Today we mark the twentieth anniversary of an act of terrorism, almost a classic act of terrorism, in which 52 people died as a result of the planned bomb attacks by four Islamists, three of them British born. The victims represented modern London, for they not only included 32 British citizens but nationals of 18 countries.
It was a calculated act of violence by the bombers to protest at the British government’s actions abroad against, as they saw it, Muslims. Among almost 800 people wounded was my Australian friend, David, who lost a leg, and to this day walks with a limp but who remains sane, cheerful and uncomplaining. The ideology of the bombers – Islamist totalitarianism – was what maimed him, not just communications failures on the part of the security services.
