[lbo-talk] Shot dead in London

www.leninology. blogspot.com leninology at hotmail.com
Tue Jul 26 14:16:06 PDT 2005



>Interesting. 50+ people get blown into pieces and you & fellow travelers
>are scrambling for excuses. A one person gets killed by the police in what
>clearly was a tragic accident and you cannot wait to "convey outrage and
>astonishment." What is wrong with you, people? Common sense abandoned you
>for good?

Who are "you and your fellow-travellers"? Who is "you people"? Since when was "common sense" good sense?

I have never personally sought an 'excuse' for the bombers, since I doubt if there is one. I am happy to concede that in tying the facts into a thetic relation, one should be consistent. For instance, if I say that the bombers were partially motivated by Iraq & Afghanistan, and that the movement which they took their lead from grew as a reaction to colonialism and imperialism, this is in no way intended to attenuate the force of any judgment against the bombers. Blame is not a zero-sum game. Similarly, in recognising the fact that the bombings themselves created the conditions for the killing to take place, I don't attempt to use this as an excuse for the officer concerned. Although the irony is that in recognising the bombings as a causal factor, I also recognise the causes which preceded the bombings - particularly, the decision to invade Iraq. Which means that Prime Minister Blair is co-responsible for the shooting, not only for authorising a shoot-to-kill policy, but also for helping create the conditons in which the shooting could take place.

It is interesting that you pre-empt a judicial inquiry to deem the killing an "accident" - I daresay it will be found that it was nothing of the kind. Seven bullets in the head and one in the shoulder looks more like overkill than an accident, and the fact that a tube driver had a gun pointed in his face is suggestive of a total lack of control. However, I'll wait and see what can be discovered by a reasonable sifting of the evidence.

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