(no subject)

[mdlbear]

It was particularly interesting (I guess that's the word) to see the frantic headline "Scenes of Mayhem Terrorize London on Voice of America, and contrast that with this matter-of-fact LJ post from an actual Londoner:

We've had terrorists, nuts and loons for longer than I've even been alive. This is just another one of those things. It's tragic for the families of the people killed, but they can't get us all. They didn't manage it in WWII. They won't manage it now.

Do I detect a certain amount of political motivation here?

Comments

oh yeah, it's political hay

[jilara.livejournal.com]

I think this post really sums up the British attitude:
"I have been in the City of London close by the sites of today's outrages. I would just like to praise the calmness and common sense of Londoners who have acted calmly and with unflappable good humour in the face of the callous cruelty of these attacks. If only the perpetrators of these attacks could have seen the deep resilience of the Londoners I've been with today they might find themselves doubting the effectiveness of their vicious small minded philosophy of life."
Martin Raynes, London, UK

In other places, if you click links to get a slideshow of the London bombings, you are treated to mostly pictures of *American* law enforcement patroling public transit, along with various American political figures using the photo op. It's disgusting.

[randwolf.livejournal.com]

It's strange; most of the reactions I'm hearing on the news, even on NPR, are from the USA, and not even from New York, mostly. Very little stuff from the UK itself. Here in the USA, we have trouble imagining ourselves as part of the world; we seem to still be surprised that we are vulnerable. Europe has always been more at risk than the USA; it's much easier for al-Qaeda--if it was al-Qaeda--to mount an attack there. Stirred up the hornet's nest in the neighbor's backyard, we have.

see also.

[roaringmouse.livejournal.com]

The US which stands for US, not them always look at the political. The British folk don't and never have. The only thing I think out of the mess that was very strange and naive for a Londoner was when the Metropolitian Police person was quoted to have said, 'we got no phone calls." referring to the bombings of the IRA. Londoners are not use to 'surprise' attacks. Even during the blitz of V2, the sound of V2s would warn a person. But.. Mad Dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun....

[mdlbear]

You're thinking of the V1 "buzz bomb"; the sound was intended to increase the terror effect. The V2 was supersonic, so the sound didn't arrive until after it hit.