Explosions rock Brussels Airport and Subway

[badbadboy]

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/world/brussels-airport-explosion-reports-1.3501831

Several deaths and many critically injured people reported in this latest attack.

No claims of responsibility, however it's reported "Arabic voices" were heard prior to the blasts.

 

[westwoody]

Revenge attacks in retaliation for the capture a few days ago, as anticipated.

A lot of jihadis would launch attacks a bit early in case the captured guy ratted them out. They would the thinking better do something now than wait and get busted.

Sad for the Belgians, a lot of people just trying to go work and getting caught up in this.

 

[LalaniElectrica]

It's shit like this that really pisses me off! There's no excuse for taking innocent lives, none whatsoever! Any person who chooses to be a terrorist paints themselves with a huge target, so they should expect they would be sought out and captured by authorities... It's because it's the only way they can be seen, it's to compensate to where they are lacking, and I hope if any of these guys get the death penalty, a female guard pulls the plug...That would be the ultimate! Listening to these children/people scream in the background on CNN... I just hope they don't turn Germany into Damascus.

 

[Aellyn Rose]

And that's what they want. More violence.

 

[1nitestan]

They don't hit military installations or infrastructure targets. ISIS hits so called "soft targets". Their goal is to promote everyday fear and break up our sense of community. Blowing up a cafe has way more of a psychological effect than blowing up a military base...easier to execute as well.

 

[pro-boner]

This type of attack is unfortunately the new normal. It can't be stopped in an open society. With out resorting to draconian measures. It is the price we all pay for our freedoms that so many small minds want to take away. This is driving me further into atheism, religion, the mindless belief in the absurd that has been the cause of so much of this worlds grief over the ages.

The west does not need the Middle East anymore, we have tons of our own oil. Step away, let them sort it out themselves. Muslims kill way way more Muslims than anyone else, stand back and let them have at it. Intervene directly and forcably within our own societies. There is so much to say but I step down from the soap box.

We all grieve for the the victims of these heinous attacks.

 

[rlock]

Completely agree. I want to be compassionate, I want to address root causes and remove any public support for terrorism... but when something like this happens I can't help but want to see them all lined up and shot with the same disregard for life that they all seem to have.

These two things are not mutually exclusive. The only way to really succeed is to make that social contract clear as crystal and sharp as a razor. Those that are loyal and adaptive citizens should be respected as such - but those who preach disloyalty and practice treason will be ruthlessly sliced out of society (by removal or death). The mistake people make is in constantly doing that pendulum swing between "goonish racist persecution against all people of X religion / ethnic group" and "passive gullibility about enemies which have no qualms about slaughtering you". Unfortunately, western society's greed and weakness is rooted in its pursuit of individualism at any cost - it doesn't have any collective backbone, it cannot stand to fight any war which inconveniences it (especially its 1% class which never does the fighting anyway). The enemy, on the other hand, are willing to sacrifice more than just comfort to achieve their goals - even if they are just as much pawns of their elites as we are of ours.

 

[rlock]

This type of attack is unfortunately the new normal. It can't be stopped in an open society. With out resorting to draconian measures.

Of the best types of defense against terrorism, it's intelligence agencies that actually stand a chance. Find out who the enemies are, infiltrate their ranks, stop them before they actually attempt an attack. Once terrorists actually get to the point of launching the attack, it is too late to really stop them. Problem is, the intelligence forces never get to everybody; they usually have more information than they have resources to follow-up, and the work is covert so people are often unsatisfied that action is being taken at all, because they cannot see it until the very end of the process.

As for "screening" types of defenses, they are of only two uses:
1) The public can see screening, so they feel like something is being done on their behalf. Truthfully, terrorists can pick virtually anything & anywhere to attack. Can't attack the military or the government HQ? Try a train station or airport or ferryl? Too much security there? Try a stadium, a hospital, or a mall. No? How about a parade, a festival, even a funeral ? Anywhere people congregate, they can be killed in large numbers. And even failing that, you can individually assassinate civic leaders or celebrities. This realization leads to ...
2) "Harden" certain targets so that terrorists will pick some other target instead. It's a cold-blooded logic, but the authorities would rather see terrorists "persuaded" to kill 100 people in a shopping mall than damage a nuclear power plant or a dam. Sounds harsh, but honestly the latter kind of target would be far worse.

As you said, there are so many potential targets, the public needs to just realize there is no such thing as total safety in an open society. Snuff out the source of the trouble, and in the meantime, just have the resilience to endure what attacks still make it through.

 

[westwoody]

Glad you have the solution to terrorism figured out!

 

[LalaniElectrica]

We can achieve peace...

