Explosions reported at Brussels airport.

@RobinLFC

Thanks, it's a bit like France then, for some reason I feel that the people outside of the country are more affected or at least are more vocal about their fears.
 
RedSky said:
That's the difference, I'd simply put them in solitary confinement. feck their human rights, terrorists imo shouldn't have them.
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There are far too many do gooders out there to make sure we can't 'feck their human rights'. If the terrorist is dead however it solves this problem.
 
Crossie said:
What'll also happen: Terrorists will blow themselves up exactly where cars and trucks line up waiting to get controlled. Locking all streets or railway tracks down will lead to a shift of location of attacks but will not prevent attacks from happening.
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That's actually far better than terrorists blowing themselves up in a crowded area. At least, I think it is. A car might make a bigger bang though.

At least it means that, when people are in the cities, they would be safe. Safe to drink and laugh and cry as their nations get through and get knockout of the Euros
 
rcoobc said:
That's actually far better than terrorists blowing themselves up in a crowded area. At least, I think it is. A car might make a bigger bang though.

At least it means that, when people are in the cities, they would be safe. Safe to drink and laugh and cry as their nations get through and get knockout of the Euros
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I don't think it's better; they can easily cause as much damage (and deaths) as in the inner city. I also doubt that people are enjoying themselves knowing that 2-3 kilometers away terrorists proceed their evil attacks.
 
Giving the time of year at which the Euros take place, a prospective bomber is going to have a harder time of it (particularly if there is guidance issues on the carrying of bags). Assume that you've got a hot day in June or July, little things like clothing are going to be tells for the security services. Provided that there is the spare capacity, there could be more gained in other countries sending the French sniffer dogs who can mingle with the crowds.

And as we've seen in Mumbai, Nairobi, Sousse and Paris, the more mobile threat of trained gunmen still presents the greater danger to public safety at this point. In which event, the weapons are going to be in place weeks in advance.



By the way, were people really downplaying the deaths of 5,000 civilians a few pages back? Admittedly i've only ha time to skim my way through dozens of posts, but with that and Matherto this thread has taken some odd turns since yesterday.
 
Nick 0208 Ldn said:
By the way, were people really downplaying the deaths of 5,000 civilians a few pages back? Admittedly i've only ha time to skim my way through dozens of posts, but with that and Matherto this thread has taken some odd turns since yesterday.
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More the manner in which the information is presented.
 
brewlio said:
I can empathize. Off to Cyprus in April which is a stones throw from the Syrian coast and I'm a little apprehensive about it. Had loads of people saying to me "you'll be fine" "Cyprus is not a danger hotspot" "foreign office advice is to travel" etc, but they have to strike somewhere, and where better than a mecca for Brit tourists. I'd say places with poor security and masses of holidaying Brits are probably at more risk than anyone in mainland Britain. It's all irrational fear, as what are the chances of my resort being hit while I'm there, or is it a justified fear? Dunno. Bricking it myself a touch as well tbh
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Chances are miniscule but I think it's perfectly natural, once we were up in the air though my fears abated.
 
"The other problem is that they have really rubbish community relations. Look at the reaction when they went in and caught that guy on Friday night (Salah Abdeslam).

"Instead of the local population going, 'Oh my God, this is so embarrassing you've caught a terrorist in our midst,' they threw bottles at the police.

"They can't stand the police."

From an article on the bbc.
 
Anyone going to any city in Europe could be justifiably anxious. This is exactly what the murderers want, to make everyday things a cause for concern.
 
Penna said:
Anyone going to any city in Europe could be justifiably anxious. This is exactly what the murderers want, to make everyday things a cause for concern.
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It'd be interesting to see the stats on how likely you are to die abroad to a traffic accident or to a terrorist act.
 
Penna said:
Anyone going to any city in Europe could be justifiably anxious. This is exactly what the murderers want, to make everyday things a cause for concern.
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They could but they don't have to.
 
