"My Thoughts and Prayers to you Gamers in London" Topic

I hope you are all safe and well and my heart goes out to those affected by today's events. London is one of my favorite cities in the world, and I wish you all the best.

Stay safe out there.

So far 4 dead, including the attacker, a policeman guarding the gate to Palace of Westminister and 2 people who were driven "over" on Westminister bridge. One women was rescued from the River Thames after being thrown over the bridge parapet by the in the car, who also killed the copper in a knife attack.

It appears about 20 people have been injured, as well as the 4 killed, some of the injured are very seriously hurt.

The incident started just after 3pm, when a car on Westminster bridge, ploughed into a group of tourists before crashing into a fence on the bridge. The driver then entered the Parliament grounds and attacked 2 policemen, one of whom was stabbed. The other Policeman ran for help which quickly arrived in the form of 2 firearm officers. These were approached by the knifeman, who, after he ignored a warning, was shot.

That is basically all we know at this time.

My thoughts and prayers are, of course, with all those affected by this awful incident.

Same same – thoughts and prayers for the victims. No pity or mercy for the attacker or his associates.

Seems some of the injured were French schoolkids.

Given what France has suffered recently that seems especially poignant.

Thoughts and prayers for all those affected.

Wow that is aweful. Prayers sent to those who are suffering.

Talking to MET/PLOD mates as I type, might not be lone wolf at all (hope it is, though)

Seems as though there are 40 wounded now, double the previous estimate.

Hope this is as bad as it gets…

Poor people.

Terrible, just terrible…

As an Irishman who made many wonderful trips to London as a kid my heart goes out to all those affected. My heartfelt prayers are with you.

As we are all aware the city has a long history of enduring attacks of various kinds and I believe the people of London will react in the same brave way.

Thoughts & Prayers are not enough. Never have been, never will be. This entire World is going to Hell in a hand basket. And fast. Faster now than ever. I don't know what to do or say. Utterly speechless & terribly saddened…

Thoughts and prayers

My wife and I were in London on July 7 2005 when the Underground and buses were bombed – I must say that we have never met braver, tougher or more determined people than the citizens of London

As an ex-pat Londoner I feel this one deeply.

I lived there when we had to put up with Sinn Fein/IRA planting bombs. Now this madness.

More thoughts and prayers to all the people of London. Such sad news.

Thanks to all from overseas who have expressed condolences and solidarity on here, and elsewhere. It's always nice at moments such as this to know that you have the support of friends. The young son of a friend of ours was on a school visit to Parliament yesterday, and his group had only left for home in the hour before this happened.

Without wishing to diminish the experiences or loss of those who suffered and their families, given the initial advantage the terrorist has in these situations and looking at recent attacks elsewhere around the world, it could have been a lot worse.

War Panda – you're quite right, as a nation we've annoyed plenty of people in the past and have been bombed by a wide selection of people.

Occasionally we've end had bombs and shootings nothing to do with us, but just happen because all the players happen to be in London.

Tragically, as the London Mayor said, having this kind of thing happen every now and then is just part of life for a major city.

So you mourn, shrug, and get on with life. you do not panic or over-react.

I'm reminded of a wonderful gentleman who was interviewed getting on a tube train the day after 7/7. He could remember the Blitz and simply said "We've been bombed y a better class of bastards than this".

To coin a phrase, London can take it.

I would like to add my condolences and prayers for the innocent British people who were murdered by an evil man. I have sometimes wondered what it must be like to have a family member or friend who gets killed in an attack like this. In the morning, they leave the house to go to work or school . . . and then they're gone, without warning.

I could write more, but I'd get the Dawghouse.

Mine as well.

that muslim .

I hope hell is hot enough for him.

Trust me, he was not a Muslim, he just thought he was.

link

RIP PC Keith Palmer
The Thin Blue Line gets thinner.

Trust me, he was a muslim

No, he was a person with a phsycotic disorder and a history of criminal violence who adopted the pretence of religion while in prison.

His actions do not represent the values of Islam. They represent the twisted view of a tiny minority. Add up the actual number of individuals who have taken part in terror attacks against the West since 9/11 and compare that with the numbers of Muslims living peacefully in Western society and it is not even a pin prick in numerical terms.

Any fool can call himself a Muslim, Hindu, Christian or whatever you like, it doesn't mean their actions represent the values of that religion or the millions that practice it.

His actions do not represent the values of Islam. They represent the twisted view of a tiny minority.

