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Chin Up: British Papers Poke Fun at Terror

July 06, 2007 3:18 PM

Chinupbritish_mainKeeping with the tradition of a "stiff upper lip," newspapers in the United Kingdom are publishing cartoons, poking fun at the circumstances surrounding the foiled terrorist attacks in London and Glasgow last week.

The Daily Mail published a cartoon showing a man on an operating table asking a doctor, who's reading a manual on how to perform an appendectomy, "Before you start, Bernard, are you absolutely sure all the NHS doctors are terrorists?"

Another cartoon shows a patient on an operating table being told by a doctor, "I'm afraid there's been a slight mix-up -- the surgeon has inserted a detonator instead of a pacemaker."

Michael Clarke, a terrorism expert from King's College London, says using humor to address scary national security situations is part of British tradition.

"Black humor has always been part of the culture here. If something is regarded as being beyond humor, it's too serious," says Clarke.

He draws a parallel of al Qaeda and terrorism in the U.K. to the threat of Hitler.

"During World War II, we always regarded Hitler as funny. There were newsreels and cartoons poking fun at him," says Clarke.

Clarke says the cartoons that are being published following the most recent attacks are not surprising.

"The British use humor as a way to cope, to say, 'Let's get on with it.'"

Click Here for Full Blotter Coverage.

July 6, 2007 in U.K. Bombing Attempts | Permalink | User Comments (40)

User Comments

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Use humor to deal with terrorism rather than spreading fear as our administration does over here. Novel concept? I wonder which way is the most consistent with the goals the terrorist are trying to achieve???

Posted by: Roy | Jul 6, 2007 3:29:18 PM

Ahh, that's cool! Seriously!

Posted by: mark | Jul 6, 2007 3:55:02 PM

They are being dishonest with themselves. That fact is that they are only laughing about it because these specific British Jihadist attacks were unsuccessful. Statistically, all of the British Jihadists will not be unsuccessful in their terrorist attempts, and then such articles will be looked back on with embarrassment.

Posted by: Jeff | Jul 6, 2007 4:06:34 PM

Roy - the answer is simple - an enemy at war with you wants to kill you - what is the best response - to ignore them or to fight them? Only those who continue to ignore that Jihadists are waging war don't understand this.

Posted by: Karen | Jul 6, 2007 4:17:43 PM

....It's a "little" funny...Ha Ha, but wait until something "like this" does happen, who will be "laughing" then?!!
Think about it......

Posted by: Kim | Jul 6, 2007 4:45:08 PM

Jeff, I doubt that. The bombing runs to England during WWII weren't all unsuccessful either. Yet still they coped with the typical British humor overlying their typical British iron.

Posted by: hawkechik | Jul 6, 2007 5:02:42 PM

The Brits have almost 2000 years of history behind them. During that time, they've been bombed, burned, raided, razed, and so on. We're talking about a country whose sailors sang "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" while their ship (HMS Sheffield) was sinking. They're long past the self-pity and victimhood that's all the rage here in the states.

Posted by: Ed | Jul 6, 2007 5:13:37 PM

It is racist is what it is. "All" asian doctors are terrorists? Asian doctors like to install detonators into patients.

White British racism.

Posted by: amil | Jul 6, 2007 5:22:18 PM

And what do you intend the British should do about it Jeff? Sit there and actually worry? There will always be some scumbag somewhere that wants to blow someone up for some reason or other. Should people change their lives and sit there in fear? It's never going to happen. I guess these terrorist morons think that they can somehow "win." They should think again. If there is a successful attack and people look back at these comics, I'm sure they won't look back with embarrassment. I'm sure they'll laugh just as hard then as they do now. And that will be exactly the right thing to do.

Posted by: informedone | Jul 6, 2007 5:43:21 PM

Jeff, you just don't get humor.

Posted by: Deb | Jul 6, 2007 7:11:57 PM

The British people have always been an inspiration to me. No matter how bad the situation is they work together for the common good. I applaude them and their humor.

Posted by: susan | Jul 6, 2007 8:03:34 PM

Beep Beep... Those terrorist probably went to the Wiley Cayote School of Bomb Making ...

Posted by: Miguel | Jul 6, 2007 8:27:13 PM

I congratule the british on their approach to terrorism by poking fun at the latest acts of terrorism. God forbid a successful terrorist attack, because I rather laugh at it than cry about it. Long live the Queen.

Posted by: Edgar | Jul 6, 2007 8:27:34 PM

No Jeff, they are not being dis-honest. The truth is that the British - as a whole - will not be scared into submission. You only have to look at the US after 9/11 to see what happens when fear grips a nation. The consequence of fear is the retraction of personal freedoms in the name of "security".

Posted by: Matt | Jul 6, 2007 10:39:10 PM

I saw this article and had to reply. I am English and live in England and so saw the cartoons. I also live near a city that was bombed 11 years ago as well as in World War Two and know bombings are serious and humor might be a strange way to cope with terrorism but over here we cope with terrorism in whatever way we can including humor. We have dealt with terrorists for centuries and being vigilant and dealing with them is part of the British way of life. Terrorists win not but by how we deal with it. All these threats make us more vigilant but we can’t let it affect our lives too much. I got on a tour bus in New York after 9/11 and the tour guide asked where we were from when we said we were from England he said "well they're scared of nothing" and it is true. As Winston Churchill said "We will never surrender". We will deal with it with humor and what is now known as “The Dunkirk Spirit”

Posted by: Alison | Jul 7, 2007 3:30:26 AM

You're all saying 'if' a successful attack happens. But does anyone remember the 7th of July 2005? 52 people dead, 700 injured. Three bombs on underground trains and one on a bus.

Posted by: andrew | Jul 7, 2007 4:25:16 AM

At least the majority of the British aren't as stupid as the majority of Democrats are.

Posted by: John Kantor | Jul 7, 2007 4:49:46 AM

The Daily Mail published a cartoon showing a man on an operating table asking a doctor, who's reading a manual on how to perform an appendectomy, "Before you start Bernard, are you absolutely sure all the NHS doctors are terrorists?"

Eh, I'm pretty sure the man in the cartoon performing surgery isn’t a doctor. Just an ordinary guy carrying out an operation on a dining table in a house (with the help of the kids).

Did Dana Hughes even look at the cartoon?

Posted by: Nic | Jul 7, 2007 7:27:16 AM

Dishonest - What planet are you on. Us Brits have been dealing with terrorism for years and defeated it (N Ireland). The last5 thing we want is the american way of dealing with it. Remember which country raised funds for the IRA Terrorists....The USA. The USA conveniently forgets this.
Dishonesty = USA = IRAQ.
Humour is better than blind rage (IRAQ).

Posted by: Lee (UK) | Jul 7, 2007 7:29:17 AM

As a Brit who regularly travels to the US on business I sure wish that the American authorities would "lighten up" a bit - that way you might actually catch some terrorits whilst retaing simple human dignaties.

Posted by: John | Jul 7, 2007 7:30:49 AM

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