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London Subway and Bus Explosions Kill Forty, Injures more
than 100
Judith Miller Sent to Jail For Refusing to Name Gvt. Source
in Outting of Undercover CIA Operative
London Subway and Bus Explosions Kill Forty, Injures
more than 100
Tony Blair is calling the subway and bus explosions in London
a series of terrorist attacks designed to coincide with the
G8 meetings in Scotland. The blasts ripped through three subway
trains and a double-decker bus. Forty people are confirmed
dead and more than a hundred injured. We go to London for
eye-witness reports and comment from former parliamentarian
Tony Benn and independent journalist Omar Waraich. More than
one hundred people are injured and forty people have been
confirmed dead after a series of four explosions in London
at rush hour this morning. Officials reported that near-simultaneous
explosions occurred on three subway trains and a double-decker
bus. Scotland Yard is calling the blasts a "major incident."
All subway and bus service has been halted. Train passenger
Angelo Power, a London barrister, described his experience
during the blast.
- Angelo Power, train passenger
British Prime Minister Tony Blair spoke several hours after
the explosions from the G8 meetings in Scotland.
- British Prime Minister Tony Blair
I'm just going to make a short statement to you on the terrible
events that have happened in London earlier today. And I
hope you understand that at the present time we're still
trying to establish what has happened. There's a limit to
what information I can give you. And I'll simply try and
tell you the information as best I can at the moment.
It's reasonably clear there have been a series of terrorist
attacks in London. There are, obviously, casualties, both
people that have died and people seriously injured. And our
thoughts and prayers, of course, are with the victims and
their families.
It's my intention to leave the G-8 within the next couple
of hours and go down to London and get a report face to face
with the police and the emergency services and the ministers
that have been dealing with this, and then to return later
this evening. It is the will of all the leaders at the G-8,
however, that the meeting should continue in my absence, that
we should continue to discuss the issues that we were going
to discuss and reach the conclusions which we were going to
reach. Each of the countries around that table has some experience
of the effects of terrorism. And all the leaders, as they
will indicate a little bit later, share our complete resolution
to defeat this terrorism.
It's particularly barbaric that this has happened on a day
when people are meeting to try to help the problems of poverty
in Africa and the long-term problems of climate change in
the environment. Just as it is reasonably clear that this
is a terrorist attack, or a series of terrorist attacks, it's
also reasonably clear that it is designed and aimed to coincide
with the opening of the G-8. There will be time to talk later
about this. It's important, however, that those engaged in
terrorism realize that our determination to defend our values
and our way of life is greater than their determination to
cause death and destruction to innocent people in a desire
to impose extremism on the world.
Whatever they do, it is our determination that they will
never succeed in destroying what we hold dear in this country
and in other civilized nations throughout the world.
The BBC is reporting that a web site has posted a statement
that claims al-Qaeda was behind the attacks. Another victim
of the train blast, Loyita Worly, described her experience
this morning.
- Loyita Worly, victim of subway blast
"There was just a big bang, and all the lights went
and the ash started falling in. The smell of burning and
everything in the carriage. Some people panicked. Most people
kept calm. We couldn't move anywhere because it was a rush
hour and everybody was standing on the train. We heard people
shouting for help."
We go live to London to speak with:
- Tony Benn, former British Labor MP, speaking from London
- Omar Waraich, independent journalist and student in London
Judith Miller Sent to Jail For Refusing to Name Gvt.
Source in Outting of Undercover CIA Operative
New York Times reporter Judith Miller was sent to jail Wednesday
after a federal judge declared that she was "defying
the law" for refusing to divulge the name of a confidential
government source in the outting of undercover CIA operative
Valerie Plame. Matthew Cooper of Time magazine, was spared
after announcing a last-minute deal with a confidential source
that he said would allow him to testify before a grand jury.
We speak with New York Times Op-Ed columnist Bob Herbert.
New York Times reporter Judith Miller was sent to jail Wednesday
after a federal judge declared that she was "defying
the law" for refusing to divulge the name of a confidential
source. Miller along with Matthew Cooper of Time magazine
had been refusing to reveal their confidential sources in
the outing of undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame. Cooper
was spared jail time after agreeing to testify in the investigation.
- Matthew Cooper, Time Magazine:
"That source gave me a personal, unambiguous, uncoerced
waiver to speak to the grand jury. And it was only then,
when I was satisfied that that source was comfortable with
me speaking and indeed wanted me to speak to the grand jury
that I felt free after 2 years under threat of jail to go
speak to the grand jury."
Judge Thomas Hogan ordered Miller sent to "a suitable
jail within the metropolitan area of the District of Columbia"
until she decided to talk or until the term of the grand jury
expired in October. Matthew Cooper spoke to reporters outside
the courthouse after Miller was taken into custody.
- Matthew Cooper, Time Magazine:
"This is a sad day not only for journalist, but also
for the country. It is a sad time when two journalist, who
are doing their job and are trying to keep confidentiality
in reporting important stories, face the prospect of going
to prison by keeping their confidence. It is a very sad
day and my heart goes out to Judith, when she left the court
I told her to stay strong."
Before being taken into custody by three court officers,
Miller told the judge "If journalists cannot be trusted
to guarantee confidentiality, then journalists cannot function
and there cannot be a free press." Miller's lawyer, Floyd
Abrams spoke to reporters outside the courthouse.
- Floyd Abrams, attorney for Judith Miller:
"Judy is an honorable woman adhering to the highest
tradition of her profession and the highest tradition of
humanity. She has chosen at no benefit to herself and with
no desire to be in prison, a choice to take the personal
burdens of being jailed rather than betray a source who
she promised confidentiality. She should be honored for
that and she will be."
After the hearing, Bill Keller, the executive editor of The
Times, said "The choice [Judith Miller] made is a brave
and principled choice, and it reflects a valuing of individual
conscience that has been part of this country's tradition
since its founding."
In an Editorial, the paper writes, "By accepting her
sentence, Ms. Miller bowed to the authority of the court.
But she acted in the great tradition of civil disobedience
that began with this nation's founding, which holds that the
common good is best served in some instances by private citizens
who are willing to defy a legal, but unjust or unwise, order."
- Bob Herbert joined The New York Times as an Op-Ed columnist
in 1993. His twice a week column comments on politics, urban
affairs and social trends. His first book, "Promises
Betrayed: Waking up from the American Dream" was published
in May.
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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