Remember to act normally in London!

[Teep]

... because police are believed to be under orders to shoot to kill if they believe someone is about to detonate a bomb.

(source: sky news)

So if you're strawling along in downtown London, minding your own business... perhaps you have a long beard or a slightly tinted complexion... and you're looking around, frowning, perhaps looking for a friend you were supposed to meet... and reach down your bag... you might get shot! right in the head!

On the one side, it seems right to shoot someone if he or she is threatening to detonate a bomb, potentially taking out a couple of dozen innocent bystanders...
On the other side... this does seem a bit weird...

[cold]

What I wouldn't give to know some asshole was shot in the head, and later discovered that he was about to kill 20+ people with a bomb.

[Teep]

... very true...

on the other hand; the last thing we want in this war on terror thing is for both sides to become increasingly trigger happy...


Ironically... it now turned out that the suspect that was shot in the incident that instigated these police orders, wasn't a terrorist at all...
(source: BBC)

[medfield]

yes but you have to ask yourself, what kind of moron runs through a train station and hops over the median thingi after police ask him to stop in the middle of summer with a heavy bulgy overcoat on. I wouldnt justify it, but using common sense before you go out in a sketchy situation like the day or so after a large bombing would keep you alive, this person was obviously somewhat suicidal and trying to prove a point, or just got off the boat from brazil and was seriously cold and had no comprehension for the laws of that land. Either way it was dumb on both ends part to actually have the situation end the death of the individual........but its probably pressure from above to make sure nothing happends to slow down the mainstream use of public transportation........why dont they just blow up the means of transportation like the track or roads instead of people, I dont get the violence

[Teep]

Originally posted by medfield
I dont get the violence

They're trying to gain attention... just blowing up the track won't nearly get them as much...

[cold]

Originally posted by Teep
on the other hand; the last thing we want in this war on terror thing is for both sides to become increasingly trigger happy...

I disagree. I think it is time to stop with all of the 'pussified' compromises, while more and more people die. I say it would be a good idea if it came down to this:

Us : "Look, you assholes. If you don't stop setting off bombs in our homes, we're going to competely fuck you deep in the ass. That's right. We will bomb your country everyday, until you guys get the point. Either we can be friends, and do our thing, and people stop dying; or you can do your thing over there, and we'll do our thing over here, and people stop dying. There are your choices."

Now of course I'm not overlooking the facts, that we have over-stepped our boundries in many ways, and have offended people. My point is that a lot of people should clean their act up, and stop fighting over stupid shit. Never-the-less, this will not happen. But it still can suck ass, can't it?

[medfield]

the thing is groups like alqaeda or whatever dont call any place home.....they run run run and stay anywhere with anyone that will allow them too.....could be mountains in afganistan could be outlets in russia, could freegin be alaska......who knows cant bomb someplace they have no association with anymore and claim we are the victor because we inflict pain

[Shalome]

Originally posted by medfield
yes but you have to ask yourself, what kind of moron runs through a train station and hops over the median thingi after police ask him to stop in the middle of summer with a heavy bulgy overcoat on. I wouldnt justify it, but using common sense before you go out in a sketchy situation like the day or so after a large bombing would keep you alive, this person was obviously somewhat suicidal and trying to prove a point, or just got off the boat from brazil and was seriously cold and had no comprehension for the laws of that land. Either way it was dumb on both ends part to actually have the situation end the death of the individual........but its probably pressure from above to make sure nothing happends to slow down the mainstream use of public transportation........why dont they just blow up the means of transportation like the track or roads instead of people, I dont get the violence

Look at it this way. You're a 27-year-old English-speaking electrician, originally from Brazil, but you legally immigrated to England over three years ago. You're leaving your apartment on a chilly morning (about 16 degrees Celcius), so you toss on a coat. You're walking to the train station, when you realize you're being followed by a group of shady looking guys you've seen hanging out outside your apartment building for a few days.

You walk a little faster, they walk a little faster. You walk even faster, they walk even faster. One of them starts yelling to you to stop. You look back and see that one of the men is holding a gun. You panic and take off running, hoping to get to the station where there are lots of people and police, and maybe jump on the safety of a train before these guys mug you... or worse.

Instead, you find yourself pinned to the floor of the station, a knee in your back as you're struggling to get up... and suddenly you're dead, with seven bullets in your head and one lodged in your spine, as the men who were chasing you congratulate themselves on stopping a suicide bomber.



These were plainclothes cops who'd been staking out an apartment building in a not-so-great neighborhood, chasing a random innocent guy who just wanted to go to work.

[TickleYourFancy]

Originally posted by cold
I disagree. I think it is time to stop with all of the 'pussified' compromises, while more and more people die.

I dunno, I'd have to say that fire + fire = more fire... I don't think being the ultimate terrorist is a productive means of fighting terrorism, we will only breed and become what we're opposing.

Imo, we are a significant portion of what bred this whole mess in the first place.

[Teep]

Personally, I think there will always be groups of people (we are a herdy lot, we tend to organise ourselves in smaller and larger groups) and there will always be groups of people that simply don't get along very well...

I might be being naieve here, but perhaps if we just leave eachother some space... don't figure the western civilisation is superior and try and enforce it onto the rest of the world, make them do as we do... but do welcome those that are poor or in danger and share our wealth with them, having respect for their background and giving them space as long as they are willing to function in our society and obey our rules... ...there would be far less irritations, far less violence... I think...

But perhaps the earth is simply a tad overpopulated for this to work...

[medfield]

touche shalome........my original instance was the fact that it was probably hot out considering it is summer. And dealing with shoplifters in the middle of the summer with large bulky coats on when I use to work at home depot, I coincided the two. A look at the weather report for that day says otherwise, damn good point you made

[Teep]

... and the plot just keeps thickening... now it appears that the Brazillian who was shot by police wasn't running at all, neither had he jumped the ticket barrier, nor had he been wearing a heavily padded coat...

(source: itv)


But that isn't really my point. My point is that we're supposedly on this 'war on terror'... The point of terrorism, however, is to disrupt society. Whatever terrorists do, they're going for the maximum effect. They're out to spread Fear. They want to fuck over our normal little lifes that we've grown so used to. And you know what? They're succeeding. I just read last week that one out of six dutch people consciously stay away from big events because they're afraid of terrorist attacks. I'm sure these figures are similar in a lot of other countries. And then there is the apparent trigger-hapiness of law enforcement officers. And of course the new legislations being passed in the US, the UK and mainland Europe. Statistically, there were fewer terrorist attacks last year than there were 10 or 20 years ago. Yet we are more afraid. The media has a lot to do with that. And so have the governments. So in this war on terror, we're really helping the terrorist achieve their goals.