These "Terrorists" are using the name of "Allah" to justify their indiscriminate killing of Christians, Jews, Yazidi and Muslims alike! Make no mistake, I am sure there is a definite distinction between Muslims and Isis supporters, and there is a lot of brainwashing using fear, guilt and greed to control some of the younger more impressionable people from around the world! With all the "promises" in the afterlife and with the aid of sex(slaves) and drugs as well to coerce these young people to join their terror spree. I have been asked by several people over the last 5 years to go to these countries for the promise of "fame and fortune" and the like, except I'm not that stupid. It's on our front steps people, right in front of our faces!

Advice to those from all faiths who are suspecting their family or children are inspired by Isis viewpoints/promises, seek help, offer guidance, especially if this is one of your family members! Canada is a prime example of a tolerant society...let's keep it that way... The alternative is a bunch of armed women fighting Isis, which is probably not what anyone wants, if push came to shove, well, we'll just leave it at that for now...I know Gentleman Ghost will definitely have my back

Be at Peace~

 

[frisky business]

Hi PG, that's an interesting read and an uncommon point of view. Thanks for posting it. I have trimmed it down with a TL;DR for anyone interested in a summary:

Belgium may be a boring country, but it still seems extreme for a Belgian politician to say the country is now living through its darkest days since the end of the Second World War. Can any country really be so lucky that the worst thing that has happened to it in the past 70 years is a couple of bombs that killed 34 people?

Respect for the innocent people killed by terrorists does not require us to take leave of our senses. What is happening now is a media feeding frenzy that has become almost a statutory requirement after every terrorist attack in the West.

We have to put the alleged "threat" of such terrorist attacks into perspective. It does help to remind people that terrrorism is a statistically insignificant risk, that they are in much greater danger of dying from a fall in the bath than of dying in a terrorist attack.

Belgium's freedom is not at risk. Terrorists are not an existential threat. They are a lethal nuisance, but no more than a nuisance.

I agree with Gwynne Dyer on this BTW. News directors should be feeding us based on what really matters, not what is temporarily sensational. Their mantra is "if it bleeds it leads".

I guess I better start reading The Economist again.

 

[sdw]

Also try "Foreign Affairs" (published every 2 months) and "The Journal of International Affairs (published semi-annually). I also enjoy "Esprit de Corps" for fairly no nonsense coverage of Canadian military issues (they think our going into Iraq & Syria is a very ill conceived idea). I tend to work from Noam Chomski's advice to ignore the mass media for anything but entertainment and get your information on political issues from the financial publications as Business needs to know the real truth in order to make sound financial decisions. For military, the military publications that are not entirely beholden to the military industrial complex can speak the truth (Esprit de Corps is OK, Canadian Defense Review, not so much but good info on Government procurement plans & what the corporations are offering). But understand the limits of their competence: economics rags have no competence in military affairs & little in politics, political science rags may know only a little about economics and the military, etc. I find it somewhat useful to occasionally read the mainstream media from across the spectrum just to have a feel for the view points of the ill informed chattering class.

I also like Gwynne Dyer because he calls it how he sees it & admits when he got it wrong. He even published a book in 2005, "With every Mistake" showing what he wrote & then explaining how at the time he misunderstood what was going on between 2001 & 2004. Somewhere most pundits & politicians would never go.

Yep. Subscribe to every Industry Journal that you can. http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/c/1/Industry_Headlines for instance has a story on the Oil Minister being replaced in Kazakhstan because their wells have dropped in production - that tells us that they have wells that are depleted. http://www.eetimes.com/ EE Times has an article that indicates that fiber optic new builds are slowing - the companies that make the plug in modules are seeing a lack of demand. If you don't have fast broadband, don't expect it in the near future.

I could give many more examples of useful nuggets of information that are available long before the media picks up on the topic.

 

[westwoody]

The Economist is one of the best magazines ever.
People are more interested in idiotic drivel about celebrity crap that has nothing to do with them.
They don't have the wit to read about issues that influence their tax levels or income.

 

[rlock]

Speak of the devil...

"Harden" certain targets so that terrorists will pick some other target instead. It's a cold-blooded logic, but the authorities would rather see terrorists "persuaded" to kill 100 people in a shopping mall than damage a nuclear power plant or a dam. Sounds harsh, but honestly the latter kind of target would be far worse.

... and he appears:


https://www.rt.com/news/336985-brussels-terror-nuclear-plants/


Actually, more like I was just stating something that is already out there. The agencies involved would say these are not speculative threats, they are real, and cannot be taken lightly. The last thing the world needs is for a team of suicidal Daeshbags to force their way into the control room of a nuclear powerplant, knowing just enough to Chernobyl it on purpose.