London Bombing Survivor Believes Attacks Could Happen Again
July 7, 2006 — -- Rachel North was on the Piccadilly Line of the London Tube, traveling from Kings Cross station to Russell Square, on July 7, 2005.
Then, a bomb went off in her train car. Twenty-six people died in that blast, and 340 were maimed and wounded.
North, who suffered minor injuries, lives in London and is an advertising director. She also blogs about her experiences at http://rachelnorthlondon.blogspot.com/.
She spoke with ABC News' Zunaira Zaki on the anniversary of the bombings.
ABC News: What are your thoughts one year later?
Rachel North: I have just been pleased to meet so many people, so many of them fellow passengers and have enjoyed their support.
ABC News: What feelings, if any, do you have toward the London bombers?
North: I have no feelings. They are dead.
ABC News: Do you think there is something the authorities need to be doing now?
North: They should be having an independent inquiry like the 9/11 Commission.
ABC News: As [Prime Minister] Tony Blair suggested, do you think the Muslim community needs to be doing more to root out extremism.
North: As a community we should be doing more -- not just the Muslims. Everyone should be doing something. If your neighbor's house is on fire, you call the fire brigade. If you see your neighbor's son doing something bad, you try to do something about it and stop him. It is imperative on all of us to try and do something to stop people from blowing themselves up. Everybody should be trying to prevent these things.
ABC News: I was in Leeds soon after the bombings, and a lot of the young Pakistani men I spoke with talked about the Iraq war as some sort of motivation. What do you think about that?
North: Well it's clear that foreign policy has had a radicalizing effect. We knew that before 7/7. That does not justify blowing people up. But we do know that there is a difference between feeling bad about the Iraq war and committing acts of murder and terror.
ABC News: Any guess as to what drives these bombers?
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