"An air of weary inevitability"

Ian McEwan's piece in the Times today reflects on the mood in London after yesterday's attacks:

...now the disaster was upon us, it had an air of weary inevitability, and it looked familiar, as though it happened long ago. In the drizzle and dim light, the police lines, the emergency vehicles, the silent passers-by appeared as though in an old newsreel film in black and white. The news of the successful Olympic bid was more surprising than this. How could we have forgotten that this was always going to happen?

We now live in a world in which it will continue to happen. It is not a matter of if the next attack will occur, but where and when. I hope that we will never come to the point that these things cease to shock us, but perhaps surprise is not in order any more.