FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

15 July 2005

Irish Republican Socialist Committees of North America

Statement on London Bombings

On behalf of the Irish Republican Socialist Movement, the Irish Republican Socialist Committees of North America have issued the following statement regarding the London bombings.

It should come as no surprise to anyone that al-Qaida was responsible for these bombings. They've made it clear that they'll attack any nations involved in the occupation of Iraq. The only surprise is that they bombed Madrid before London, because Britain is a much bigger player in the imperial "coalition" than Spain was. However, it was only a matter of time before they turned their eyes to Britain.

Perhaps Tony Blair can explain to the citizens of Britain why he was so eager to support the invasion and occupation of Iraq when the real threat, al-Qaida, was still out there and still capable of mounting attacks like this. Al-Qaida's very real explosives and suicide bombers have always been more of a threat than fictional Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. Of course, the reality is that as a lesser imperialist nation, Britain was beholden to the major imperialist power, the US, and so its government had to go along in order to jump for any scraps that might fall from the table of the Americans.

But this is no consolation to the dead or their families. The victims were soft targets for al-Qaida, mostly working class people on their way to work, people who bore no responsibility for the actions of the British ruling class or the British government in Iraq. There were no legitimate targets of any kind involved, no military or political targets, just slaughter.

The ordinary people of London didn't deserve to be punished for the crimes of the British ruling class any more than the people in Iraq deserved what happened to them, but none of this would have happened without the imperial ambitions of the US and Britain in the Middle East creating the fertile ground for reactionaries like al-Qaida to grow in.

Didn't George W. Bush say that the "war on terror" has made the world a safer place? Imperialism is soaked in blood, and these bombings were a classic case of blowback. The only thing that can make the world a safer place is to put an end to imperialism and the reactionary ideologies it gives birth to, which includes the ideology of groups like al-Qaida.

In conclusion, there's a lot of condemnation to go around here. From the US and British imperialists who shed blood for Empire, to the violent theocrats of al-Qaida who pervert the teachings of Islam to justify their own blood soaked crusade, to the fascist British National Party which is using these events to whip up hatred of Arabs and Muslims -- they must all be rejected. They are all part of the same problem and have nothing to offer the working people of the world.

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Irish Republican Socialist Committees of North America

PO Box 8266

Austin TX 78713-8266

USA

irscna@irsm.org

http://www.irscna.org/

http://www.irsm.org/irsm.html