Mciahel Goodman said:
More the manner in which the information is presented.
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I believe it was dismissed as being "tiny", almost an irrelevance. Move a few weeks into the future, and the casualties caused in Brussels that very morning would be lumped into the same category.


Dans said:
"The other problem is that they have really rubbish community relations. Look at the reaction when they went in and caught that guy on Friday night (Salah Abdeslam).

"Instead of the local population going, 'Oh my God, this is so embarrassing you've caught a terrorist in our midst,' they threw bottles at the police.

"They can't stand the police."

From an article on the bbc.
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There has been a failure of policy in many western European countries. Whereas in spite of America's leading role in many of these conflicts, US soil has been host to relatively few attacks since 9/11. Rightly, Europe embraces other cultures, but it doesn't do integration half so well as the States (or Canada for that matter).
 
JPRouve said:
How are people doing in Belgium? How people feel about the fact that the terrorists are mainly from Belgium?
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I echo @RobinLFC's sentiments. Life goes on, little has changed. I live in the second largest city in Belgium after Brussels and it's barely noticeable that anything happened. It's the topic of conversation of course and people are saddened by it but the city looks and feels exactly the same as before. We have our share of vocal, hateful idiots who will use this to push their agendas but that's nothing new either. Most people seem to agree we cannot give in to hate and fear and show unity and solidarity instead.

But it's probably too soon to fully judge the effects of this on the country and the people. Whatever our response as a society will be, I just pray it will be the right one.
 
So the latest is that Najim whatever the feck that cnuts name is was the 2nd suicide bomber at the airport yesterday.
 
Nick 0208 Ldn said:
I believe it was dismissed as being "tiny", almost an irrelevance. Move a few weeks into the future, and the casualties caused in Brussels that very morning would be lumped into the same category.
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To be fair, it is anything but "tiny" -- not sure who said that.
 
Ainu said:
I echo @RobinLFC's sentiments. Life goes on, little has changed. I live in the second largest city in Belgium after Brussels and it's barely noticeable that anything happened. It's the topic of conversation of course and people are saddened by it but the city looks and feels exactly the same as before. We have our share of vocal, hateful idiots who will use this to push their agendas but that's nothing new either. Most people seem to agree we cannot give in to hate and fear and show unity and solidarity instead.

But it's probably too soon to fully judge the effects of this on the country and the people. Whatever our response as a society will be, I just pray it will be the right one.
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It may be an early feeling but I find it very reassuring. I have a Belgian friend and some business contacts, and they pretty much echo what you say.
 
Dans said:
So the latest is that Najim whatever the feck that cnuts name is was the 2nd suicide bomber at the airport yesterday.
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If that's him and the reports are correct that he was extremely savvy assembling bombs, it would be at least one whose skills cannot used again by those 'IS' idiots.
 
Crossie said:
If that's him and the reports are correct that he was extremely savvy assembling bombs, it would be at least one whose skills cannot used again by those 'IS' idiots.
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Have to say I take exception to these scum being called "master" minds or bombmakers.
 
Dans said:
Have to say I take exception to these scum being called "master" minds or bombmakers.
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I agree on the mastermind thingy but bombmaker and killer is IMO an accurate description.
 
To be honest, not that I have researched the matter, nor will I, it doesn't seem like rocket science to build a bomb.
 
Dans said:
To be honest, not that I have researched the matter, nor will I, it doesn't seem like rocket science to build a bomb.
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While that's true, it seems as if not anybody is capable or willing to give it a try.
 
Ainu said:
I echo @RobinLFC's sentiments. Life goes on, little has changed. I live in the second largest city in Belgium after Brussels and it's barely noticeable that anything happened. It's the topic of conversation of course and people are saddened by it but the city looks and feels exactly the same as before. We have our share of vocal, hateful idiots who will use this to push their agendas but that's nothing new either. Most people seem to agree we cannot give in to hate and fear and show unity and solidarity instead.

But it's probably too soon to fully judge the effects of this on the country and the people. Whatever our response as a society will be, I just pray it will be the right one.
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Thanks, that's good to hear that people keep a "cool" mind.
 
