Now war is declared - and battle come down

There's so many things I'd rather be writing about this morning than the sickening terror going on in London today. An amazing story about an eleven year-old girl pitching a perfect game in Little League, the massive demonstration against the New London city council re: the Kelo decision, the pimping of one of my favorite bands INXS... all overshadowed and made pretty much meaningless today by a group of insecure hateful zealots.

With the G-8 summit taking place in the United Kingdom and yesterday's awarding of the 2012 Olympics to London, the city was a perfect target. Now the European left that didn't want to believe it would happen again are reaping the fruits of all the denial they've sown. After the Madrid bombings, after the assassination of Theo van Gogh, what will it take for Europe to get serious about combating Islamic terrorism?

I could only stand to watch 15 or so minutes of the footage on Sky News before I got that empty pit in my stomach feeling that I've felt but a few times before. The two funerals I've attended, and Tuesday morning September 11, 2001. Even though casualty totals are miraculously low (2 dead, 90 injured according to JihadWatch) thank God, everyone knew something like this was coming.

We're not talking about an enemy (and make no mistake, that's exactly what they are) that you can expect any quarter from. For them, it's all-out war and bloody jihad until Western society is wiped off the map. There is no reasoning with a semtex jacket. There is no negotiating with a truck full of fertilizer. Holding hands and singing Kum-Bai-Ya won't do a damn bit of good against that mentality... and it's past time the world recognized that as truth.

Tony Blair sent a hopeful message in his initial statement however. He concluded with:

"Whatever they do it is our determination that they never succeed in destroying what we hold dear in this country and in other civilized nations throughout the world."

I hope you mean that, Mr. Prime Minister. The lives of uncounted innocents hang in the balance.

Most news reports of this story are collated on the GWOT page at Command Post.

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Update: (1:25pm) The confirmed death toll has risen to 45, with the injured estimated to be somewhere around 1000. It's still a remarkably low number for so many attacks targeted at the London transportation system.
Ask yourselves again if fighting terrorists in Iraq with soldiers is a better or worse option than fighting them in our city centers with firefighters and EMTs.

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Update II: (early 7/9) Death toll is up to 52, with injuries in the neighborhood of 700. Obviously numbers like this are sketchy and will fluctuate, so this will be the last I mention them, barring something extraordinary.

As far as the rest of my comments go, Amir Taheri knows exactly what I'm talkin bout, Willis.

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Update III: Charles Moore is on the ball as well. (Courtesy of Rachel)