Suspected terrorist attacks in London

[icarus]

Originally posted by habernac@Jul 7 2005, 02:17 PM
I know Icarus was in London recently, but he's back now. Good timing.

The cowards strike again.....

:angry:

I was at King's Cross station on Saturday; I know it well. I also know Great Russell Street/Russell Square and Edgware Road station pretty well also. Crazy.

I have friends in London and environs currently, and like everyone else I hope to hear from them soon...

I have to say though it is a good thing the attacks didn't happen on this past Saturday. With Live8 and Wimbledon and G8 protests, I had never seen the Tube so busy. They had to shut down Hyde Park Corner station because it was so crowded. Everyday in London is hustle and bustle and today was no different, but Saturday could have been even more catastrophic.

[Resolute 14]

Originally posted by transplant99+Jul 7 2005, 07:52 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (transplant99 @ Jul 7 2005, 07:52 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Snakeeye@Jul 7 2005, 10:27 AM
If they bombed the crap out of Bern, Switzerland, I would agree this was a completely random attack.

But England is America's greatest ally, and has been walking in step with Bush in both Afghanistan and Iraq. I would suggest that this is hardly a random choice for an attack. It also comes on the back of the "successful" bombings in Madrid that caused Spain people and government to tuck tail and run. I dont think England will do the same though.

US, Kenya, Tanzania, Malaysia, Somalia, Yemen, Algeria, Spain, Pakistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Turkey....

Its a pretty long list, with many of these attacks occurring long before the Iraq war. [/b][/quote]
And how many of those were on US based targets?

I agree that their intent is to "kill the infedels" but there is a purpose behind the attacks. They arent random.

[dustygoon]

Originally posted by Cowperson@Jul 7 2005, 01:38 PM
Five weeks ago, Mrs. Cowperson and I were at Russell Square at a Monty Python festival thingy . . . where a bus apparently exploded. We were also using the Kings Cross station for the subway and the train service.

The thing you notice on the subway is there isn't any room on either side of the train to escape.

I know there were a number of Calgarypuckers through London in the last couple of months but isn't there someone there currently as well?

Cowperson

Man....i am bummed about this terrorist activity in London. Fotze's and Tank's jokes aren't even getting the usual chuckle out loud. I just moved from London after being there 5 years.

I work in markets....it ticks me off seeing people selling shares on news like this. Some are doing it to make money off this terrible news (shorting).

Those tubes felt like coffins on rails after 9/11. Like you said cow, there is no where to go but out the back of the train and down the rat infested dark tunnel.

I was riding the tube to work one morning a few years ago when the train came to a sudden stop. We were jammed shoulder to shoulder. The driver came over the speakers and said to quickly open the windows and get circulation. This is when everyone was talking about chemical attacks. People were catatonic. This one woman broke down sobbing. Myself and a few others around me couldn't console her. Then the train started and everyone went on about their business, reading the papers etc. Strange.

People in London have been dealing with this shinguard for years. They are plucky.

Originally posted by transplant99@Jul 7 2005, 02:22 PM

Then why did they do this in London? Your theory was just, literally, blown to smithereens.

They dont care what other countries think of them...as displayed by their completely random targets.

You not radical muslim....you die. Period. Allah says so.

London as a 'random' target? You can't be serious.
Dig deeper.... London (or England) is far from random.

I hate to crakc out definitions, but heres the definition of terrorism:
The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons.

Either way, I agree that it is a disgusting, cowardly act. My fiance's father jsut moved there for a year to work. He sent an email stating he had arrived at work just before the bombs went off but that he did go through some of those stations... scarey.

[Neeper]

Holy crap!! My hotel was 2 blocks from Russell Square. The Contiki headquaters is only 3 blocks away. That's unbelievable. This is unreal. For some reason this hits "home". Even though I don't live there, I was there only 1 month ago.

[Cowperson]

Originally posted by dustygoon@Jul 7 2005, 03:10 PM

I work in markets....it ticks me off seeing people selling shares on news like this. Some are doing it to make money off this terrible news (shorting).

In fairness, the financial market reaction this morning has been fairly miniscule compared to the instant global meltdown four years ago on 9/11.

People pay attention and react somewhat, but sheer panic doesn't happen anymore.

People in London have been dealing with this shinguard for years. They are plucky.

Unfortunately, this is hardly the first attack or disaster on the London subway system. . . . . this is just the latest.

