Letters to my sons.

Dear Son, 

A year on from the 7th July 2005 bombings there will be a two minute silence to remember the dead, the suffering of the injured and the bravery and dedication of the rescuers and health professionals. Fifty two people died on that fateful day and I don’t want you to think that I have anything other than sympathy for the families of the dead and the people injured. They know more than most the pain and misery caused by bombs killing innocent people. 

There was a lot of debate recently about failures in intelligence gathering and how the bombers slipped through the net. The argument and debate seems to have missed the point that the intelligence agencies warned the government that if an invasion of Iraq went ahead there was an increased risk of terrorist attacks on main land Britain. And this happened. The idea that there is no link between the actions of the 7/7 bombers and Iraq is pure fantasy but it is the constant line the government of the day pumps out.

Fifty two lives to be lost in a single day is a lot. Since the invasion of Iraq about 34,000 Iraqi civilians have died, that is about 31 people per day (or a 7/7 style bomb attack every two days, all 547 of them) killed because of the decision to invade to Iraq.

There will be no two minute silence for these people.