Are you afraid of terrorists striking where you live?

[Harry Flashman]

Ha Ha of course not. Where I live in England we have the largest US base outside of American territories. During the Cold War District Councils around Britain were given budgets for Nuclear shelters...... My Council spent it on libraries stating that if Nuclear conflict broke out we in East Anglia would be too pasted for it to be worth it.

This "War on Terror" is a joke. Our leaders continue a cycle of fear and consumption. As the great PE said "Don't believe the hype!"

 

[novella]

watercrystal,
I take your point about causes, but imposing your own "cause" on someone else, whether it's religious, political, or economic is self-centered aggression.

Living in peace sounds really nice, but tolerance of differences is not usually the strongest characteristic of the terrorist.

 

[Zolipara]

Do you think it's likely that wherever in the world you live will be hit by a terror attack, whether by ETA, IRA, Al-Quaeda, Hamas, or Timothy McVeigh clones?

Not at all. Its much more likely that i die in a car crash.

Have you ever done anything to prepare for such an event?

Nothing at all. You cant really prepare for such an attack, and i dont feel its necessary.

In many ways i think the terrorist has won if you go around all day worried that terrorists might attack.

 

[novella]

In many ways i think the terrorist has won if you go around all day worried that terrorists might attack.

I believe that too.

I think the USA's color alert system is profoundly stupid. And their advice to keep a lot of duct tape in your house in case of a gas attack? Great until the oxygen runs out. What are they thinking??

The whole anti-terror media circus is just a feather in Osama's cap. I'm all for the English traditional response: have a cup of tea and get on with it. Life that is.

 

[Zolipara]

Well a lot of people are currently making a good profit from peoples fear of terrorists. There is many reasons behind the anti-terror media circus.

 

[gallagher672003]

In the U.K we spent years under the constant threat of terrorism from the I.R.A who carried out many attrocities.I remember around 1990 I was in Leicester town centre when a loud boom shook the ground and it was a bomb they had planted underneath an army van.
What amazes me the most is how,in the aftermath of 9/11,the U.S declared a "War On Terrorism" but was constantly acting as mediater in the Northern Ireland Issue.
Anyway I digress,no I don't live in fear of terrorism but I live in vigilance.These murderous scum would have won already if we change how we live because of them.

 

[Ashlea]

Hmm, 4th largest city in the US, lots of oil and gas refineries. They seem to go boom enough just on their own (see last week's news.) I don't think anyone would bother.

 

[novella]

In the U.K we spent years under the constant threat of terrorism from the I.R.A who carried out many attrocities.I remember around 1990 I was in Leicester town centre when a loud boom shook the ground and it was a bomb they had planted underneath an army van.
What amazes me the most is how,in the aftermath of 9/11,the U.S declared a "War On Terrorism" but was constantly acting as mediater in the Northern Ireland Issue.
Anyway I digress,no I don't live in fear of terrorism but I live in vigilance.These murderous scum would have won already if we change how we live because of them.

Duh, GWB only is against terrorism that he doesn't like.

 

[Hollis]

Um, I think it more likely that he's against terrorism that he sees as a more imminent threat to our nation.

Poor Bushy...everyone's so critical of him! The man's not perfect, but what president HAS been?

 

[bobbyburns]

seriously, who decides who's a terrorist? is it just people who threaten you personally?

 

[Zolipara]

At the moment it seems that its gwb that decides whos the good guys and whos the bad guys (terrorists).

 

[Motokid]

I really never think about it. Call it head in the sand if you will, but I really don't think there's anything that I can do personally to change what is completely out of my control. To me it's like worrying that the sun might die. I just hope that if the next big attack is nuclear that I am at ground zero. I want the instant powdered human effect. Being scared of such a thing is really letting the "bad guys" win.

Besides, I have two daughters, I have too much to be scared of already. I'll let somebody else be scared of terrorist attacks for me.

popping head back into sand....

 

[Geenh]

Where I live? No.

 

[Hollis]

At the moment it seems that its gwb that decides whos the good guys and whos the bad guys (terrorists).

