmark that they may be next. Of course, given the utter disregard these groups seem to have for human life — their own suicide bombers to the average man on the street — I wouldn’t be surprised if this was just so much hot air.

Anyone who knows me knows London owns a good chunk of my heart and psyche. For a little over three months in late 1998, I lived and worked there, and really fell in love with the place. In fact, for many years I tried to find a way to move there within my company. It’s a beautiful place, with a warm people and steeped in the history of mankind and the civilized world. It just crushes my heart to see it in such turmoil and pain after this crazy, senseless act of violence.

Watching Tony Blair yesterday morning, I was moved by his off the cuff remarks before leaving the G8 in Scotland for London. He was obviously shaken. His composure and resolve came through however, and it was clear that he was incensed with this bombing. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this bolster his support at home. I have a lot of respect for him, and wouldn’t mind seeing him retained as PM for a while longer.

I’m not a big fan of the ill-defined War on Terrorism, but if it would eliminate these kinds of acts, I’d be behind it 100%. There’s just no cause strong enough to warrant this kind of disregard for life, and if those so-called causes disappeared into the night, that’d be fine with me.