British terrorist threat - Is it only a matter of time here?

galwayrush

parsi wrote:

Monaghan Bombings. Dublin Bombings. The Royal George in Limerick. All were terrorist bombings performed by extra-territorial organisations.

Even the Salthill Hotel in Galway was bombed a few years ago.

Tha Gopher

Karoma wrote:

Gotta love that mentality- it's all black & white.
There are a lot of people in America that are anti-war...

why am I even bothering? Am I bovvered?

They are anti war, not pro AQ.

Capt'n Midnight

Imagine if there were terrorists on this island, disguised as Irish people :eek:

All you have to do is roll the clock back a bit.

galwayrush

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

Imagine if there were terrorists on this island, disguised as Irish people :eek:

All you have to do is roll the clock back a bit.

Do Eco Terrorists count?

Chakar

There have been no known terrorist bomb threats apart from those from Irish criminal gangs. I'd say Taoiseach Bertie Ahern is more worried about those criminals and the problem with Mountjoy Prison than international terrorists.

SpAcEd OuT

obl wrote:

Islamist Terrorists/Jihadists striking here would be like them striking Canada. All the same effort to strike their real enemies' neighbours? Not worth it, surely. Right here is probably the safest place to be.

eh not really because Cananda currently have troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Anyways I remember seeing a documentary about this on rte1 and apparantly there is Al-Qaeda cells operating in Ireland but they would never do something to risk drawing attention to themselves [i.e attacking Ireland] because they have it so good here

Black Swan

galwayrush wrote:

Even the Salthill Hotel in Galway was bombed a few years ago.

All this time I thought getting bombed in Galway required the assistance of Guinness, Murphy's, and the like?

InFront

galwayrush wrote:

It does help keep American factories here.

I can never understand why anyone makes that argument or believes it. Why would a private company be interested in attracting possibly controversial military operations to the region in which they operate?

Anyway, lets not over inflate the importance of Shannon. There are lots and lots of UK military bases in the UK that would attract much greater publicity, would cause a swing in terms of public opinion and possible British Army Operations to a more meaningful extent and would increase the AQ celebrity more resolutely. An attack on Shannon would be very very strange indeed, and from a terrorist's point of view, pointless.

WhiteWashMan

Karoma wrote:

Yes; please, lead us dorkman2! Show no symphity!
Please also try answering the second question...or did you already?

well, madrid got bombed, but i dont know if spain was involved in the invasion or peace keeping of iraq.

with regards the original question, i dont see why there cant be a level of additional vigilance.
people can be blind and give logical reasons as to why things shouldnt or wouldnt happen, but when has logic ever played a part in terrorism?

InFront

While terrorism may be (or in fact, simply is) one of most cruel and disgusting forms of violence that exist, I wouldn't exactly say it is illogical. Whether in Iraq or in New York or London or Glasgow, terrorists use the public, anonymously, spontaneously and randomly to influence the course of international politics by altering their mood. The fear that 'it could have been you' is amplified across entire societies and regions. Blowing up a monument or state building is one thing, targeting a random commuter train or random aeroplane or any given busy street influences people much more directly right where it hurts.

It is wrong, and totally inexcusable, but it probably is a pretty logical manoeuvre.

Capt'n Midnight

20 minutes later and this could have happened here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_India_Flight_182

Bottle_of_Smoke

After the Glasgow attack I don't see why it couldn't happen here.

Even if Shannon isn't significant - which I'm not convinced of, there's still reason to view us as a target. We're a westernised country, our ways of life are wrong in the eyes of an Islamic extremist. Q.E.D. legitimate target.

Karoma wrote:

Do you think they'd honestly bomb Ireland? From a political view-would it not be a bad thing for themselves? They'd turn so many more people against themselves in America, and other countries, Shirley?

Islamic terrosim has never been about winning fans from the west. It's more of a "You can't f*ck with Islam" message.

If England is increasing security levels to critical then I think we should be giving special training to police & have a better presence on the likes of the Luas lines. Those things are packed at times.

