Terrorist attacks in Brussels

[lostineverfreeforest]

Guessing they had already been plotting this attack but since Salah Abdeslam got captured they were afraid he would spill the beans and so they accelerated it. This sort of thing happens all the time in Turkey/the Middle East and nobody ever bats an eye. When it happens in Europe everybody loses their minds.

 

[KarlaKGB]

Guessing they had already been plotting this attack but since Salah Abdeslam got captured they were afraid he would spill the beans and so they accelerated it. This sort of thing happens all the time in Turkey/the Middle East and nobody ever bats an eye. When it happens in Europe everybody loses their minds.

people lose their minds because it's closer to home

u live in london. something bad happens in durkistan, meh. something happens in france, uh oh it's getting closer. then it happens in london. oh god it's right on my doorstep now, i hope my friends are alright. that's just the way it is.

 

[lostineverfreeforest]

people lose their minds because it's closer to home

u live in london. something bad happens in durkistan, meh. something happens in france, uh oh it's getting closer. then it happens in london. oh god it's right on my doorstep now, i hope my friends are alright. that's just the way it is.

Yeah, it makes sense. Though

remember guys nobody knows why these senseless acts of violence keep happening in europe and theres certainly no common people or motive for carrying out these attacks

also dont forget to label anyone who might suggest that theres a common theme with these attacks as racist

in durkistan

You aren't doing yourself any favors here. Terrorists are well aware their extremism paints a bad image of their people. The idea is to make fellow Muslims alienated and ostracized enough to join their cause. It's a vicious cycle. I do feel there's something inherently wrong with the faith (as I feel about religion in general), but I know many Muslims myself and they are all good people.

 

[windloft]

oh god, a friend of mine was going leave brussels at around the same time ... god rest the affected there and i'm also hoping my friend is alright..

 

[EpicGamer12]

Make sure you eat your Brussels sprouts today in honor of the fallen victims. Their popularity originated in Brussels and have excellent levels of Vitamin C.

 

[tobi!]

Yeah, it makes sense. Though





You aren't doing yourself any favors here. Terrorists are well aware their extremism paints a bad image of their people. The idea is to make fellow Muslims alienated and ostracized enough to join their cause. It's a vicious cycle. I do feel there's something inherently wrong with the faith (as I feel about religion in general), but I know many Muslims myself and they are all good people.

being against islam is not the same as being against muslims.

 

[nintendofan85]

First Paris, and now this? I can't believe this at all.

 

[Reindeer]

You aren't doing yourself any favors here. Terrorists are well aware their extremism paints a bad image of their people. The idea is to make fellow Muslims alienated and ostracized enough to join their cause. It's a vicious cycle. I do feel there's something inherently wrong with the faith (as I feel about religion in general), but I know many Muslims myself and they are all good people.

What Karla said is more in response to people condemning the ones committing these acts of violence as "not being real Muslims" (true Scotsman fallacy), and therefore the attacks are not motivated by their religious beliefs (since they're not Muslims, remember).
If fundamentalist Christian terrorists were a huge thing, other Christians going "yeah but they aren't real Christians" would piss people off as well.

The people that did this are Muslims, and they did it in the name of Islam. Those are the facts.

 

[AnimalCrossingPerson]

Had to Google where Brussels was. (>.>)

This is the only place I've heard of this news. Weird, lol.

In other news, today is World Water Day.

 

[lostineverfreeforest]

What Karla said is more in response to people condemning the ones committing these acts of violence as "not being real Muslims" (true Scotsman fallacy), and therefore the attacks are not motivated by their religious beliefs (since they're not Muslims, remember).
If fundamentalist Christian terrorists were a huge thing, other Christians going "yeah but they aren't real Christians" would piss people off as well.

The people that did this are Muslims, and they did it in the name of Islam. Those are the facts.

Ahh I misunderstood what he had meant. Sorry Karla! Hopefully this madness will end within our lifetime.

 

[jiny]

what terrible news. i heard this morning when i was getting ready for school. i hope the people in belgium will be alright.

 

[Red Cat]

Terrorist attacks are horrible, but a lot of people die from senseless violence and preventable accidents every day and don't get wall-to-wall media coverage and everyone thinking "What can we do to stop this from happening?" Terrorism only works if people allow themselves to be terrorized by attacks and allow it to affect the way they live and govern. What does covering this so extensively accomplish besides getting people to s*** in their pants and to turn this horrific attack into a cash cow for media outlets?

 

[piichinu]

Terrorist attacks are horrible, but a lot of people die from senseless violence and preventable accidents every day and don't get wall-to-wall media coverage and everyone thinking "What can we do to stop this from happening?" Terrorism only works if people allow themselves to be terrorized by attacks and allow it to affect the way they live and govern. What does covering this so extensively accomplish besides getting people to s*** in their pants and to turn this horrific attack into a cash cow for media outlets?

maybe it gets wall-to-wall media coverage because.....

it doesn't happen every day?!

 

[Red Cat]

maybe it gets wall-to-wall media coverage because.....

it doesn't happen every day?!

