After the 7/7 London bombings , Friedman called for the U.S. State Department to " shine a spotlight on hate speech wherever it appears " , and to create a quarterly " War of Ideas Report , which would focus on those religious leaders and writers who are inciting violence against others " . Friedman said the governmental speech-monitoring should go beyond those who actually advocate violence , and include also those whom former State Department spokesperson Jamie Rubin calls " excuse makers " . In his July 22 column , Friedman wrote against the " excuses " made by terrorists or apologists who blame their actions on third-party influences or pressures . " After every major terrorist incident , the excuse makers come out to tell us ... why the terrorists acted . These excuse makers are just one notch less despicable than the terrorists and also deserve to be exposed . When you live in an open society like London , where anyone with a grievance can publish an article , run for office or start a political movement , the notion that blowing up a busload of innocent civilians in response to Iraq is somehow " understandable " is outrageous . " It erases the distinction between legitimate dissent and terrorism " Mr. Rubin said , " and an open society needs to maintain a clear wall between them . " As part of their response to this column , the editors at FAIR encouraged their readers to contact Friedman and inform him that " opponents of the Iraq War do not deserve to be on a government blacklist-even if they oppose the war because they believe it encourages terrorism "
7/7 London bombings
7 July 2005 London bombings
Thomas Friedman