No University of California students were among those killed or
injured in the terrorist bombings last week of three subway trains
and one double-decker bus in London.
The official death toll in the July 7 attacks has been raised to
49 as of Sunday evening, although it is expected to rise
significantly as British officials continue to search for victims
of the worst attacks on English ground since World War II.
None of the bodies recovered have been identified, and as many
as 50 more may still lie in the crippled subway tunnel between
Kings Cross and Russell Square. Sixty of the more than 700 wounded
remain hospitalized.
All 326 UC students studying in the greater London area at the
University of Sussex and at Pembroke College at Cambridge
University have been accounted for, said Bruce Hanna, a spokesman
for UC Education Abroad Program.
The UC is viewing the terrorist attacks as an isolated incident,
and no study abroad programs are being canceled, Hanna said.
Although responsibility for the attacks has not been determined,
both law enforcement and terrorism experts have said the bombings
show all the trademarks of an al-Qaeda attack.
Deputy Assistant Police Commissioner Brian Paddick said the
near-simultaneous nature of the attacks indicated that timers
rather than suicide bombers set off the explosions.
Police radically revised the timing of the deadly blasts that
tore through the London Underground, saying Saturday that the bombs
were detonated just seconds apart, not over a time span of nearly
30 minutes as originally reported.
Terrorist expert David Rapoport said the well-planned attacks
were obviously in retaliation for British involvement in the Iraqi
war.
“I think (the attacks) are more intelligently conceived
than most people believe. Most people just think of (terrorists) as
being mad and evil … but they also have a sense of what
they’re doing and the value of different types of
assaults,” said Rapoport, editor of the journal
“Terrorism and Political Violence” and professor
emeritus of political science at UCLA.
Rapoport said the London attacks were a follow-up to the train
bombing in Spain in March 2004 and part of al-Qaeda’s
attempts to isolate the United States and the new Iraqi
government.
He speculated that future attacks are likely to happen largely
in Europe, although potential al-Qaeda targets may also include
Arab countries that either support the United States or are
non-hostile.
“It would isolate us much more than we are now, and could
very well have a significant impact on the whole Iraq
situation,” he said.
Of the many students traveling to England this summer for study
abroad, many said they and their friends and family were concerned
about the attacks, but not enough to change their plans.
“I know they’re going to improve security and
whatnot, but I still have that fear,” said David Martinez, a
fourth-year English student.
Despite his worries, Martinez still plans to leave for London to
study abroad later this month.
“While I’m there, I’m going to be extra
cautious and look out for anything that looks suspicious,” he
added.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has raised its terror
alert to orange for mass transit in the wake of the London
attacks.
Code orange indicates a high risk of attack, and is the
second-highest terror alert level.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the United
States will keep the terror alert at orange at least through today
while the U.S. government monitors the British investigation for
more information about who is responsible and “what kinds of
tactics we have to worry about.”
Rapoport criticized the United States, saying that while the
country is better readied for a future attack than in the past, it
still falls far short of being adequately prepared.
Despite his criticisms, Rapoport said it is unlikely that the
United States would be a target of future al-Qaeda attacks.
No official suspects have been named in the attacks, although
reports in London newspapers Sunday identified Mustafa Setmarian
Nasar as possibly being linked to the bombings.
Nasar, a Syrian fugitive, is suspected of being al-Qaeda’s
operations chief in Europe and the alleged mastermind of last
year’s Madrid railway bombings, and has been linked to the
Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
Claims of responsibility, although still unconfirmed, have been
made by two radical Islamic groups. Coupled with public suspicion
that Islamic radicals are responsible for the attacks, the claims
have spawned reprisals, police said.
Arson attacks have been reported at mosques in Leeds, Belvedere,
Telford and Birkenhead, and there have been scattered reports of
verbal abuse and vandalism throughout the country.
Any economic impact of the London bombings should be minor and
short-lived, said Christopher Thornberg, a senior economist with
the UCLA Anderson Forecast.
“I think that we’re finally over the methodology of
disaster as having larger economic impacts,” he said.
“We heard lots of noise about Sept. 11 hurting the U.S.
economy, and when you look back, it really did not.”
Thornberg said there is very little evidence that short-run
disruptions such as a terrorist attack cause serious economic
downturn such as a recession.
“Obviously this is a real tragedy, but realistically,
these things don’t have a huge economic impact,” he
said.
With reports from Bruin wire services.