[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv class=\u0022ds-1col clearfix\u0022\u003E\n\n  \n\n  \n  \u003Cp\u003EOn the day of the July 7, 2005 bombings in London, \u003Cem\u003EThe Guardian \u003C\/em\u003Ereported on the events with minute-by-minute updates. During its coverage on that day, the paper refrained from drawing conclusions about links to Islamic extremism.\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003E\u201cBomb Blasts Plunge London into Chaos,\u201d \u003Cem\u003EGuardian\u003C\/em\u003E (London), July 7, 2005, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/news\/blog\/2005\/jul\/07\/explosionsplun\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/news\/blog\/2005\/jul\/07\/explosionsplun\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E The only piece of reporting that attributed the attacks to al-Qaeda was a quote from then-Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, who said that the bombings bore the \u201challmarks of an [al-Qaeda] related attack.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003ESarah Left, Mark Oliver, \u201c38 Dead in London Blasts,\u201d \u003Cem\u003EGuardian\u003C\/em\u003E (London), July 7, 2005, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/society\/2005\/jul\/07\/terrorism.transportintheuk\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/society\/2005\/jul\/07\/terrorism.transportintheuk\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EAccording to the \u003Cem\u003EInternational Herald Tribune\u003C\/em\u003E, British media reacted cautiously while reporting the bombings. The BBC London talk-radio station reportedly urged callers to the station \u201cnot to speculate wildly, but to report only what they had seen.\u201d The paper also noted that BBC News, \u201cin order to report fairly what [was] happening,\u201d also waited almost two and a half hours after the initial bomb exploded to report on \u201cthe possibility that the bombings might be the work of [al-Qaeda].\u201d According to the BBC\u2019s then head of television, \u201cIt was a terrible, dreadful event, but it wasn\u2019t like 9\/11, where you had this sense of all of America under attack\u2026the fact is that much of London was functioning normally.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003EEric Pfanner, \u201cBritish News Media Reacted to Bombings with a Measure of Caution,\u201d \u003Cem\u003EInternational Herald Tribune\u003C\/em\u003E, July 11, 2005, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2005\/07\/11\/business\/media\/11bomb.html\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2005\/07\/11\/business\/media\/11bomb.html\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe day after the bombing, the \u003Cem\u003ENew York Times\u003C\/em\u003E ran an op-ed piece by Peter Bergen, an expert on al-Qaeda and CNN terrorism analyst, who warned that \u201cone of the greatest terrorist threats to the United States emanates not from domestic sleeper cells or, as is popularly imagined, from the graduates of Middle Eastern madrassas, but from some of the citizens of its closest ally, Britain.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003EPeter Bergen, \u201cOur Ally, Our Problem,\u201d \u003Cem\u003ENew York Times\u003C\/em\u003E, July 8, 2005, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2005\/07\/08\/opinion\/08bergen.html\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2005\/07\/08\/opinion\/08bergen.html\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E The same day, another op-ed in the paper from Thomas Friedman discussed the likely fall out from the attacks. \u201cWhen jihadist-style bombings happen in Riyadh, that is a Muslim-Muslim problem\u2026But when Al-Qaeda-like bombings come to the London Underground, that becomes a civilizational problem. Every Muslim living in a Western society suddenly becomes a suspect, becomes a potential walking bomb.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003EThomas L. Friedman, \u201cIf It\u2019s a Muslim Problem, It Needs a Muslim Solution,\u201d \u003Cem\u003ENew York Times\u003C\/em\u003E, July 8, 2005, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2005\/07\/08\/opinion\/08friedman.html\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2005\/07\/08\/opinion\/08friedman.html\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n","dialogOptions":{"minWidth":850,"resizable":true,"modal":true,"title":"The London Underground Bombing"}},{"command":"doFootnotes"}]