Early Thoughts About the Attacks in London

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The facts are beginning to become clear about what happened today in London. In short, at 9:15 AM British Summer Time, there were four explosions caused by bombs; three in subway tunnels and one on a bus, in the financial district near Liverpool Station at the Aldgate Station, at Edgware Road and King’s Cross in north London, and Russell Square in central London. The bus explosion occurred at Tavistock Square. At this time, at least 41 people are known to be dead, with an unknown number of injured and maimed, although estimates vary from the low (300) to high (900) hundreds. Injuries and damage are consistent with conventional explosives. A previously unknown group claiming affiliation with Al Qaeda has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but the claim’s credibility has not been established yet, in large part because the claim was vague, lacking any evidence to prove their action, and because the claim was made after knowledge of the events was public.

My initial thoughts include great respect for the people of London, who refuse to be cowed by thuggery and butchers, and I note that the terrorists have tacitly accepted limits to their scope: The obvious target was to influence the G-8 Conference, but the fact that the terrorists chose to settle for civilian targets in London as much as admits they lack the planning and execution capacity they held just a few years ago. As terrible as the loss of these innocents is, it demonstrates the futile thrashing of a dying monster.

May the LORD watch over all His children, bringing aid and recovery to the victims able to receive it, solace and peace to those beyond return, and may His emissaries swiftly bring a terrible retribution to the men who planned and acted in this atrocity.