Just watching the coverage on BBC World - they are at Place de la Bourse in the centre where there is another vigil tonight - they are singing, consoling each other. The camera panned around the scene and I noticed a number of Moroccan and Tunisian flags beiing held up along with the Belgian flag. It shouldn't do, but it brought a lump to my throat. I hope people really do their best to remember that the cnuts who did this are the minority and are not representative.
 
Nick 0208 Ldn said:
I believe it was dismissed as being "tiny", almost an irrelevance. Move a few weeks into the future, and the casualties caused in Brussels that very morning would be lumped into the same category.

There has been a failure of policy in many western European countries. Whereas in spite of America's leading role in many of these conflicts, US soil has been host to relatively few attacks since 9/11. Rightly, Europe embraces other cultures, but it doesn't do integration half so well as the States (or Canada for that matter).
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They have more selective immigration policies and a geographical advantage for those policies.
 
Nick 0208 Ldn said:
I believe it was dismissed as being "tiny", almost an irrelevance. Move a few weeks into the future, and the casualties caused in Brussels that very morning would be lumped into the same category.




There has been a failure of policy in many western European countries. Whereas in spite of America's leading role in many of these conflicts, US soil has been host to relatively few attacks since 9/11. Rightly, Europe embraces other cultures, but it doesn't do integration half so well as the States (or Canada for that matter).
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Attacks by foreigners yes, attacks by their own citizens however...
 
RedTiger said:
What was a drugs bust bro?
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There were shots fired in Amsterdam station, first thoughts in the media/Twitter was another terrorist attack - ended up not being, but ISIS have (apparently) still taken credit.
 
Nick 0208 Ldn said:
I believe it was dismissed as being "tiny", almost an irrelevance. Move a few weeks into the future, and the casualties caused in Brussels that very morning would be lumped into the same category.




There has been a failure of policy in many western European countries. Whereas in spite of America's leading role in many of these conflicts, US soil has been host to relatively few attacks since 9/11. Rightly, Europe embraces other cultures, but it doesn't do integration half so well as the States (or Canada for that matter).
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I didn't really see anyone dismiss it as tiny, Nick. Maybe I missed that post.

My objection was the total lack of context for each post, I mean there was 2 recorded "incidents" from southern Bengal that were recorded as terrorist attack when they were plain robberies. Many of the descriptions also say "suspected" or "alleged". There's nothing wrong with keeping a running score but the person who posted it shouldn't of copy pasted as verbatim the words of a rightwing website.
 
RedSky said:
It'd be interesting to see the stats on how likely you are to die abroad to a traffic accident or to a terrorist act.
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Not really relevant though, is it? The threat of being killed by a terrorist in a major European city is, no matter the stats.
 
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JustAFan said:
Hearing that the largest bomb got left at their apartment when the company they hired to drive them to the airport sent a smaller vehicle instead of the van they requested.
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Sounds like something out of Four Lions.
 
RexHamilton said:
Not really relevant though, is it? The threat of being killed by a terrorist in a major European city is, no matter the stats.
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The threat of being killed by a terrorist in a major European city is extremely small. People going on holidays to these cities should be far more worried about dying in car accidents on the way there, or drowning, or killing themselves in an accident while drunk.
 
sullydnl said:
The threat of being killed by a terrorist in a major European city is extremely small. People going on holidays to these cities should be far more worried about dying in car accidents on the way there, or drowning, or killing themselves in an accident while drunk.
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I agree. It's a tiny chance. But you can get killed in a car accident, drowning or whatever no matter where you go in the world or even at home. None of this is relevant. Going to a major European city at the moment, particularly one with a large disenfranchised muslim population can rightly make people anxious, as @Penna said.
 
My friend and I have decided to go to Brussels anyway. I was really not sure and they offered us a refund but at the end of the day as I think @RobinLFC said earlier it's the safest it will be. Looking forward to the week in Amsterdam and and the day in Brussels but I think it will be in the back of my mind.
 
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