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A futile hatred
London attacks are more failed tactics by failing Islamic fanatics
Jul. 8, 2005 12:00 AM

And, now, London.

In the passing of a day, Londoners have gone from the ecstasy of being chosen to host the Olympics in 2012 to horror at the worst barbarism visited on the island nation of Britain since World War II.

Was it for the "crime" of ousting a preferred mass murderer in Iraq? Or was it for helping dispatch the medieval Taliban to the hills of Afghanistan? A European-based al-Qaida group claiming credit for the slaughter of Londoners declared the "blessed attack" was in retaliation for both, after all.

As is almost always the case, the propagandists lining up to take credit for Thursday's bombings were diffuse in their justifications. It's Iraq . . . it's Afghanistan . . . it's the woe-begotten Palestinians. It's Bush or Blair or both. It's the assembled members of the G8 up in Gleneagles, Scotland. It's . . . whatever.

In point of fact, the bloody destruction in London was in service to the same rabid hatred that has motivated every Islamofascist attack for the past 25 years: a virulent hatred of freedom.

Numerous British security officials said Thursday that the murderous attack was inevitable. Why? Because London epitomizes that which the fundamentalists so detest.

No Western metropolis has more willingly thrown open its arms to Muslims from all points of the globe.

Such is the depth of the imprint of Islam on London that the Muslim Council of Britain immediately released a thoroughly blistering condemnation of Thursday's atrocity, an act of Muslim outrage against terrorism that has been disappointingly lacking in response to other attacks.

But in a free society, the enemies arrive with the friends. The infamous "shoe bomber," Richard Reid, was from Gloucester, England. The alleged "20th hijacker," Zacarias Moussaoui, sharpened his radical nails while living in London. And every year since 2002, radical fundamentalists in London have happily advertised their celebration of "The Magnificent 19" of Sept. 11, 2001. We look forward to their little celebration of perfidy in London later this year.

Political motivations notwithstanding, terrorists kill to weaken will. But whether the killers are Nazi generals, Irish Republican Army brutes or psychotic religious artifacts, terrorists consistently have failed to force their bloody will upon Londoners.

And if the response of Ken Livingstone, mayor of London, is any indication, they will fail again now:

"This (attack) was not aimed against the mighty and the powerful," said Livingstone as he prepared to board a flight back to London from Singapore. "It was not aimed at presidents or prime ministers. It was aimed at ordinary, working-class Londoners - Black and White, Muslim and Christian, Hindu and Jew, young and old.

"That isn't an ideology. It isn't even a perverted faith. It is just an indiscriminate attempt at mass murder. And we know what the objective is: They seek to divide Londoners. They seek to turn Londoners against each other."

With a defiance reminiscent of New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani (who, ironically, was at a hotel near one of the bombing locations on Thursday), Livingstone went on to speak directly to the murderers of his citizens, explaining succinctly why they would fail:

"In the days to follow, look at our airports. Look at our seaports. And look at our railway stations. And even after your cowardly attacks you will see that people from around the world will arrive in London, to become Londoners, to fulfill their dreams and achieve their potential.

"Nothing you do, however many you kill, will stop that flight to our cities, where freedom is strong."

The world today mourns the loss of Londoners. But those who would attack that great city - for whatever reason they may cite - do so in futility.