We watched the scenes of mass murder in the heart of London
yesterday with a cascade of emotions, starting with raw outrage.
Memories of Sept. 11, 2001, flooded back – the slow realization of the
magnitude of that crime, the nagging worry that we had not seen the end
of it. The images were tragically familiar: the bloodied faces as
survivors trudged to the light through smoky darkness, screaming sirens
and terrified onlookers.

But the familiarity does nothing to mitigate the pain of those who
lost loved ones, of the many injured and of the millions of Londoners
who watched as the weekday morning calm in their city was shattered by
the bestiality of people capable of setting off bombs in packed subway
trains and a crowded bus.

The anger and pain mixed with admiration for the strength and calm
of those who live in a place that has seen more than its share of
domestic tragedy: the bombings by Nazi warplanes more than a
half-century ago, and the mindless terrorism of Irish militants more
recently.

Sadly, this attack came just at a moment when there were glimmers of
hope and unity. The day before, London had won the right to be host of
the Olympics, that great display of international understanding and
peaceful competition. And on the morning of the bombings, Prime
Minister Tony Blair, President Bush and the leaders of six other rich
and powerful nations were meeting in Scotland to work out a common plan
to help those who live in despair in places like Africa, where poverty
and disease breed resentment among those have nothing for those who
have so much. That juxtaposition of hope and fear is an integral weapon
of the terrorist, who seeks not only to destroy life and property but
also to disrupt our lives in ways that bring more destruction.

Fear was another inescapable response – the natural fear that this
kind of attack, carried out by people with no regard for their own
lives or anyone else’s, could happen anywhere.

That fear has already led to questions about why the British
security agencies did not anticipate the attacks, why the wealthy
nations have not done enough about the root causes of terrorism and why
Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden continue to function after almost four
years of the so-called war on terrorism. Many will wonder why the
United States is mired in Iraq while Al Qaeda’s leader still roams free.

There are no easy answers to these questions, just as there is no
easy defense against acts of terrorism. What ordinary people can do is
to carry on. Just as the world leaders kept meeting in Scotland
yesterday, we can go back into the subway (and the London Underground
when it is reopened), back onto the streets and back to work.

Terrorist acts are meant to show us how thin the veneer of order and
decency in the world is, but they can demonstrate just the opposite if
we use them to deepen our commitment to the richness and civility of
our lives. That sends a message to the terrorists: You have failed
again.