Terrorist attacks happen frequently in the Middle East and Africa, but I guess most western new outlets don't care to report on it because it's just black and brown people dying so it's no big deal to them. But God forbid an attack happen in Europe and the U.S. because those lives actually matter and the whole world is expected to spend weeks honoring those who were killed in a terrorist attack. If people die for any other reason, we all just consider it a part of life and pretend there is nothing we can do about it, but if some lunatic kills in the name of Islam, then we want to go on some crusade against Islam because somehow those killings are a lot worse than other "normal" killings. I'm not a fan of Islam and I think there is a problem with the religion, but we're not going to stop all terrorism by spying on Muslims or invading countries in the Middle East. The religion has to deal with its own problems because they sure as hell aren't going to convert to Christianity or anything else, so maybe the West ought to let the crazies kill each other in the Middle East and make them figure things out instead of trying to be heroes bring democracy to those countries because obviously they can't handle it.

 

[piichinu]

Terrorist attacks happen frequently in the Middle East and Africa, but I guess most western new outlets don't care to report on it because it's just black and brown people dying so it's no big deal to them. But God forbid an attack happen in Europe and the U.S. because those lives actually matter and the whole world is expected to spend weeks honoring those who were killed in a terrorist attack. If people die for any other reason, we all just consider it a part of life and pretend there is nothing we can do about it, but if some lunatic kills in the name of Islam, then we want to go on some crusade against Islam because somehow those killings are a lot worse than other "normal" killings. I'm not a fan of Islam and I think there is a problem with the religion, but we're not going to stop all terrorism by spying on Muslims or invading countries in the Middle East. The religion has to deal with its own problems because they sure as hell aren't going to convert to Christianity or anything else, so maybe the West ought to let the crazies kill each other in the Middle East and make them figure things out instead of trying to be heroes bring democracy to those countries because obviously they can't handle it.

large scale terrorist attacks on relatively safe cities don't happen every day

- - - Post Merge - - -

and no thanks as someone whose entire family is part of the catholic minority in syria, id like those "crazies" to please stop attempting to murder people or vandalizing their property for not converting

 

[Reindeer]

Terrorist attacks happen frequently in the Middle East and Africa, but I guess most western new outlets don't care to report on it because it's just black and brown people dying so it's no big deal to them.

Or maybe, instead of racism, it's because it happens so frequently. Or maybe it's because it's a war zone. Maybe there's economic reasons behind covering attacks in the west as well.
Or maybe, not all terrorist attacks in the west get wall-to-wall coverage. France was hit multiple times last year, but only two of those were covered extensively. The rest were covered less than the latest bombings in Turkey, at least in my country.

The attacks that generally aren't covered as extensively as the November 13 attacks, or now the March 22 attacks, are ones that either happen in a conflict zone, where such things happen on a regular basis (thus it's not news anymore, like car crashes), or ones that don't have a lot of victims.
It's not a recent occurence either. Nobody gave a damn when Islamists bombed churches in Poland. In 2000. That's because it caused few deaths (18) and few injuries with low property damage. The London bombings (2005) were covered more extensively because they killed a few more (53), but it also wounded a lot more (over 700) and caused a lot of property damage, and deregulated public transport for days.
Terrorism isn't only about creating as much fear as possible. It's also an attempt to destabilize society. Even if they only blow a leg off a gym instructor, they consider it a victory, because that means a bunch of people will be inconvenienced.

Also, in reaction to your previous post: have you never seen a "don't drink and drive" ad? A "don't do drugs" campaign? Campaign to raise awareness for a specific type of cancer? Or an AIDS awareness campaign?
Point is that people do care about how others die outside of terrorist attacks, and they are trying to prevent it. That's why there's things such as those campaigns, as well as laws that tell people how fast they can drive. So while it doesn't get wall-to-wall daily coverage, people literally are thinking "What can we do to stop this from happening?"

 

[Cailey]

my prayers and condolences to all people affected by this tragedy.

this was really hard to wake up to and I hope all this stops soon.

 

[Reindeer]

The two suicide bombers in the airport have been identified as brothers Khalid and Brahim el-Bakraoui. There was also a third attacker at the airport, but he left his bomb vest behind and is now on the run. Belgian authorities have been hunting for the guy ever since the attacks, and they've now positively identified him as Najim Laachraoui. Najim is someone they have been looking for since Monday, and who's also suspected of having contact with Abdeslam before his capture on Friday.
All three were known to police prior to yesterday's events.

(Source)

The linked article also mentions that his departure appears to have been planned. This would probably be to send the police on another wild goose chase now that Abdeslam has been captured, as it emulates the way Abdeslam escaped in November (not detonating bomb vest and departing scene of the crime).

Edit: From the new liveblog of The Guardian:

It said Ibrahim el-Bakraoui is suspected of carrying out a suicide attack at the airport, but his brother Khalid carried out the metro attack.

If confirmed this would complicate things. If one of the airport suspects was Ibrahim el-Bakraoui and another was Najim Laachraou, who was the third bomber identified in the CCTV footage?

 

[MozzarellaSticks]

My heart goes out to those affected. Unfortunately, there was warning from the recently captured leader in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam. This can't be the first planned attack.

There was also a victim in Brussels, who survived, and also survived the Boston Marathon bombing.

 

[Reindeer]

The fugitive terrorist Najim Laachraoui has been arrested in Anderlecht, near Brussels. I'm glad it happened this quickly.

Edit: Misidentified. It was not Laachraoui.