Scotland - Reactions to Terrorist Attack

I spent yesterday going around the town trying to gauge Scottish reactions to the terrorist attacks in London.

I was also apprehensive about how the Scots would react to me - an American. Would there be a feeling of solidarity, as in "now we truly feel your pain"? Or would there be accusations, "if it weren't for Bush attacking Iraq, this wouldn't have happened"?

It's important to remember that I'm talking about Scotland here and London is usually far removed from the locals thoughts. We're not talking about two states like in America, Scotland and England are two different countries. That said, I think all would agree, that they are all British when it comes to standing up to these terrorists.

I'd also point out that yesterday was a rare day, weather wise, in Scotland. Yesterday it was sunny and hot, well, hot for Scotland - almost 70 degrees. Such a day puts a smile on everyone's face and a spring in their step.

Equally important is the fact that the older generation lived through the blitz and the younger generation lived through the IRA bombings. So, to some extent, most Britons have seen it all before.

The town I live in has a population of about 12,000 with only a handful of Muslims who run the two kebab shops.

There used to be an American base nearby but it closed years ago and only a handful of Americans remain; mostly married to Scottish wives like myself.

You can walk from one end of the town to the other in about 15 minutes and as I made my way up the town yesterday, I noticed the streets were jammed with people smiling and enjoying the sunshine. I wanted to stop them and ask them, hadn't they heard about the terrorist attack on London? Why weren't they glued to their TV sets for the latest breaking news updates? The news was just breaking so perhaps they were unaware of the attack or unaware of the magnitude.

I decided to call in on a Scottish friend of mine and get his reaction. He used to live in London and drove a local bus. His reaction can best be described as disgusted but not surprised; a reaction I was to get more of throughout the day.

We decided to make the rounds of the local pubs and see the publics reaction to the attacks.

As we got closer to the city center, the crowds grew larger and the heat increased considerably. Everyone seemed in a good mood, smiling and shopping. Had they not heard the news, we wondered? So we asked a few if they had indeed heard about the attacks. Yes, they had heard, what was the latest news they inquired of us. They looked down at the ground, shook their heads, voiced their disgust but said it was bound to happen.

It was now about 1 p.m. and we entered the first pub. The TV was tuned to the BBC news with the volume up high. There were three girls at the bar drinking, chatting and laughing, an old couple sitting with their backs to the TV comparing shopping bags while the bar maids chatted amongst themselves.

We ordered a couple of pints and sat down to watch the news.

An unknown man came in, ordered a pint and came and sat next to us. As the casualty numbers began to climb, the man became agitated and started talking about retaliation. The government needs to get tough with these people. It was clear who he meant by "these people". He then went on to berate the government for lax immigration controls and appeasing Muslims. Interesting, I thought, he's noticed the governments appeasing Muslims. What did he mean by that I inquired. This proposed religious hate law he answered. What did he make of it I asked. It's designed to stop us from criticizing Muslims was his reply. It was obvious to him that criticizing Muslims was important.

We finished our pints and went back outside. The day was still bright and warm and the people were still bustling about their business.

In the next pub we found a group of six seated at a table playing cards. The TV was tuned to the news with the volume up but as we ordered our pints, one at the table asked the barman to tune the TV to the horse racing channel as he had a bet on. There were several others at the bar chatting and joking, seemingly unconcerned with the news.

We decided to make our way to a pub on the edge of the city center away from the crowds.

This pub was busier with groups of four or five gathered around the bar and several small groups having lunch at the tables. The TV was on, the sound low and tuned to watch - Cricket! The people chatted away, smiling and laughing as if nothing had happened. When asked if they had heard the news, yes, terrible but inevitable, was the reply.

A retired couple I knew came in and sat down next to us. We discussed the news briefly but the conversation turned to his troubles with young people throwing rocks at him and his property. He had been injured by a rock the previous night.

As my friend had to work the next day, we parted company and I took a taxi to a pub on the outskirts of the town, near where I live. It was now about 5 p.m. and the pub had just a few of the regulars in. The TV was turned to the news and the volume was up. Their reactions were similar to what I had heard all day, disgust but not surprised. One regular was incensed and had some pretty pointed suggestions for how Blair should deal with these people. Again, it was clear who "these people" were.

So, what did I learn? While by no means scientific, the locals here in the north east corner of Scotland, appear to be disgusted but not surprised by what happened, they are for stronger anti-terrorist action by the government and they have no illusion as to who the enemy is.

Pleasantly surprising, for me as an American, was that not one person said or agreed that this attack had anything to do with Iraq or for that matter, with America. The overall sentiment expressed was that this was a terrorist attack by Muslim terrorists bent on overthrowing the British democratic way of life. And while their unanimous reaction on hearing the news was disgust but not surprise, they were equally unanimous that the terrorist would not succeed. They seemed to understand that this is going to be a long and difficult war and while it might not be the blitz or the IRA, those conflicts seemed to have instilled a quiet confidence in the Scottish people. They've won the battle before and they'll do it again.

What I had at first taken for unknowing or uncaring was made clear to me, the smile on everyone's face said don't panic, we've been attacked before, we made it through that and we'll make it through this. We will not be defeated.
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