We are all Londoners today

[skyring]

Thanks, anulla, for that thought. Solidarity of spirit, and London and Londoners has been much in my thoughts today.

I hadn't realised that I was causing worry by not checking in. I'm home in Canberra, as is all the family. Kerri's off to Beijing and Geneva in September, and I'm not planning a major trip until next year (Dunedin in February and Toronto in April).

I was drowsing on the couch in front of the telly last night. Getaway - a travel show, and while it was all nice, it wasn't grabbing me. Maybe I was snoring a bit.

Then the program was interrupted by a bulletin from London and I haven't seen much that hasn't dealt with the explosions since.

I thought, as we all did, "Here we go again."

Perhaps the most poignant image was that of Tony Blair, on top of the world one day, stumbling and shocked the next.

And now I wonder if Australia is a target.

Comments

[resqgeek]

I popped the TV on yesterday morning to catch the weather forecast before leaving to catch my bus to work and the first thing I saw was a live shot from London. My very first thought was of Madrid last year. It was surreal to read my morning newspaper on the bus, knowing that it was suddenly and horribly out of date.

At work, I looked for a streaming news feed, and ended up listening to ABC NewsRadio from Australia, which was carrying the BBC audio feed. I find it disappointing that none of the US news services were providing a free streaming audio feed.

>> And now I wonder if Australia is a target. <<

I was under the impression that y'all already were. The nightclub bombings in Bali seemed to be targeted at Australians, and they attacked your embassy in Jakarta. It seems reasonable to conclude that Australia already is a target. I sincerely hope I'm wrong, but I honestly wouldn't be terribly surprised by an attack in Australia.

Targets

[onyerbike.livejournal.com]

CNN mentioned during its exhaustive coverage yesterday that al-Qaida had published a list of target countries a while ago:
USA - WTC 1993 and 2001; USS Cole; embassy bombings in Kenya & Tanzania
Australia - nightclub in Bali that was big with Aussies
Great Britain - July 7 subway bombings
France
Italy
Canada
Spain was a late addition, and they put paid to that last year.

I think it's safe to say that any country that does not embrace al-Qaida and its rhetoric will eventually be put on the list.

The only thing that keeps me from worrying silly is that if they try Canada and disrupt trade with the US, Bush will be all over their asses, doublestuff. Of course, many countries just see Canada as an extension of the US, so that could make us an even bigger target.

The world we live in, eh?

[reddragonlady32.livejournal.com]

I didn't turn on the telly yesterday morning. Had no clue what had happened until I started reading my friends LJ entries yesterday.