The Way We Respond to Terrorism

The Middle East. It's a fucking mess. Terrorism is ugly, frightening and just plain wrong. But I believe that a country's response to terrorism should not be terrorism. This I believe. England lived with IRA terrorism for three decades.

As Israel continues to pound Lebanon, consider what the world's reaction would have been if England had pounded Ireland in a similar way. Consider that almost all Irish people are innocent of any terrorist thought or deed and then consider bombing those innocents. What would the world have said?

A chronology of major terrorist attacks in England over the past three decades:

— March 8, 1973: Two IRA car bombs explode outside London's Old Bailey courthouse and government's agriculture department headquarters, killing one and wounding more than 150.

— Oct. 5, 1974: Two IRA bombs explode in pubs in London suburb of Guildford; five dead, more than 50 injured.

— Nov. 21, 1974: Two IRA bombs in Birmingham kill 19 and wound more than 180.

— July 20, 1982: Two IRA bombs in Hyde Park and Regent's Park in London kill 11 British soldiers and wound more than 40, mostly civilians.

— Dec. 17, 1983: IRA car bomb explodes outside Harrod's department store, killing six and wounding about 100.

— Oct. 12, 1984: IRA targets conference of ruling Conservative Party, killing five and wounding 24, but narrowly missing Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

— Sept. 22, 1989: The IRA bombs the Royal Marines School of Music in Deal, killing 10 soldiers and wounding more than 30.

— Feb. 7, 1991: IRA fires three homemade mortar shells at No. 10 Downing Street, British prime minister's official residence in London. No injuries.

— April 10, 1992: Massive IRA truck bomb in London's financial district kills three and causes hundreds of millions of dollars of damage.

— March, 20, 1993: IRA bomb hidden in garbage can in shopping district of Warrington, northwest England, kills two boys aged 3 and 12.

— Feb. 9, 1996: IRA ends a 17-month cease-fire with a massive truck bomb in London's financial district, killing two.

— Feb. 18, 1996: An IRA bomber accidentally kills himself aboard a London double-decker bus, five injured.

— June 15, 1996: For first time, IRA targets a different English city — Manchester in the northwest — with a massive truck bomb, wrecking the central shopping area and wounding about 200.

— Sept. 20, 2000: IRA dissidents fire rocket-propelled grenaded at headquarters of MI5 security agency. No injuries.

I have no doubt that this post will anger many though that is not my intent. I am just trying to make sense of the day's news. Trying to put it into some framework that I can understand. But it's not working.