You can take your pick on the latest bombing theories, and it seems to me you can fit the facts into your own ideological stance on the war in Iraq. So, on the one hand you have the George Galloway/Tariq Ali position, reinforced today by Gary Younge saying the bombs were an inevitable consequence of the war, and that Tony Blair allying Britain so closely to Bush placed lives at risk in this country. Alternatively, over at Harry's Place the Blair loyalists insist the bombings are the work of Islamic fanatics, and that they are encouraged and given succor by the support of the SWP, RESPECT, the Stop the War Coalition and assorted lefty, middle class liberals. They argue that al-Qaeda was in business bombing their way to paradise long before the war in Iraq. They argue that those responsible for the London bombings couldn't care less about ordinary Muslims and they are blowing up Iraqis on a daily basis in Iraq. For what it is worth, I tend towards the former view (but then, I was opposed to the war) and in the same way that internment in Northern Ireland turned into the IRA's biggest recruitment agency, the War in Iraq and the West's cosying up to Israel, provided the oxygen the fanatics need in order to survive and prosper. Terrorists don't exist in a vacuum, and they are not born terrorists.

Just what exactly was the Prime Minister trying to say on Thursday about the bombings? He said;

In addition, I welcome the statement put out by the Muslim Council who know that those people acted in the name of Islam but who also know that the vast and overwhelming majority of Muslims, here and abroad, are decent and law-abiding people who abhor this act of terrorism every bit as much as we do.

It's the "every bit as much as we do" that puzzled me. Aren't Muslims here part of the 'we' in modern multi-cultural Britain?

I've added a new link to the sidebar, Mikedahat, or Zen and the art of guitar maintenance. I happened upon it via Steve at Occupied Country and like Steve's site it is a bloody good read. Not like all those 'politicos' sites, but entertaining, autobiographical and humorous. Well worth a regular visit.