Whilst agreeing with the general point that you are trying to make (I think), this minority is not so tiny, and their view of Islam is not as limited as you suggest. Last poll I saw of UK MUslims, after one of the French attacks (might have been Charlie Hebdo), around 1/3 of those asked approved of the attack/similar methods of dealing with what they saw as "blasphemy". There are almost 3M Muslims in the UK, so if that figure is correct for the whole, that would be almost 1M – one hell of a minority if things get nasty. The one factor we have in our favour here in the UK, is that we get a lot of co-operation from the other 2/3 of them.

As others have stated, this kind of attack is known only to the attacker (our police have now determined that he was acting alone), and is almost impossible to stop. The reason that extremists are resorting to these kinds of attacks is that (as happened to the IRA in the early-/mid-1990s) their "own" community is getting sick of them spoiling the better life they have here in the UK and are informing on them. Another point worth noting is that it is not the generation(s) that emigrated to the UK that are providing the recruits (there are exceptions, obviously); it is the current 18-30 generation, which suggests that the "hatred" of the West and the Western lifestyle has social, not just religious, roots.

They won't admit it, but the Police actually don't know if he had accomplice's or not. He used What's App just before he started killing people, and there is no way to decrypt his messages.

These encrypted message services are incompatible with the democratic policing and should be made illegal immediately.

SuperMax,

The hard thing to do in times like these is to keep a sense of proportion.

I saw the poll you referred to but you have to question the manner of its asking and put the reply in context.

"Blasphemy" is an outdated concept to most Christians but is still means something to Muslims, as a challenge to the fundamentals of their religion. The wider implication is that is its large red button for the unscrupulous to push. Both in terms of Extremists and Western antagonists.

However, Islam is not singular in this regard. Try standing in the middle of Tel Aviv and making a case that Hitler was a nice guy. Or questioning some fundamental part of Hindu beliefs in present day India and see how long you last.

As for:

There are almost 3M Muslims in the UK, so if that figure is correct for the whole, that would be almost 1M – one hell of a minority if things get nasty.

Lets not get carried away here.The 3 million are made up of men, women and children of all ages and a good few are like a couple of my mates who drink like fishes and haven't seen the inside of a Mosque in years, except for weddings. On Census data they still rate as part of that 3 million!

There is no 1 million hanging around "if things turn nasty" and what does that even mean?

I abhor what happened last week and all the attacks that went before but we are in constant danger of giving the real villains what they want, every time these things happen, by exaggerating the consequences and not challenging responses like:

Bleep that muslim Bleep

Yes, the events bring personal tragedy to the individual victims of such events, there relatives and loved ones but we have to keep a balance and move on.

The country isn't on its knees and about to be over run by a mythical Islamic horde.

28,556 people were killed, and 25,578 wounded in the WW2 bombing of the UK and the Country made it through.

Although I wasn't even born then, I'd like to think as a nation we would have enough fortitude to meet such trials again – God Forbid.

At times like these the press driven hysteria makes me wonder!

Let me repeat (since you obviously missed it in my first message) that I broadly agree with you. However, I also see a lot of what you write as the polar opposite of the same media hysteria you decry.

"Blasphemy" is an outdated concept to most Christians but is still means something to Muslims, as a challenge to the fundamentals of their religion. The wider implication is that is its large red button for the unscrupulous to push. Both in terms of Extremists and Western antagonists.

I don't recall either of the latter two groups being needed to boost numbers for the fatwah against Salman Rushdie, or the Charlie Hebdo murders. For all its good aspects, the communal nature of Islam also makes its adherents easy to mobilise.

However, Islam is not singular in this regard. Try standing in the middle of Tel Aviv and making a case that Hitler was a nice guy. Or questioning some fundamental part of Hindu beliefs in present day India and see how long you last.

Yes, but you'd have to travel to the "home" of these groups to get that level of hostility. Plenty of people have attempted to eulogise Hitler in the UK without Jewish extremists trying to murder them (or eliciting a worldwide demand for all "true believers" to do so). Save yourself the air fair and stand in the centre of, say, Bradford, and argue that Mohammed was a kiddy-fiddler, and see how many of the 1/3 that you so casually dismiss come out to deal with you.

Lets not get carried away here.The 3 million are made up of men, women and children of all ages and a good few are like a couple of my mates who drink like fishes and haven't seen the inside of a Mosque in years, except for weddings.

I would suspect your mates to be in the 2/3, rather than the 1/3 then. Several who have attempted terror attacks in the UK have been "quiet" Muslims of the kind you describe; and how old were all those girls caught sneaking off to Syria to become "comfort women" for ISIS?

You are quite right about media hysteria, but on the opposite side are "Guardianista" types who won't hear a bad word said against anyone who isn't white, Christian and British. The trick is finding a path between the two.