First, for those who believe in polls, [link|http://telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/07/09/npoll09.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/07/09/ixnewstop.html|this].
Excerpt:
The response of Tony Blair and his ministers to the attacks has clearly boosted the standing of both. Early this year, twice as many people said they were dissatisfied with Mr Blair as Prime Minister as said the opposite. In the aftermath of Thursday's bombings, Mr Blair's approval rating has flipped from negative to positive for the first time in five years.

Moreover, the bombings have failed - despite Mr George Galloway's best efforts - to undermine support for the British presence in Iraq. The proportion wanting British troops brought home quickly has fallen and the proportion who now want Britain to retain its close ties with the US has risen. The section of the chart headed "Assessing performance" tells a story of which Britons can be proud.

A massive 95 per cent of YouGov's respondents believe that on Thursday London's emergency services responded either magnificently (71 per cent) or very well (24 per cent). More than two thirds, 71 per cent, give comparably high marks to the Prime Minister and his Government.

Only Britain's intelligence services - for obvious reasons - fare less well. A third of YouGov's respondents, 33 per cent, accord their performance an equally high rating.

As figures in the chart show, virtually the whole nation, 90 per cent, applauds Londoners' courage and calm under fire and Tony Blair's satisfaction rating has shot up from a mediocre 32 per cent at the beginning of this year to a creditable 49 per cent now.

That said, people are far from sanguine about the future. Almost everyone, 92 per cent, reckons that another terrorist attack on a British target is now either "very likely" (45 per cent) or "fairly likely" (47 per cent).

However, the proportion fearing that they themselves or a close family member or friend might be killed or injured in such an attack has not risen significantly. People have clearly thought for a long time that a terrorist attack was probable, but most people evidently have no intention of changing the way they live.

I say:

What polls like this measure is the froth of sentiment. They don't directly measure the underlying substance, but they do give a hint at it, if you interpret them correctly. What we have here is the immediate emotional reaction of everyday Englishmen. In time, the readings will regress toward the mean. But what's significant here is the *direction* of the twitch. These people are not cowed, and they know that the ones to blame for terrorism are the terrorists.

The law of averages dictated that sooner or later London would suffer an Islamist terrorist attack. Every major city will, sooner or later, unless we destroy Islamism before they get around to all of them. Now we know how the people of England will react.

In terms of numbers killed, this may not compare to 9/11 - in fact, each of these terror attacks is less bloody than the last, as the enemy's ability to attack us seems to decline - but this isn't the point. the point is, they intended to terrorise the English, and it looks very much as if they have failed.

Our mother country is a tough old bird, and she still has some fight in her.

Finally, if you don't something just a bit sappy, here are [link|http://www.werenotafraid.com/|some graphic expressions of defiance] from around Europe. I especially like the kid on the tank.

Sadly, there are some commentators in the UK berating their antiterror security for not preventing this. You can't prevent a terrorist attack by way of security provisions. You can only delay it. The only way to prevent terrorist attacks is to destroy terrorism as such. This is *not* a law enforcement problem. This is a clash of civilizations. Fight it as such. And fight to win.

Defense is not enough. Think counterattack. Destroy the cultures of ignorance and repression that breed these monsters. Replace the United Nations with an infrastructure designed to extend and preserve democracy and human rights by force of arms. (And no, human rights does not mean coddling unlawful combatants.) Ram democracy down the throats of Asia, Africa, South America, until the whole planet is free. Then we can relax.

Imperialist, you say? Whatever. I prefer to think of it as our internationalist work. Spread the revolution.


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