A couple of nice stories of hope in the face of terrorism

First, a victim of the London bombings gets married:

On the morning that Dan Biddle was blown apart by a terrorist's bomb, his fiance Lisa Flint was dreamily planning their wedding day.

She'd chosen her princess-style ivory gown, colourful bouquet and co-ordinating bridesmaids dresses and the home they shared was filled with bridal magazines.

But their fairytale exploded at 9.17am on July 7, 2005. On his way to work, Dan took the full force of a suicide bomb at Edgware Road underground station.

He lost both legs, his left eye, his spleen and 87 pints of blood, spending five weeks in a coma as Lisa sat by his bedside, urging him to survive.

Finally, after a year in hospital and months of adjusting to their new life together, Dan and Lisa had their big day on Saturday.

Looking like any other young couple as they stood at the aisle together to exchange their vows. The groom was handsome in traditional tails and cream carnation, while the bride wore a designer flowing white gown and veil.

But as Lisa walked down the aisle at the De Rougemont Manor in Brentwood, Essex, she wept openly. Dan - who was wheeled into the service earlier by his brother - stood painfully on his prosthetic legs as the wedding march struck up and his fiance walked in.

Many of the congregation cried as the couple kissed - and the couple tightly clasped hands as Dan's father read the poem, Our Love.

Dan had hoped to walk back up the aisle with his new bride - but in end the pain of the prosthetic limbs overcame him. Instead, he wheeled himself beside her. "At least I managed to just stand by her side. It was my vow to her - and myself," he says.

Later, they hugged at their reception as the song My Girl was played and more than 100 guests toasted this extraordinary couple.

It marked the end of a remarkable story of love, endurance and survival.

And in Iraq, students express their condolences to and their solidarity with Virginia Tech:

Students in Baghdad, where universities have been hard hit by violence, said Monday they were saddened by last week's massacre at Virginia Tech and hung up a banner to express their solidarity with "our brothers in humanity and in pursuing knowledge."

"We want to let the whole world know that we do not support terrorism anywhere," said Yassir Nazar, head of the student union at Baghdad Technology University, who organized the hanging of the banner near the campus gate.

It reads, "We, the students of Technology University, denounce the attack at Virginia Tech. We extend our condolences to the families of the victims who faced a situation as bad as Iraq's universities do. The sanctity of campuses must be protected around the world."

"We have lost many friends and professors," said Nazar. "But in spite of our wounds, we want to show our solidarity with the students of Virginia Tech who are our brothers in humanity and in pursuing knowledge."

This never would've happened under Saddam and I have little doubt that it would never happen again if we cut and run from Iraq like so many on the left want.