********************************************
Statement of the International Action Center on the July 7 Bombings in
London
********************************************

While the people of London and worldwide were grieving for those who
were slain and injured, and as the International Action Center
extends heartfelt sympathy and condolences to all who have lost loved
ones in today's bombings in London, the Bush Administration has
wasted no time in taking advantage of tragedy to once again advance
its own agenda of endless war and colonial occupation.

The news is not that bombs killed more than 40 people today; it is
that those people live in London rather than Basra. The U.S. and
British occupation of Iraq causes the death of an average of 20
people a day, every day. Bush and Blair do not stop their meetings to
grieve over these deaths, nor do the news channels stop everything to
give round the clock updates on these casualties because the victims
of these crimes are Iraqi civilians and their deaths are considered
unimportant by the corporate-owned media and politicians.

In his response to the events in London today, Bush declared,"the
war on terror goes on," signalling that he will cynically use this
tragedy to justify the continued occupation of Iraq, an occupation
that brings death, destruction, and torture to the people of Iraq on
a daily basis.

Bush and Blair claim to be fighting terror, but everything they have
said so far has been a lie. The truth is that their illegal war and
the ongoing occupations of Iraq, Palestine, Haiti, and Afghanistan
are themselves acts of terror.

We cannot allow George W. Bush to manipulate genuine feelings of
grief and anguish to justify a violent occupation of Iraq, which has
left families grieving for 100,000 dead, many more injured, and
thousands imprisoned and tortured. The incident today cannot be used
to rain greater destruction on the people of Baghdad, Najaf, and Gaza.

The Bush Administration raised the terror alert to orange and Bush
said that he had been in contact with the Department of Homeland
Security and other police and security forces, instructing them to be
"extra vigilant."

We know from the past several years what this "vigilance"
has meant to Arab and Muslim communities--mass roundups and
detentions, deportations, disappearances, and rendition. We must be
vigilant and take action to stop the Administration from using
today's tragedy to perpetrate more harassment, violence, and abuse on
Arab and Muslim people.

We do not know who was behind the events today. We do know that as
hundreds of thousands of people were gathered to protest the G-8
policies of corporate global plunder, Bush and Blair are exploiting
today's tragedy to advance their agenda of global domination. We know
that we must continue to do everything in our power to oppose that
agenda.

The only way to respond to today's bombing is to extend condolences
to the families of those who perished or were injured; build
solidarity with people around the world struggling against war,
racism, and colonial occupation; to stand in solidarity with Arab and
Muslim communities who have been targeted by the Bush Administration;
and to continue building the movement to stop the oppression that
inevitably brings resistance.
*******************************************
International Action Center - Boston
617-522-6626
 iacboston@iacboston.org
 http://www.iacboston.org
 http://www.iacenter.org