• Today is the 66th anniversary of the Pearl Harbour attack. My father was stationed there at the time and survived. Pear Harbour remains a symbol of a failure to be prepared which has undergone careful and continuous scrutiny ever since. It seems its lessons have not been learned.

• Hammersmith Bridge as a symbol of the fight against terrorism. The IRA bombed the Hammersmith Bridge three times. Humphrey Hawksley uses it as a fictional borderline for his created security zones for London at some future date which reflects for me the process where protection from terrorism evolves into control. This is the danger from abuse due to the increase of powers which I've been experiencing since mid-August 1998.

1. Today is the 66th anniversary of the Pearl Harbour attack. My father was stationed there at the time. He was going to take a Chinese Junk out to Ford Island at 0745 that Sunday morning he said one time while we were watching a documentary of the attack on the television series Victory at Sea in the 1950s. He added that he changed his mind at the last minute. It saved his life as the Japanese aircraft arrived a few minutes before 0800. He would have been in the middle of the Pearl Harbour at that time had he gone. I was born in Honolulu a little over a year later.

Pearl Harbor Attack to Be Mourned

In a couple hours during the Japanese attack, there were a total of 3,581 casualties (2,403 dead, missing or died of wounds and 1,178 wounded). In contrast, during the D-Day landings out of 10,000 estimated casualties, there were some 2,500 estimated killed. D-Day was a massive invasion involving hundreds of thousands or troops and equipment. Pearl Harbour, however, was a sneak attack that lasted only a couple hours on a Sunday morning. Fortunately, the Japanese did not execute a planned second attack because the first was so successful due to the surprise.

In any case the destruction was unimaginable: "Eight battleships, three light cruisers, three destroyers, and four auxiliary craft either sunk, captured, heavily damaged, or damaged generally--eighteen vessels. The Navy and Army aircraft lost or damaged was incredible with 164 aircraft lost and 128 aircraft damaged 80% of these thought almost totally lost were repaired. Very fortunately the aircraft carriers were at sea and out of harm's way. The above information came from At Dawn We Slept: the Untold Story of Pearl Harbour, Gordon W Prange (with Donald M Goldstein and Katherine V Dillion), Penguin Books, 1982, p 539.

The lessons to be learned from the attack on Pearl Harbour have always been in the background of my life as can be understood by my having grown up with this reality. Thus I've always been interest in reading about it although my first comprehensive read was Gordon W Prange's magnificent At Dawn We Slept. There was a terrible failure which occurred on 9/11 which has come as no surprise given my experience during the decades leading up to this equal tragedy. Although 9/11 was not a military attack by national forces clearly identifiable, it did reflect what could have been anticipated and was by some given the development of such attacks beforehand.

This is why for me it becomes important to explore what and why these surprise attacks occurred and the terrorism which has been in existence for decades especially in London and the UK. The IRA terrorist bombings have evolved into the Islamic fundamentalist terrorists bombings. It is for this reason that I investigate the issues surrounding terrorism especially given my personal experience of the past three decades and more importantly the last decade where I have been subjected to totally invasive surveillance technology in a most abusive manner that itself constitutes terrorism.

2. Hammersmith Bridge as a symbol of the fight against terrorism. The road blocks set up in London in the City served a specific threat from IRA terrorism which most definitely existed as I outline below. Humphrey Hawksley uses the Hammersmith Bridge as a borderline for one of his fictionally created security zones of the future during a period when London is so divided including check points that were like those of the IRA days but far more restrictive and intrusive.

The Hammersmith Bridge which was bombed three times by the IRA serves has become a symbol for the the change from protection to control. It just so happens that I've been at the centre of what I believe to be the evolution into the control phase from its inception. For me this started in mid-August 1998 but got fully underway quite explicitly two and one-half years later in February 2001. The Hammersmith Bridge plays a role in my experience and takes on an added significance for me in conjunction with Humphrey Hawksley's book The History Book.

I commented on the photographs posted on Humphrey Hawksley's blog especially the Hammersmith Bridge photo, but I had to make this comment under the Snapes Marsh photo. Here's what I said with some corrections added here for my dummy mistakes and getting my right and left turned around.

I like these photographs and immediately began to think that you [Humphrey Hawksley] could create a walking tour of London featuring the locations in the book [The History Book] including Mayfair. They stimulated some more thinking along with a return to the book to re-read episodes especially Kat’s swim down the Thames which was a near impossible feat.

Hammersmith Bridge: a target by the IRA three times the last of which occurred in June 2000. See this link for this history. It’s a good symbol of terrorism and police protection evolving into population control and dissent management.

Earlier in the 1990s the IRA had set off bombs in the backyard of a house renovation in the Boltons off Old Brompton Road and down this road further at the entrance to the West Brompton Cemetery in a large rubbish bin across from a nearby pub. I lived not far away from these at the time.

The real damage about which I’m aware came from the Baltic Exchange and South Quay bombings. These bombings justified the police roadblocks set up for the City. I also recall a couple other smaller IRA bombings when a bus blew up in Aldwych with an IRA member carrying a bomb and a pub a little further north and to the west perhaps called the Hog’s Head which was bombed.

These and other bombings [Clapham Junction, BBC Television Centre and Ealing railroad tracks] by the IRA in London justified the police actions which were largely restrained except for the road blocks in the City. They were there to meet a specific threat.

The difference in The History Book is that the security zones and road block checkpoints were set up for population control and used to stop dissent by those in power who were abusing their power based upon fear from a threat of terror to control the population. It’s a world of difference showing legitimate actions being perverted in the future.

The Hammersmith Bridge is an excellent symbol for this. The area to the left of this rather gloomy photo is quite bright and lively with a couple boat houses [sculling clubs], a couple pubs, tables outside for having a pint by the river and a small park. The bridge itself is quite beautiful. I used to work in Hammersmith and recall going to this area for a pint by the river after work on a beautiful summer’s evening when everyone was there along with the sculls out on the Thames.

It’s a perfect area for spies to conspire and move around stealthily. Very nice choice for a repressive checkpoint. Let’s have more photos and the ability to comment on each one below it.