London Attacks

London Attacks

Overview

July 7, 2005 would be a day that London would never forget. During the hustle of the morning rush hour traffic, people’s lives would be taken, destroyed or left with memories that would last forever. Around 8:50 a.m. was an explosion on a train that traveled between Algate East and Liverpool Street stations. After half an hour of silence passed a second blast was reported at West Edgware Road. This time the train was between Kings Cross and Russell square. Just seven minutes later, the third blast occurred, this time on a train at Edgware Road Station. Emergency responses acted quickly and sent train passengers away from the stations using the public bussing system. Ten minutes after the third explosion, London would burst for a fourth and final time that day. The final explosion was the deadliest and occurred on a double decker public bus. Many people on that bus were train passengers that were evacuated from the train stations due to the blasts.

The attacks took place on the first day of the G8 summit in Scotland. Prime Minister Tony Blair was notified of the attacks and made the following press release:

“Our determination to defend our values and ways of life is greater than their desire to create death and destruction and impose extremism on the world. Whatever they do, it is our determination that they shall not succeed.”

These attacks on July 7th would be the worst violence against London since World War II.

Within the first three hours of the investigation British Intelligence discovered a two hundred word statement on the internet. This statement was posted on a popular site of Islamic militants. The statement declared that the blasts were in retaliation for Britain’s involvement with Iraq and Afghanistan.

In the past few weeks law enforcement was able to identify four bombers; Hasib Mir Hussain 18 years old, Shehzhad Tanweer 22 years old, Mohammas Sidique Khan 30 old and Germaine Lindsay 19 years old. Each bomber has been pin pointed to what attack they individually carried out in London. These suspects came from some 1,800 cameras in London’s train stations. Currently the UK’s National Terrorist Finance Investigative Unit (NTFIU) is in charge of following a money trail, hoping to identify those who were responsible for sending the terrorist on their mission.

Much happened after July 20th as well. London is being scrutinized for their shoot-to-kill policy in which an innocent mans life was taken in a train station. Other attempted bombings have occurred and failed. Video cameras have captured images of an additional four possible attempted attack suspects. All four men have not yet been identified.

Actors

Many were involved in the London attacks. First there were the victims. The victims account for the majority of the actors in this incident, as the death toll as well as injured were numerous in numbers. The victims were the innocent actors in this event.

The bombers are another set of actors. Hussain, Tanweer, Khan and Lindsay were directly responsible for the destruction that took place. These actors carried out a well thought and well planned out course of action. The bombers were financed by that of a higher power, in which still has not been identified.

Menezes was an innocent actor in this plot. Menezes was the innocent victim shot in the train station. The British police have a policy enacted to shoot-to-kill. Menezes was not agreeing to police instructions and to avoid another possible attack, the police fatally acted.

We should not forget the other actors in this major event are the hundreds of families affected by the day, whether directly or indirectly. Families of the victims as well as families of the attackers are forever affected.

Tactics

The tactics used in the London attacks were quite simple. There were a total of four bombs so each person had their own individual role to carry out in the attack. These bombs were mostly found in bags or backpacks as to not be detected. Timing was a tactic that was most crucial. All attacks were set off simultaneously, as to not overlap and to give the city a sense of utter most vulnerability. London was not sure what was going to happen next and therefore this