> So you "jumped into this cat fight" by "speculating" on something  
> when you had an authoritative source with good, specific information.

Let's look at a different source of different information
on the same theme.

It is undeniable that London Transport shut down the entire
underground network on the day of the bombings right out
to the ends of the lines in the suburbs. And it is undeniable
that they shut down the bus network within Central London.
Thames river boats continued to run right through the centre
of the city and most mainline trains continued to operate
except at Kings Cross station.

Was this a good thing? Did it make people safer? Did it
somehow limit the damage? Or did it magnify the effect
of the terrorists by creating a massive denial of service
effect in the city?

Another data point. 3 of the bombs exploded virtually
simultaneously, either through timing devices (no evidence
of timers has been found) or through suicide bombers
synchronising their watches. It is now virtually certain
that these were suicide bombers. However on of the bombs
exploded almost half an hour later on a bus. Given that
there are bombs in the city ready to go off, either with
timers or triggered by a suicide bomber, are people made
safer by shutting down transport systems? Many of the
people who died in that bus bomb were on the bus because
the underground trains had shut down. And if the suicide
bomber was not in a bus, where would he be? In another train?
In a crowded street?

Real security is tough, very tough, because seemingly
obvious decisions can have repercussions many steps
removed from the decision itself. I didn't feel any
safer stuck in an underground train waiting to find
out what was the problem. I didn't feel any safer crammed
into a crowded bus after the tube system shut down.
But I did feel a lot safer walking home after I realised
that I was not going to make it into the city that day.

Here in London, people talk a lot about business as ususal.
But last Thursday, the actions of the authorities in shutting
down the entire tube system and the bus system in Central
London were clearly not business as usual.

Personally, I believe that the best way to secure the
transport infrastructure is diversity. Lots of buses, tube
trains, mainline trains, trams, taxis, shuttles, cars,
boats etc. If the authorities had subscribed to that philosophy
then they would have kept the systems running instead of
shutting them down.

--Michael Dillon