July 7, 2005 London Bombings

The July 7, 2007 London Bombings, commonly abbreviated to 7/7 in the UK, is the name given to a terrorist attack which happened in Central London, England, on the morning of July 7th, 2005. The attacks were committed during rush hour in order to cause maximum effect.

Targets and casualties
In total, four bombs were successfully detonated.

The first three bombs went off at 8.50AM within 50 seconds of each other. These three detonated three different London Underground trains; the first one on an Eastbound Circle Line train, the second on a Westbound Circle Line train, and the third on a Southbound Picadilly Line train.

The fourth bomb exploded on the Number 30 double-decker bus at 9.47AM, slightly under an hour later.

In total, 52 people lost their lives and around another 700 were injured, not including the four suicide bombers who committed the bombings. The primary motivation behind the men who committed the bombings were against Britain's involvement in the Iraq War as well as other British and American intervention in the Middle East.

Aftermath and Effects
In the aftermath of the attacks, Britain was left in a nervous state. Numerous evacuations and controlled destruction of suspicious packages occured during the rest of the day and some following the days afterwards.

Two weeks later on July 21st 2005, an attempted bombing, which was ironically organised separately from the 7/7 bombings, further scared the crap out of Londoners. Four bombs were unsuccesfuly detonated, only having about the same force as a large firework, and a fifth bomb was found without the bomber attempting to set it off.

As a result of these bombings and the armed police presence in many Underground stations, a 27 year-old Brazilian national living in London by the name of Jean Charles de Menezes was shot dead on 22 July, 2005. The police marksmen responsible for the shooting claimed they mistook his identity for one of the bombers who attempted the bombing of the previous day. However, de Menezes had literally nothing to do with it. The whole affair caused controversy because of Metropolitan Police Service Comissioner Sir Ian Blair failing to see the appropriate inquiries were made.

Exploitation by the BNP
Following the bombings on July 7th, the far right-wing British National Party, wasted no time in publishing  propaganda leaflets, with the picture of the bombed Number 30 bus bearing the slogan; "Maybe it's time to start listening to the BNP." BNP leader Nick Griffin said the leaflet showed the cost of voting New Labour. This is pretty strong evidence for the argument that the BNP are literally some of the worst people in the world.