Seven Seven Two Zero Zero Five

July 7 is now Britain's Day of Infamy in the year 2005. At last count, death toll stands at 37, wounded 700. Casualties are expected to rise before the damage is repaired. But lives forever lost would never be regained.
Thus, it begs the question: whither terrorism? In the last couple of years, terrorism has reared its ugly head across the globe. No nation is now deemed safe. Terrorists do not respect boundaries. No race is too far from its reach.
There will always be victims. Terror is the commodity and its perpetrators are many and they wear many different faces. Their currency is fanaticism and their reward is allegedly heaven.
How do we the innocent reason with the insane? How does the world hope to understand the madness of terror? At this current hour, it seems hopeless to sit and talk with the leaders of this diseased group who plans for the destruction of all who stand in its paths.
Unfortunately for some nations, the danger signs are deathly clear. Terrorism breeds in the soil of poverty, desperation, despair and utter hopelessness. These conditions are rife in many lands on this beautiful planet.
One remedy is to extend a strong and willing hand to the weak and poor. At the same time, keeping away the spoilers of peace away from these desperate people with the other hand.
The mad cannot be reasoned. They cannot be pitied and they absolutely cannot be appeased. The solution lies in corralling these "wild creatures", and then zero in on the roots of the terror problem. Perhaps an honest, brutally frank look at the breeding grounds of terror will generate some clues why there are so many thousands willing to lend support for such an insane cause.
Until and unless we are brave enough to stare and admit that there are weaknesses in our system of governance and cracks in the democratic system, we shall never be able to overcome this prevailing and perennial problem.
People are the same the world over. They want happiness, security, food on the table, bright future for their children and to die happy at an old age, relatively free from sickness and pain. If we can give them some measure of all these wants, we would have gone a long way in ensuring a trouble-free society.
The abnormalies and discrepancies that exist right now in countries around the world with regard to income and modern convenienes are the detonaters of terror "bombs".
We can't have peace in our times and happiness at home if others are suffering unfairly and without hope elsewhere or even in our own backyards. These are the issues we must address most urgently.
Leaders of the world can only lead by conviction, by prayer, by concern and by sincere intention to do as much good for as long a time as possible. If there are enough good leaders who will pool together their resources and with the help of their populations, hope will spring eternal again.
Time is running short. The desperate ones are getting more radical. Fear is growing rapidly. Innocent lives are put on the auction block of death.
We do see the solutions but are we brave enough to do the necessary for the poor and desperate. The future is truly ours. It is not enough to kneel and pray because the time has come for all of us, young and old, rich or poor, to get off our knees and do all we can, as long as we can for all our brethern across the oceans, across the lands, in every corner of the earth.