Surely you don't really believe that! You know, it's not all that hard to determine what a terrorist activity is and what's not. You don't need to be President of the United States to know who some of the terrorist organizations are. Just follow the car bombs and attacks and whatnot...

To me it's like worrying that the sun might die.

*gasp* Great! Something else to worry about! j/k! ;P

 

[novella]

Surely you don't really believe that! You know, it's not all that hard to determine what a terrorist activity is and what's not. You don't need to be President of the United States to know who some of the terrorist organizations are. Just follow the car bombs and attacks and whatnot...

But but but .. . . aren't some of them 'freedom fighters'?

 

[Kenny Shovel]

Surely you don't really believe that! You know, it's not all that hard to determine what a terrorist activity is and what's not. You don't need to be President of the United States to know who some of the terrorist organizations are. Just follow the car bombs and attacks and whatnot...

Really? Until this last year leaders of Sinn Fein used to get invitations to the White House for cosy little celebrations of St Patrick's day. These being the same leaders of Sinn Fein who were recently named by the Irish Justice Minister Michael McDowell as sitting on the IRA's Army Council.

 

[novella]

Really? Until this last year leaders of Sinn Fein used to get invitations to the White House for cosy little celebrations of St Patrick's day. These being the same leaders of Sinn Fein who were recently named by the Irish Justice Minister Michael McDowell as sitting on the IRA's Army Council.

And I think they would have been invited back this year too, if they weren't implicated in bank robberies and extortion.

 

[Zolipara]

Why is it that when Israel is using "tactics" very similar to what the palestine terrorists use they are never considered terrorists? Why does the western world always quickly send out forces to the middle east if there is any sign of disturbance, while wars in africa is largely ignored. Wars that have had a extreme effect on the civillian population due to the terrorist "tactics" deployed by the armed forces. Why is it that some states that use torture are ok to cooperate with, while others are considered bad guys. Why is it ok to fabricate evidence to attack a bad guy (saddam)?

Why is the terrorist tactics employed by USA in south/middle america during the cold war never considered terrorist tactics?

By initiating and leading "The war on terrorism" GWB and USA is through their actions deciding what terrorists the western world is supposed to stop. Its usually not how many people the terrorist kills, but where he does it that decides the reaction from the western world. When the terrorists attacked the school in Russia the whole world was outraged, but you never really hear anything about the tactics used by the Russian Army in tsjetjenia(spelling?). If i remember right there is a village in tsetjenia where everyone below the age of 50 (or something like that) was executed by the Russian army. And thats just one example, yet you never see this in the media.

But but but .. . . aren't some of them 'freedom fighters'?

I dont consider them freedom fighters, but terrorist tactics is often deployed on both sides, while only one side is called terrorists. Saddam used to be a "good guy", but at some point turned into a bad guy. Yet he treated his people like crap when he was a "good guy" as well.

So yes the governments (especially the american gov.) and the media have a large influence over whos considered terrorists and whos not. Or maybe its better to say that some terrorists are constantly in focus while others are largely ignored.

 

[novella]

I dont consider them freedom fighters, but terrorist tactics is often deployed on both sides, while only one side is called terrorists. Saddam used to be a "good guy", but at some point turned into a bad guy. Yet he treated his people like crap when he was a "good guy" as well.

So yes the governments (especially the american gov.) and the media have a large influence over whos considered terrorists and whos not. Or maybe its better to say that some terrorists are constantly in focus while others are largely ignored.

The "freedom fighters" comment was a joke, referring back to Ronald Reagan's support of the terrorist Sandanistas, whom he compared with the US founding fathers, another band of unlawful rebels. It was not meant to be taken seriously as a label.

The point I was striving, unsuccessfully to make, is that the US uses such labels as "terrorist" when it is expedient; in some cases they are quite likely to support such unlawfully violent groups. It all depends what material gain is in it for the US gov't. Just a cursory look at the history of terrorism, torture, corruption, and US support and apathy in the Philippines tells all you need to know about the "moral" stance of the US. It's not politically expedient to care about Philippine citizens at the moment.

 

[Porthos]

Although I work for a well-known mobile phone company in the City Centre of Birmingham I've never really given it any thought. We've had a few bomb threats over the years but nothing has ever happened.