Leaders from around the world have condemned the terrorist bombings in London that killed some four dozen people and wounded some seven-hundred others. British Prime Minister Tony Blair read a statement on behalf of the Group of Eight major industrialized nations:
"We condemn utterly these barbaric attacks. We are united in our resolve to confront and defeat this terrorism that is not an attack on one nation, but on all nations and on civilized people everywhere."
The statement was signed by the leaders of France, Italy, Germany, Japan, Canada, Russia, China, Brazil, India, Mexico, and South Africa, as well as the United States and Britain. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero offered Spain’s "unconditional help to chase the criminals who perpetrated such a repugnant attack." Train bombings in Madrid in 2004 attributed to the al-Qaeda terrorist network killed one-hundred-ninety-one people.
Pope Benedict the Sixteenth called the attacks in London "barbaric acts against humanity." Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin said, “Our collective freedom has come under attack today by those who would use violence and murder to force extremism upon the world. We must and we will stand against these terrorists."
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the London bombings "an attack against humanity and civilization." Abdulmohsen al-Akkas, social affairs minister of Saudi Arabia, called the bombings "a heinous act." And the speaker of Iraq's parliament, Hajim al-Hassani, in a letter to British Prime Minister Blair, expressed “the rejection and condemnation of members of the Iraqi National Assembly and the people of my country to these evil acts.” The Iraqi people are also the victims of such attacks which contradict basic values, said Mr. Al-Hassani.
The widespread condemnation of the attacks in London demonstrates that terrorism will never achieve its objectives. These acts of violence serve only to unite people and nations in defense of peace, freedom, and common principles. President George W. Bush said that the United States, its friends, and allies will not yield to the terrorists. "We will find them, we will bring them to justice," Mr. Bush said, "and at the same time, we will spread an ideology of hope and compassion that will overwhelm their ideology of hate."
The preceding was an editorial reflecting the views of the United States Government.
