|
London Bombings survivor hits out at political rhetoric
An Australian who survived last month's bombings in London has criticised the political rhetoric that has followed them.John Tulloch, who was a professor of media studies at Charles Sturt University in New South Wales, now lives in London. He was hurt in the July 7 attacks on London's transport network and is still recovering from his injuries. Professor Tulloch is convinced the London bombers were motivated by the war in Iraq and the perception of injustice. But he says the arguments have been over-simplified. "Iraq is not simply something that happened that generates terrorists, it's a whole rhetorical set of meanings that won't go away," he said. "The Prime Minister might want us to move on, it's too symbolic, it's deep in our consciousness." Condolences Meanwhile, Prime Minister John Howard has used the first sitting of Parliament after the winter recess to express sympathy for the Australians injured and killed in the attacks. Mr Howard says he was impressed by the spirit shown by Australians Gillian Hicks and Louise Barry, who he visited in hospital during his trip to London. He has also expressed condolences to the family of Melbourne man Sam Ly, who died in the attacks. Mr Howard has congratulated British emergency services for their response. "I would like to pay tribute to the resolve and the resilience and the strength of the British people and the Londoners who responded in such characteristically gutsy fashion to this terrible attack," he said. Federal Opposition Leader Kim Beazley has also paid tribute to the stoicism of the British and sympathised with the Australians affected. Mr Beazley says he is determined to see that Australia gets its responses to the threat of terrorism right. "We're battened down for a long conflict, this is nothing that's going to be resolved any time soon," he said. "But because it is long it doesn't excuse mistakes. "We've got to get everything right and events like that just renew our determination to do that." Posted by: God Save The World 2005-08-09 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=126267 |