International Action Center on the July 7 Bombings in London

Date: July 08, 2005 at 11:25:28
From: Int'l Action Center, [ool-18b96746.dyn.optonline.net]
Subject: International Action Center on the July 7 Bombings in London

URL: http://www.iacenter.org

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Statement of the International Action Center
on the July 7 Bombings in London
********************************************

While the people of London and worldwide were grieving for
those who were slain and injured, and as the International
Action Center extends heartfelt sympathy and condolences
to all who have lost loved ones in today's bombings in
London, the Bush Administration has wasted no time in
taking advantage of tragedy to once again advance its own
agenda of endless war and colonial occupation.

The news is not that bombs killed more than 40 people
today; it is that those people live in London rather than
Basra. The U.S. and British occupation of Iraq causes the
death of an average of 20 people a day, every day. Bush
and Blair do not stop their meetings to grieve over these
deaths, nor do the news channels stop everything to give
round the clock updates on these casualties because the
victims of these crimes are Iraqi civilians and their deaths
are considered unimportant by the corporate-owned media
and politicians.

In his response to the events in London today, Bush
declared,"the war on terror goes on," signalling that he
will cynically use this tragedy to justify the continued
occupation of Iraq, an occupation that brings death,
destruction, and torture to the people of Iraq on a daily
basis.

Bush and Blair claim to be fighting terror, but everything
they have said so far has been a lie. The truth is that
their illegal war and the ongoing occupations of Iraq,
Palestine, Haiti, and Afghanistan are themselves acts of
terror.

We cannot allow George W. Bush to manipulate genuine
feelings of grief and anguish to justify a violent
occupation of Iraq, which has left families grieving for
100,000 dead, many more injured, and thousands imprisoned
and tortured. The incident today cannot be used to rain
greater destruction on the people of Baghdad, Najaf, and
Gaza.

The Bush Administration raised the terror alert to orange
and Bush said that he had been in contact with the
Department of Homeland Security and other police and
security forces, instructing them to be "extra vigilant."

We know from the past several years what this "vigilance"
has meant to Arab and Muslim communities--mass roundups
and detentions, deportations, disappearances, and
rendition. We must be vigilant and take action to stop the
Administration from using today's tragedy to perpetrate
more harassment, violence, and abuse on Arab and Muslim
people.

We do not know who was behind the events today. We do know
that as hundreds of thousands of people were gathered to
protest the G-8 policies of corporate global plunder, Bush
and Blair are exploiting today's tragedy to advance their
agenda of global domination. We know that we must continue
to do everything in our power to oppose that agenda.

The only way to respond to today's bombing is to extend
condolences to the families of those who perished or were
injured; build solidarity with people around the world
struggling against war, racism, and colonial occupation;
to stand in solidarity with Arab and Muslim communities
who have been targeted by the Bush Administration; and to
continue building the movement to stop the oppression that
inevitably brings resistance.

The International Action Center

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