Tha Gopher

Karoma wrote:

Yes; please, lead us dorkman2!

Ah, personal abuse. If I was a petty man Id report it. Particularly considering some ban the other day for someone light heartedtly calling another user a spa.

Anywho......

CantGetNoSleep

friends brother lives in england, and he was in my house one day last summer, brother rang him saying to watch itn news, there was after being one of those big raids where they arrest about twenty terrorists in one morning, one of the chaps they showed being lead into court to be charged was after being in primary school over here with him, and still lives here today as far as I know - he's early 20s looks asian but has lived here most of his life, always been a dodgy enough character - drugs and that but never would have expected anything more

Karoma

WhiteWashMan wrote:

well, madrid got bombed, but i dont know if spain was involved in the invasion or peace keeping of iraq.

They were - mostly in the central-south sector.

Islamic terrosim has never been about winning fans from the west. It's more of a "You can't f*ck with Islam" message.

Right. I'm still only comin' 'round so I still don't get where the confusion is - I've most likely ailed to explain the position even nearly as well as I should - but my point was quite simply not that there is a pro-AQ sentiment or that they want fans or anything of the sort, merely that further polarising the issue by turning more Westerners hardk0er anti-Islam would be devestating for them as it'd ensure more support for Bush et. al.

Dr_Teeth

WhiteWashMan wrote:

well, madrid got bombed, but i dont know if spain was involved in the invasion or peace keeping of iraq.

The Spanish government at the time supported the invasion (although the majority of the Spanish people did not), and sent a considerable number of troops to Iraq. They were pulled out after the government lost the election just after the Madrid bombing.

Tchocky

Yeah, they are burning with hatred in Peshawar, and all because of Shannon.

It's not like Iraq is the motivation of terrorists anyway.

Bottle_of_Smoke

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote:

Islamic terrosim has never been about winning fans from the west. It's more of a "You can't f*ck with Islam" message.
.

You could add to that "Get out of our countries and let us have our islamic states!!"

AQ see the west as interfering in "their countries" and will stop at nothing to remove them & their influance (westerners) and that also means means killing supporters of western backed governments like in Iraq.

marco murphy

They are of the opinion that you voted in the government, so you suffer.

Poblachtach

Poblachtach wrote:

They are of the opinion that you voted in the government, so you suffer.

True, thats why they bombed Madrid shortly before the elections, and (possibly*) caused a change of government.

*the spanish may have changed government anyway without this attack influencing them.

Lirange

Deleted User wrote:

You could add to that "Get out of our countries and let us have our islamic states!!"

AQ see the west as interfering in "their countries" and will stop at nothing to remove them & their influance (westerners) and that also means means killing supporters of western backed governments like in Iraq.

Actually many of the prominent radical Islamists in the Europe/UK are expansionist. It is in their manifestos and declarations that the UK/Europe eventually will come under Sharia Law (Allah willing). The radical mosque that the recent suspects in the Atlantic aeroplane bomb plot preached this message. Though I think the imbecilic policies of Bush, Blair, et al make it easier for these groups it's naive to think that it all comes down to a "you leave us alone we'll leave you alone" resolution. Many of these extremists do not have a "live and let live" world view.

A pullout from Iraq may have some effect but it will not alter the overall climate. Radical Islamists do not like the effects of Western cultural and economic influence in their countries. It hampers their efforts to create Islamic states and inculcate their values. It is certainly not just limited to issues over a military presence. Moreover, many of these radicals do have ambitions that go beyond the Middle East.

heyjude

Karoma wrote:

If that's aimed at my post: I didn't mean "with baited breath" -just that it would make some impact as (a) we're a mostly-neutral country

Not sure if I'd call us 'Neutral' though our politicians would, I think non-alligned might be more accurate, we would claim that we are neutral as regards the war in Iraq and yet we have provided some minor assistance to the US military. It was the same during the Cold War, we were neutral while favouring NATO, still its a charade that we seem to like to keep playing. Switzerland is truly neutral.

obl wrote:

Islamist Terrorists/Jihadists striking here would be like them striking Canada. All the same effort to strike their real enemies' neighbours? Not worth it, surely. Right here is probably the safest place to be.

