London: Reprecussions
What will the immediate and long term effects be of the London Bombings? And not just in Great Britain, but throughout the world?
Some, are obvious, and I'll deal with them first:
- Increased anti-terror legislation in Great Britain, and a serious examination of the muslim society in Britain as a whole. Anyone who's not a British citizen may well find themselves deported. Oh, and polls in Britain have already been signaling that the terrorists screwed up, big time. Blair got a boost in the polls, obviously- and it also signaled that the anti-war opposition just got huge egg on their face. The BBC is increasingly becoming irrelevant, as well.
- In the US, President Bush gets a boost in his Global War on Terror policy issues. He also gets an easier chance to bring Europeans aboard on the GWOT.
- Berlusconi used the occasion to crack down heavily on suspected terrorists in Italy. 142 suspects were arrested in a single day, last week.
- Spain's still the surrendering sock-monkey of the 21st century.
- The G8 summit ended with a renewed push for Europe to get serious about the GWOT. And all the other touchy feely stuff was shuffled asides, largely.
As for the stuff that it will effect, in the future:
- France and Germany will rapidly come to a breaking point. They're going to have to deal with their own local populations sooner rather than later, and they know very well that the London bombings could easily have been in Paris, or Berlin. But Schroeder and Chirac are too wrapped up in their egocentric governments to be able to change course at this late stage in the game. Since Germany's got elections upcoming later this year, this is especially problematic for Germany, since they're the most logical choice for a terror attack now (well, outside of Italy). What ramifications that will have on central Europe, one only knows. Schroeder is going to need to develop a backbone, very fast.
- The mainstream media just took a sustained hit by the London bombings. They can't peddle their "I told you so" messages without folks throwing tomatoes at them, which is precisely what's happening in Britain. The BBC is under alot of fire, and the best news is really coming out of Sky News. Even the anti-war newspapers are operating under, at best, restrained political commentary. They also know that there's absolutely NO chance that they can use the bombings to pull Britain out of Iraq. Especially since, as far as we know, the terrorists are using both Iraq AND Afghanistan as a crutch for their bombings (this could, of course, change as the terror investigation continues). And by tying them together that makes their anti-war position even harder to maintain.
-The muslim community in the UK and greater Europe is now going to increasingly come under fire. They operate under very different laws throughout Europe than they do in the US. Whatever Bill of Rights they have is vastly different from the one in the US. So, they're going to have to work with the British and European governments on the latter's terms, to solve the problems that a minority of their constituencies are giving them. It'll be a chance for them to stand up for their adoptive countries, or to find themselves shut out of that society, or removed from it.
-With the killing of the Egyptian ambassador to Iraq and the Israeli bombing coming within the same week as the London Bombings, even the Middle East will make the connections between all three. Obviously, it'll be at varying degrees, but attacks like these will only serve to make the Middle East, in it's Post-Iraqi election role that much more introspective.
- Lastly, George Galloway will finally shut the fuck up.
Some, are obvious, and I'll deal with them first:
- Increased anti-terror legislation in Great Britain, and a serious examination of the muslim society in Britain as a whole. Anyone who's not a British citizen may well find themselves deported. Oh, and polls in Britain have already been signaling that the terrorists screwed up, big time. Blair got a boost in the polls, obviously- and it also signaled that the anti-war opposition just got huge egg on their face. The BBC is increasingly becoming irrelevant, as well.
- In the US, President Bush gets a boost in his Global War on Terror policy issues. He also gets an easier chance to bring Europeans aboard on the GWOT.
- Berlusconi used the occasion to crack down heavily on suspected terrorists in Italy. 142 suspects were arrested in a single day, last week.
- Spain's still the surrendering sock-monkey of the 21st century.
- The G8 summit ended with a renewed push for Europe to get serious about the GWOT. And all the other touchy feely stuff was shuffled asides, largely.
As for the stuff that it will effect, in the future:
- France and Germany will rapidly come to a breaking point. They're going to have to deal with their own local populations sooner rather than later, and they know very well that the London bombings could easily have been in Paris, or Berlin. But Schroeder and Chirac are too wrapped up in their egocentric governments to be able to change course at this late stage in the game. Since Germany's got elections upcoming later this year, this is especially problematic for Germany, since they're the most logical choice for a terror attack now (well, outside of Italy). What ramifications that will have on central Europe, one only knows. Schroeder is going to need to develop a backbone, very fast.
- The mainstream media just took a sustained hit by the London bombings. They can't peddle their "I told you so" messages without folks throwing tomatoes at them, which is precisely what's happening in Britain. The BBC is under alot of fire, and the best news is really coming out of Sky News. Even the anti-war newspapers are operating under, at best, restrained political commentary. They also know that there's absolutely NO chance that they can use the bombings to pull Britain out of Iraq. Especially since, as far as we know, the terrorists are using both Iraq AND Afghanistan as a crutch for their bombings (this could, of course, change as the terror investigation continues). And by tying them together that makes their anti-war position even harder to maintain.
-The muslim community in the UK and greater Europe is now going to increasingly come under fire. They operate under very different laws throughout Europe than they do in the US. Whatever Bill of Rights they have is vastly different from the one in the US. So, they're going to have to work with the British and European governments on the latter's terms, to solve the problems that a minority of their constituencies are giving them. It'll be a chance for them to stand up for their adoptive countries, or to find themselves shut out of that society, or removed from it.
-With the killing of the Egyptian ambassador to Iraq and the Israeli bombing coming within the same week as the London Bombings, even the Middle East will make the connections between all three. Obviously, it'll be at varying degrees, but attacks like these will only serve to make the Middle East, in it's Post-Iraqi election role that much more introspective.
- Lastly, George Galloway will finally shut the fuck up.
posted by Fafhrd1 | 11:10 AM
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