Alive in London (Undaunted, the land of Churchill springs back to life.)

The American Prowler ^ | 7/8/2005 | R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr.

[nickcarraway]

LONDON, July 7, 2005 -- Boy, are AmSpec readers loyal! Half a dozen have already e-mailed to me knowing I am in London for the Spectator of London's annual party. They want to be sure I am all right. I am. Moreover British spirits are undaunted. An Islamofascist website howls that the bombs in London filled "the British with terror and fear and panic." Claptrap! The Islamofascists are curiously like our earlier enemies the Nazis and the Communists. Almost every claim they make is a lie.

I had breakfast at a cafe this morning, a mere 20 minutes from where the first bomb went off. In fact I was having breakfast as it went off. No one in my neighborhood noticed anything amiss for almost three hours. Shoppers shopped. Tourists toured. No one knew anything until around noon. Then somehow word got out that the buses had stopped as had the subways. On the BBC, officials asked people to stay off the streets so that ambulances and police cruisers could get around. By noon the streets were uncommonly quiet.

Then they sprang back to life. It was time for lunch and for the Brits to do what Winston Churchill had urged them to do during the Blitz, return to normal life. It is now evening time and not only have the Brits returned to normal life but the sun is out for the first time in a week. Al Qaeda has achieved nothing but the murder of innocents. Their arch enemy, Prime Minister Tony Blair's popularity is higher than ever. He will get the security measures he has been asking for. That probably means national identity cards here that will make it harder for terrorists to get around. Also, I would think more troops will be available to thwart terrorism at its source.

The British are celebrating the 60th anniversary of V-E and V-J Day. They recall how they dealt with a far more formidable enemy than the ragged demented Islamofascists. One shopkeeper told me, "We have been too easy on them. Now we will get them. The British are slow to anger...but when we are angered..." I think I know what he means. But now it is dinnertime. The restaurants are full. The city hums along. Soon more Islamofascists will be dead.

R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr., is the founder and editor in chief of The American Spectator, a contributing editor to the New York Sun, and an adjunct scholar at the Hudson Institute. His latest book is Madame Hillary: The Dark Road to the White House (Regnery Publishing).

[Northern Alliance]

The Britain of today is a hell of lot different demogaphically than 60 years ago after the huge Asian and African influx. I hope the British spirit hasn't changed all that much since WWII, but have my doubts - just look at the mayor of London.

[nopardons]

bttt