You may have missed the al Qaeda plot to launch terrorist attacks in Toronto which was broken up by Canadian police in June 2006. See http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/06/03/canada.terror/

Lirange

Lirange wrote:

Actually many of the prominent radical Islamists in the Europe/UK are expansionist. It is in their manifestos and declarations that the UK/Europe eventually will come under Sharia Law (Allah willing). The radical mosque that the recent suspects in the Atlantic aeroplane bomb plot preached this message. Though I think the imbecilic policies of Bush, Blair, et al make it easier for these groups it's naive to think that it all comes down to a "you leave us alone we'll leave you alone" resolution. Many of these extremists do not have a "live and let live" world view.

Yes you're correct, I just didn't expand my message to include that part. You just need to look at the number of "mini Islanic states" that are starting to appear in European cities.

In some cities it is now possible for a muslim to have a full isamic lifestyle with absoutely no western influences at all, it is only a small step to them setting up their own judicial systems in these communities.

heyjude

Ayahuarian wrote:

To be honest, this thread is a little retarded. There (to my recollection) has never been a terrorist bombing or bombing threat (IRA excluded) in Ireland.

And had there ever been a terrorist bombing or credible threat of an attack by foreign terrorists(so ETA excluded) in Spain before the Madrid train bombings ?
I don't think so, but there is a first time for everything and you have to be prepared, just because it hasn't happened before doesn't mean it can't happen now. If it can happen in Spain, in Britain and in France, why couldn't it happen here ?

Fratton Fred

Britain being in Iraq is not the reason for the bombing, it is an excuse.

These feckers don't care who or what they hit, they just want headlines. If they thought Ireland coud give them those headlines they would do something about it.

There is a much smaller Muslim community here so the Mad Muhlahs have not got to work preaching their hatred and brain washing disenfranchised young Muslims...yet.

HelterSkelter

Fratton Fred wrote:

Britain being in Iraq is not the reason for the bombing, it is an excuse.

So why were there no attacks before the Iraq war then?

ScumLord

For gods sake there seems to be an ellement in Ireland that wants us to be attacked just so we're in the thick of things. The Irish media was certainly crying out for an attack after the London bombings "we're wide open".

Muslems seem happy enough here, we don't come down as hard on them as the English police.

Wompa1

Shannon connection my hole, what connection did Bali have when they got attacked?, France opposed the war and they had their metro threatened....get real, the extremists don't like non-muslim states...anyones a target

raido9

Fratton Fred wrote:

Britain being in Iraq is not the reason for the bombing, it is an excuse.

These feckers don't care who or what they hit, they just want headlines. If they thought Ireland coud give them those headlines they would do something about it.

There is a much smaller Muslim community here so the Mad Muhlahs have not got to work preaching their hatred and brain washing disenfranchised young Muslims...yet.

They're in it for the headlines. Killing themselves to get on the news. Ya sure!

Think about that for a while and you'll realise how ridiculous it is. They're in a war. And since they're not strong enough to take on Britain directly they're doing it this way.

Fratton Fred

raido9 wrote:

They're in it for the headlines. Killing themselves to get on the news. Ya sure!

Think about that for a while and you'll realise how ridiculous it is. They're in a war. And since they're not strong enough to take on Britain directly they're doing it this way.

yeah, they are in a war...against the west.

they are killing themselves because they have been brainwashed into doing it, they think they will get their 50 virgins or whatever. The guys doing it, the ones who are too clever to blow themselves up are the ones who want headlines.

The guy strapping on the explosives and boarding the train may believe he is helping his fellow muslims in Iraq, but the Imans telling him what to do would just as happily send him to Dublin but it would be harder to find the cannon fodder to do that.

remember, the same people are also bombing markets in Iraq full of women and children going about their daily business.