Today, as Americans celebrate the anniversary of its independence, British Prime Minister Tony Blair began to evaluate his nation's response to homegrown Islamic fundamentalism after the terrorist attacks of July 7, 2005. Mr Blair

said British Muslims are not confronting the ideas that fuel terrorism, after one of his lawmakers criticized the government's response to last year's attacks on London.

In the anniversary week of the July 7, 2005, bombings when four British Muslims killed 52 people in suicide attacks on London's transport network, Sadiq Khan, a Muslim lawmaker in Blair's Labour Party, said the government had not done enough to engage with Britain's Islamic community.

"The problem is not that the government hasn't acted," Blair told a committee of lawmakers in Parliament today. "The problem is that we're not having a debate of a fundamental enough nature within the community, where the moderate majority go and stand up against the ideas of these people, not just their methods."

These comments come on the heels of a poll of British Muslims in which

Sixteen per cent of [respondents], equivalent to more than 150,000 adults, believe that while the attacks were wrong, the cause was right.

But the poll also revealed a stark gulf between this group and the majority of British Muslims, who want the Government to take tougher measures against extremists within their community.

With respect to a backlash against Muslims in Britain in the year following the attacks, the Times of London has this to say:

The predictions were wrong. British society, and London in particular, rose above crude revenge. Politicians, faith groups and ordinary citizens reached out to the Muslim mainstream in support, sharing their bewilderment and supporting them in the painful selfexamination of why their faith had bred such violence. There were some isolated hate crimes, but no general spiral into communal violence and entrenched hostility.