It’s Louise Barry, who was riding the Tube to work two years ago on July 7 when the bombs went off. Luckily, she wasn’t aboard any of the trains that were hit; unluckily, after she was evacuated she hopped on the same bus that Hasib Hussain ended up on. The toggle switch from his bomb reappeared in a London hospital a few days later after surgeons removed it from her leg. Naturally, she’s very angry — at John Howard, for having sent troops to Iraq.
Here’s her new spot for GetUp Australia, released at a moment when Howard’s already got his hands full trying to explain his defense minister’s remarks about oil. If you’re wondering about GetUp, they’re exactly who you think they are:
GetUp was founded by Jeremy Heimans and David Madden, two young Australian graduates of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government who have worked at the intersection of technology, new media and politics in the United States. David and Jeremy are now co-founders of Avaaz.org, a new global online political community inspired by the success of GetUp and the US group MoveOn.org.
If “Avaaz” rings a bell, that’s because they were behind this execrable piece of moral equivalence that made the rounds in May.
As you watch, let Hassan Butt’s words echo in your ears: “By blaming the government for our actions, those who pushed the ‘Blair’s bombs’ line did our propaganda work for us. More important, they also helped to draw away any critical examination from the real engine of our violence: Islamic theology.”
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