The terrorists have finally struck and divided us into two groups: those who have had a loved one or a limb blown away, and those of us who have not. The first group will be in a state of shock and far too consumed by pain and grief to be concerned with questions as to why? or who was to blame? That is a luxury that the rest of us can indulge ourselves in. In time, though, the first group will have far greater need than anyone else for answers to these questions, and some of them, at least, will want to know the truth, or at least as close an approximation to it as one might reasonably hope for.

The Prime Minister and our head of state, the Queen, would have us believe that the terrorists principal motivation is to "change our way of life".

That seems to me to be a long way from the truth; an attempt, I suspect (whether conscious or not) to deflect attention from the possibility of any self-blame, such as the government's decision to invade Iraq.

The whole truth is, no doubt, quite complicated. The bombers themselves and those who sent them are mainly to blame, of course, but also those who inspired, encouraged and supported them. And despite what many commentators would have us believe, they didn't commit these terrible acts just for the hell of it, any more than British and American "bombers" devastated German and Japanese cities (killing 100's of thousand of innocent civilians) just for the hell of it. All these barbaric acts have their causes and are justified in the eyes of the perpetrators and their sympathisers. The German and Japanese governments of the time, of course, also bore some (some would maintain "all") of the responsibility.

The Prime Minister will continue to insist that the bombings had nothing to do with the Anglo-American invasion of Iraq, either because he considers it politically inopportune to do so, or be cause he actually believes it (as he once believed in the existence of Iraq's WMD).  I didn't condemn his decision at the time, and don't now, since (like many people) I was hopeful that deposing Sadam and his hateful regime would be for the good of everyone. However, denying the very probably connection between this and the London bombings does not help matters. Neither does maintaining the illusion (no matter how sincerely believed) that Britain and America intervened in Iraq for entirely (or even mainly) noble reasons. There is little doubt in my mind that if there were not so much oil in Iraq, there would be no British or American forces there either.

Principally because of the oil that is there, the West is interfering massively in the Middle East, as it has been for decades (accusing the terrorists of wanting to "change our way of life" is thus more than a bit ripe). This, I believe, is the main reason why Islamic fundamentalists are attacking us. It's not the whole truth, of course (there is also our toleration, if not support, of Israel occupying and annexing Arab land, and other things besides), but it is surely a large part of it, and certainly much closer to the truth than them wanting to "change our way of life". 

In conclusion: while the individuals killed and maimed by the terrorists' bombs are innocent victims (as were most of the German and Japanese civilians killed by "our bombers"), our government and we as a society are not. We are dependent on (effectively addicted to) oil, and ultimately that (although, like other addicts, we find it difficult to admit) is more important to us than any number of people killed.