London in tears

7th July, yet another dark day in world history. My heart goes out to those who’ve lost friends and loved ones in this tragedy. It seems, according to http://news.yahoo.com/fc/world/london_bombings, the attacks on London has the hallmarks of Al-Qaeda related attacks. A group claiming to be Al-Qaeda was reported to claim responsibility for the bombings. It is still unclear, whether the terrorist involved in the London bombings are Muslim extremists. But in my eyes, the terrorists involved in this terror act are not Muslims.

Maybe the Muslim extremists weren’t involved. Who knows, maybe jealous individuals who hate the fact that London managed to get the votes to host the 2012 Olympics decided to get together and kill innocent people. Whatever it is, I’m sure many fingers will be pointed at Muslims. I hope there won’t be an escalation of hate crimes in London and around the world following the tragedy in London.

There has been so much innocent blood spilt in the name of Islam, September 11th, the Madrid train bombings and the bali bombing. I just can’t stand it anymore. This posting is not just about the bombings in London. It is about every single terrorist act that has been carried out by misguided people in the name of Islam. Islam is a religion that in actuality promotes peace and moderation in all things. I know this because I am a Muslim. I’m a decent law-abiding citizen and what these anarchists do in the name of my religion sickens me. It sickens me to the core. There is nothing in Islam that condones such acts. Why then are these cowards saying that they’re doing it for Islam? It makes the world hate islam even more. It makes it unsafe for muslims themselves to travel freely. Violence begets violence. That is why I am also not a big supporter of the war that was declared on Iraq. I agree with our prime minister when he said in an interview shortly after the London bombings:

“All countries must work together against terrorism. At the same time, Malaysia also hopes that the world will be more concerned in its effort to resolve the causes of terrorism. We must look at a more comprehensive way of countering these acts”

I will proceed to use entomology terminology to explain why I support this approach to stop terrorism. A vector bourne disease such as dengue fever can’t be contained by just treating the disease or destroying the virus that causes the disease. Other factors such as the vector of the virus (the Aedes mosquito) and the breeding sites of the mosquito must be considered in the quest to eradicate dengue fever. It is the same with terrorism. Many questions should be asked before one even attempts to stop terrorism. What breeds such acts of terror? What drives people who normally would be law abiding citizens to act in atrocious ways? Take Iraq for instance, once they removed the virus (Saddam), the violence still continued in the streets of Iraq. Many Iraqis including innocent civilians, law enforcement officers as well as not so innocent civilians were killed and American soldiers lives were lost. The whole war hasn’t solved a thing. In fact, I think it has made matters worse.

What’s happening around the world today needs to be stopped. But this cannot happen unless the causes of terrorism are identified. London weeps and the world weeps with them. But let’s not forget the people of Iraq and the Palestinians. Who weeps for them? Who cares about the innocent lives lost in Iraq and the Palestine?