Tears after triumph

The picture on the front page of The Plain Dealer today shows victorious Londoners in Trafalgar Square. Confetti is riding the sky on the waves of cheers below. Smiles abound. Union Jacks wave freely. London is the newly-named host city for the 2012 Olympics.
The pictures tomorrow will be far different. Police in fluorescent vests. Bloody faces. A double-decker bus torn halfway into metal shrapnel.
Never before in my recollection has a populace been taken from the heights of triumph to the depths of terror so quickly. Less than 24 hours after London won a startling upset bid, nosing out favored Paris to host the '12 games, a coordinated series of bombs ripped through double-decker buses and subway platforms in the city. The confirmed death toll as of the time of this post was 33, but was estimated higher. Up to 1,000 were injured, many severely.
News reports say a European Al-Qaeda cell has claimed responsibility via a Website, but that has not yet been confirmed by authorities.
Great Britain had the misfortune of being in the spotlight, always an ideal target for terrorists looking to create havoc. In addition to its bid for the Olympics, the worldwide G-8 Summit was being held in Scotland. British Prime Minister Tony Blair departed the summit Thursday to return to London. Another British government official will take his place, news agencies reported.
As the terrorists had probably hoped, the attacks have had reverberations both in the U.K. and overseas. MSNBC reported many summit activities, including a group picture of state heads, has been scrapped. In the U.S., the threat level for the nation's railways was raised to orange.
The news and opinion pages have been full of stories and debates on the ethics of torture. Guantanamo Bay, where many captured Al-Qaeda operatives are sent, has been placed under a magnifying glass.
But while our defense organizations have been potentially engaged in torture to gain information, let's not forget Al-Qaeda has been doing the same. "Terror" is the root word of "terrorist."
A main torture tactic is to upset routine, make the subject unsure of when the next torture session will come, and what form it will take. That's what a terrorist group does: strike quickly from the shadows, raise a body count, spread fear and, if possible, panic, and get away.
Once you see what they've done, it's too late. There is seldom an organized state to strike back against. Now, the people of London know firsthand the fear and rage the people of New York, Madrid and Bali know. And that type of empathy is something you never wish on anyone.