Terrorism: can it be beaten?

Today is not only my niece Kasey's 6th birthday but the second anniversary of the 7/7 bombings in London in which 52 innocent people lost their lives. On that fateful day in 2005, three bombs on the underground exploded within fifty seconds of each other at 08:50 hrs, a busy time for commuters. There was a further attack on a double decker bus a 09:47 hrs which occurred at Tavistock Square.

Two years on and we find ourselves once again the target for terrorism. On 29 June, police confirmed they were investigating the discovery of two car bombs in the West End of London. The first Mercedes was located at 01:30 outside a nightclub in Haymarket. The bomb consisted of 60 litres of petrol, gas cylinders and nails. Police said the second device had been found in another Mercedes hours after the car was given a parking ticket in Cockspur Street and towed to Park Lane.

Clearly if these devices hadn't been discovered, there would have been complete devastation and significant loss of life.

On 30 June at 15:11 hours, two men crashed a vehicle into the main terminal building of Glasgow airport, shattering glass doors just yards from passengers lined up at the check-in counters. After crashing the green four wheel drive Jeep Cherokee, the driver set the vehicle and himself alight while trying to ignite explosives. An off-duty police officer hosed down the terrorist to extinguish the flames.

The driver and his passenger engaged in a scuffle with police and a bystander, and were then arrested, and one was taken to hospital. Both men were described by eyewitnesses as being South Asian - a term used to describe people from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and other countries in that region. One of the men was wearing a vest packed with explosives. The car was crammed with gas canisters which would have caused large amounts of casualties if they had exploded.

Another narrow escape. Stepping up security at airports is obviously in the best interest of everybody. You hear passengers complaining about it but would they rather be blown to pieces? I think not. The trouble is, there is only a certain amount authorities can do to cut down the chances of attack; you can't possibly have eyes and ears everywhere on the planet. Whilst I would like to think that the worst atrocity ever committed (9/11) couldn't possibly happen again, the terrorists will continue to attack in other ways. Who knows what the answer is but my philosophy is that you just have to carry on as normal and not let the bastards beat you. Peace on earth and goodwill to all men - sadly I don't think it'll ever happen. Whether it's religion, race, money or politics, they will always stand in the way.