Year In Review - The Top 15 Newsmakers of 2005 - #8

On July 7, four attacks on London's transit system killed over 50 people and injured more than 700.

This attack, carried out via suicide bombing, was unique in that the perpetrators were later found to be young men who were born and raised in Britain. All those who knew the attackers were shocked that they would carry out such a heinous crime, as they were seen to be regular cricket-playing "blokes". One of the attackers worked in the family's fish and chip shop in London.

The London bombings, or 7/7, gave credence to observations by security experts that the real threat of terrorism came from radicalized Islamic youth who were born, raised and educated in the West. Moreover, it also proved the theory that al-Qaeda is not so much an organization as a movement where members may or may not act on instructions from key personnel like Osama bin Laden. And finally, questions were raised about the security of urban transit in Europe and North America.

A second attempt to harm London's transit system on July 21 thankfully failed. However, the resolve of Brits to defeat terror was strengthened through July's tragedy and served as a reminder to Americans and other allies in the war against al-Qaeda that the danger remains.