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Statement on the London bombings, 7 July 2005
On 7 July 2005, more than 50 people were killed and hundreds injured by bombs planted on a bus and three underground trains in London during the morning rush-hour. These bombs were indiscriminate, killing London commuters from a wide range of backgrounds and origins. For the victims, their families and friends, these outrages are profoundly tragic. For the world, the London bombings have contributed to a wider tragedy.
The bombings have provided Britain’s cowardly politicians, and in particular the Labour Government, with ample opportunity for hypocrisy about ‘freedom’ and ‘civilisation’. The heinous activities of Al Qaida and its supporters, who have claimed the bombings, are the consequences of imperialism, and like all monsters, this one has turned against its creators.
Osama Bin Laden, the Taliban and the Afghani warlords were created, financed and armed by the West in order to destroy a progressive regime in Afghanistan, and ultimately, the Soviet Union. The fate of the local people was of no concern. It was only after the attack on the World Trade Centre 2001 that US and Britain intervened in the name of ‘freedom’ and the ‘war on terror’. Afghanistan has once again been handed over to the drug barons and the warlords, while the US and Britain continue to bomb and terrorise ordinary Afghans. Tell us now, gross liar Blair, how many Afghani women you have liberated! On 1 July, six days before the London bombings, a US B52 killed 17 women, men and children in a housing compound in Kunar Province, Afghanistan. Are the lives of innocent Afghanis worth less than those of Londoners?
Saddam Hussein and his regime were created, financed, and armed by the West in order to destroy Iran and opposition to US/British influence in the Middle East. The imperialists did nothing when the regime was gassing Kurds and murdering the opposition. Only when Saddam Hussein turned maverick, no longer to be relied on, did the imperialists invade and wage war on the Iraqi people in the name ‘freedom’ and ‘civilisation’. It is estimated that at least 67,365 civilians have been reported killed or wounded in Iraq between 19 March 2003 and 19 March 2005. Millions have no jobs, no electricity or access to clean water. Thousands were killed in Fallujah. If Londoners are brave and ‘stoical’ in the face of 50 dead, how do you measure what the Iraqi people have sufferered under foreign occupation?
The experience of young Muslims is that the British and US governments do not care about the suffering in the Middle East, they care most about dominating the world. In Palestine, Israel with the backing of the US and Britain, has continued to occupy and steal Palestinian land, terrorising and murdering Palestinians. The Apartheid Wall has been built despite the International Court of Justice finding it illegal one year ago. 50 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli army in the latest ceasefire. You have not heard Bush and Blair condemn Israeli terror; on the contrary they make common cause with Israel against the Palestinians.
The suffering of ordinary people in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine at the hands of US, British and Israeli armies is ignored or excused. It can be no surprise that the youth are misled by zealots into believing they are fighting imperialism. The bombs in London did not fight Bush and Blair, they added to the imperialist slaughter. The bombers did nothing to defeat imperialist terror: they added to the suffering it inflicts.
The future of humanity lies in the hands of human beings, acting together to meet their common needs and to solve their problems. The slaughter generated by imperialist terror and by the agents and puppets of imperialism must stop. Our aim is to build a movement to oppose war and to defeat imperialism. We ask you to join us.
End the occupation of Palestine! Destroy the Apartheid Wall!
End the war on Afghanistan!
Release Guantanamo detainees! End the occupation of Iraq!
Revolutionary Communist Group