Editor’s Note: Anytime, Anywhere
The bombings of London’s transportation system on July 7 were a reminder once again that a sad fact of the world we live in is that those with a mind for destruction are not only capable of, but are more than willing to, murder multitudes of innocent people all in the name of a “cause.” Anytime, anywhere.
Britain’s Prime Minister Tony Blair announced to the world and the terrorists immediately after the bombings-the worst in the UK since World War II-that British citizens would not be cowed by the acts of desperate cowards-they will not be “terrorized by terror.”
In covering the London bombings for Insurance Journal (p. 10), International Editor Charles E. Boyle noted that, “Sadly, Britain has been down this road before. The attacks were not unexpected. ” Boyle pointed out years of experience with IRA terrorist acts have trained both the citizens of the UK and its insurance industry “to absorb blows and fight back.” Nearly 20 years ago the government established a reinsurer to help decrease the burden on insurance companies in the aftermath of terrorist attacks and it will do its job in the wake of these
bombings.
The Sept. 11, 2001, attacks notwithstanding, the U.S. has been relatively isolated and immune from the acts of international terrorists. But those attacks-far more damaging in terms of loss of lives and property than the recent UK bombings-let us know in no uncertain terms that we are not invulnerable. So as Congress debates whether or not to renew the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) our lawmakers might be wise to study the actions of our closest political allies who have been down this road before us.
Still, no amount of insurance can come close to easing the pain of those who have lost loved ones at the hands of those who seek to destroy our open societies. There were, after all, people on those buses, trains, airplanes and buildings-husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, sons and daughters.
On a personal note, terrorism came home to me with the London bombings. My daughter moved to London June 15 to work in the fashion industry there for six months. She’s OK and was nowhere near the central London bombsites, but until I knew for sure that she was fine, terrorism became very real and very personal to me.
Like other Londoners, she’ll continue to use the public transportation system to get to work and to the other places she wants and needs to go. Like other Londoners, it will cross her mind that the next target could be her train or her bus, but she’ll go on about her business anyway. Because, like all of us, she has a life to live-anytime, anywhere.