One effect of terrorism is to leave decent people feeling paralyzed, isolated, helpless. The nihilists want to have all the initiative; the rest of us are supposed to quake, put our heads down, go about our business, and wait for the next attack. Signing the statement is one small form of defiance against them. It is also a form of international solidarity with their targets and victims, and I am especially thinking of those in Iraq, for whom the London bombings would have been an average day. Iraqis need to know that people around the world are with them. Finally, this struggle is the central political cause of our lives. There are many complexities in its particulars, but at bottom it is clear and simple and requires everyone to decide where to stand.
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