I thought about saying nothing, but it would be complacent of me to say nothing, when I have been so vocal on the internet regarding politics , religion and wars, and social issues & the domino effects of these issues on society as a whole, and on individuals individually.
I would like to begin by expressing my sincere condolences to the family and friends of the victim of yesterdays horrific, brutal murder in London's Woolwich, and extend my condolences to everyone in the Woolwich community whatever their faith, indeed, I extend those condolences further to anyone who has been, is effected by such inhumane acts of murder, and those condolences include those of the families friends and communities of the young men who committed the brutal murder that we have witnessed yesterday in London.
There has been a great deal of speculation on the radio, TV social networking and I presume, newspapers today. I say presume, as I haven't been out yet, so haven't seen how the press are covering this story, nor do I have TV, so my knowledge of how this has been covered in the media is limited to radio and internet, and again, I have only looked at a few clips from ITV showing one of the perpetrators of the murder, statements by officials from goverment, and witness accounts.
When the story broke on BBC radio , I was busy with other things therefore, I initially only heard that there had been reports of a shooting in London and that the perpetrator was reported as being "Muslim looking".
When I looked at the ITN report via a link on Twitter, I saw a black man, wearing European style clothing, with an English accent, taking personal responsibility for the murder and giving his reasons why.
I would be lying if I did not admit that I was affected by what I seen, I was I found it extremly disturbing and upseting and as a result went to bed earlier than usual.
This morning I've heard statements by the UK Prime Minister, ( whom I myself have referred to many times on Twitter as a "terrorist leader" as a result of my own personal believes and thoughts on how he comports and leads this country) and I have watched & listened to footage on "youtube" this morning where members of the government cabinets statements, and mayor of London refer to this as a act of terrorism.
I have heard radio reports as to the swiftness of how quickly this was deemed an act of terrorism linking it to both Islamic fundamentalism and radicalized terrorist, again, with the emphasis in these reports being placed on links to the Islamic community, based on what the man who was filmed with blood on his hands was saying to the witness filming him on his mobile phone, who has been quoted as saying that although he felt initially frightened, he did not feel he was under threat or in danger of harm.
The man with blood on his hands holding a machete and knife speaking in an agitated & angry, but fairly calm voice, into the mobile phone camera on the ITN clip, whose picture I presume will be the front page of every news paper said;
"I apologize that women had to witness this today, but in our land our women have to see the same, you people will never be safe, remove your goverment they don't care about you"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61F7J-6y0aA
Undoubtedly, this image strikes terror into the hearts of all of us, and undoubtedly this is reflected by the statements of the goverment officials who have spoken publicly regarding yesterdays incident in Woolwich ;
The prime minister addressing the incident from a podium in France with President Francois Hollande, where he has undoubtedly been discussing the end to the EU arms embargo on Syrian and Britain's role supporting France in Mali, thanked the french president for his support and solidarity with the British people in light of the appalling murder that had happened in London.
He then went on to describe the incident as "sickening" and " the most appalling crime," and ensure the audience that there "were strong indications that i is a terrorist incident"
David Cameron then explained that 2 people at the murder scene were wounded by the police and were being treated as suspects. He further briefed the audience on the governments steps to gather all relevant evidence in regard of the incident then went on to offer his condolences to the family and friends of the victim and said that he believed people from every community would condemn this attack.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hX9mcqwMt4
The home secretary Teresa May described the incident as a "sickening and barbaric attack" Mrs May said that police & security services were gathering information and "that there was a strong indication that it was an act of terrorism" and that security had been increase around every army bar-ricks in the capitol.
She then went on to say that the attack was "an attack on everyone in the united kingdom and would be condemned by every community"
Mrs May concluded her statement by extending her condolences to the victim and his family saying that "we have seen acts of terrorism like these on the streets of Britain before and that we have always stood firmly against it and that despicable acts like these would not go unpunished."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKg31FWfer0
William Hague, the UK's foreign secretary said on his official twitter page;
"William Hague
Shocked by savage Woolwich
murder. A time for unity, our whole country standing together in seeking
the facts and condemning this brutality"
And the mayor of London Boris Johnston said in an interview" that the people of London should take their q, from the behavior of the people of Woolwich yesterday, who showed astonishing natural courage in dealing with appalling events, and who stood up to those killers," Mr Johnston continued by saying, that he believed that was the spirit of London and what he advised people to do was go about their lives in the normal way.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDk9nypaSpk
I totally agree this was a barbaric violent attack, and that these types of terrorable events should not be happening anywhere in the world.
... and yes I do think these types of incidents are linked to terrorist behavior,
But, whither this event was directly a result of an organized premeditated terrorist attack, as opposed to a random opportunist attack by two young men who have lost their ability to react with reasonable, acceptable behaviors to acts of terrorism and war around the world, who yes, were armed, and therefore reflect behaviors of a violent premeditated attack on a random victim, and with this in mind I don't think that the goverment or any other agency could reasonably link it to an organized terrorist attack by men affiliated with terrorist organizations. as quickly as they did, some 3 hours, as I don't believe that gives sufficient time to examine all the indicators and evidence needed to make such an assessment. That is not to say they were not individuals who have been radicalized by incidents they themselves have witnessed or been affected by, and I believe this is reflected in the statement by the man seen with blood on his hands who was involved in the attack.
It is widely recognized that young people who have grown up with war and all that it involves, fear, mass murder, rape, starvation and poverty, are primary targets not only for terrorist organizations, but also for governments involved in all that war and the hate & corruption it breeds as wee have seen by reports of child soldier being recruited in civil wars around the world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K4yhPSQEzo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sFi5c7uGB4
There is no doubt in my mind that terror and violence breeds terror and violence.
I think the protests in the aftermath of yesterdays events in Woolwich reflects this,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBXoW1s6Dd4
People who believe these sort of violent reactions to the horrific and very sad incident in Woolwich yesterday do not want peace, they are no different from those who perpetrated war and violence on religious or political grounds around the world . THEIR ACTIONS AND BEHAVIORS ARE WRONG, as wrong as the behaviors of those who committed the murder yesterday on a London street and indeed as wrong as the behavior of any goverment who finances or condones violent acts and behaviors around the world.
In conclusion I think the question we should be asking ourselves is WHY?
What social constructions and behaviors is it that brings anyone to behave in such a barbaric and cruel way towards his fellow human beings, & WHAT non violent ways can we the community of planet earth do to stop these behaviors and violent acts happening around the world?
PLEASE GIVE PEACE A CHANCE.
http://youtu.be/AwNg4lHFj7I
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