Cowperson

[the crispy badger]

There's going to a news conference at 11:45 eastern time...and their updating the warning system to orange for now in the U.S

[calculoso]

Originally posted by Table 5+Jul 7 2005, 08:48 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Table 5 @ Jul 7 2005, 08:48 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-calculoso@Jul 7 2005, 09:44 AM
London also just won the Olympics. Anybody think that timing is a little too coincidental? Lots of publicity there...

I'm just wondering what would have happened if New York won the Olympics. Another 9/11 all over again?

I dunno, personally I dont think its Olympics related. I think if they wanted to mess with the Olympics as well, this would have happened yesterday since I just don't see London winning the vote in that circumstance. Why would the terrorists miss that "opportunity" if the wanted to derail the Olympic bid? And this is not something they could organize in one day in retaliation for them winning either. [/b][/quote]
While I agree the timing would have been better yesterday, I don't doubt that they would have needed more than one day to put all the particulars in place.

What I didn't portray very well in my previous post (blame it on the lack of coffee? nah) was that they may have had something planned for EVERY city that was in the running, but only chose, for whatever reason, to execute in the city that won. I suppose it's a stretch, but still somethat plausible.

[Flame On]

Originally posted by fotze@Jul 7 2005, 08:36 AM
How in the hell do you fight an enemy that welcomes death?

Oblige them.

[the crispy badger]

I guess thats the real meaning of a "War of Attrition" to me

[transplant99]

London as a 'random' target? You can't be serious.
Dig deeper.... London (or England) is far from random

What i meant was the randomness of the actual explosions...in 4 seperate places all over the core of the city.

1 bus, 3 tunnels....all packed with people. No government building, no building of status like the WTC represented.

And if London isnt a random target, and they do care what countries think, and as you point out that the British population was dead set against the war in Iraq....then why did they attack there??

These guys arent the smartest bunch IMO. They are brilliant in a"criminal mind and target weak areas" kind of way, but they dont play the "we will get support for our cause" game well at all, as you suggest they try.

They plain and simply dont care who they hit, when they hit, where they hit, as long as it is a place of infidels....which is what i said from the beginning.

[dustygoon]

Originally posted by Cowperson+Jul 7 2005, 03:32 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Cowperson @ Jul 7 2005, 03:32 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-dustygoon@Jul 7 2005, 03:10 PM

I work in markets....it ticks me off seeing people selling shares on news like this. Some are doing it to make money off this terrible news (shorting).

In fairness, the financial market reaction this morning has been fairly miniscule compared to the instant global meltdown four years ago on 9/11.

People pay attention and react somewhat, but sheer panic doesn't happen anymore.

People in London have been dealing with this shinguard for years. They are plucky.

Unfortunately, this is hardly the first attack or disaster on the London subway system. . . . . this is just the latest.

Cowperson [/b][/quote]
You are right about the panic. Markets seem to have got a bit more numb to news like this. Having said that, US markets do not reacte much to overseas events (madrid and bali being the reference points here). There has not been an attack on the US since 9/11.

The London FTSE stock index (like the DOW) was down 4% at one point today but has snapped back a bit to being down only 1.5% at the moment.

The US S&P500 was down by up to 1% but is now only down 0.2% and is steaming back strongly in the last half hour.

I imagine a lot of the commuters stuck in the City of London are popping into their locals for a few pints.

[Sylvanfan]

Wow, talk about a 180 swing in emotions in 24 hours for the city of London. Based on the euphoria in the city from the Olympics yesterday I can't help but wonder if this attack wouldn't have happened in Paris had they been awarded the Olympics. The ironny of the G8 being in the UK, and the Olympics being awarded yesterday, and than this is almost too much. Condolences to all those affected by these horrific attacks.

Originally posted by fotze@Jul 7 2005, 04:24 PM
Pics from London

http://www.instapunk.com/archives/InstaPun...veV2.php3?a=574

Those shots are sickening.

I love the Bill O'Reilly style rant at the end.

[Cowperson]

There are picture galleries and free video at:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/

Picture gallery at

http://edition.cnn.com/

Cowperson

[transplant99]

BBC now saying that their own broadcast center is being evacuated for fear of a bombing there.

yikes.

[Clarkey]

I have a family member who was at some of those exact locations 2 weeks ago to this day.

[KevanGuy]

Here's a link to BBC Radio5 , if you are interested.

http://www.penguinradio.com/search/play.ph...ot;100029"

[Hack&Lube]

So there are approx. 50 deaths and thousands are injured. Do you think this will really sway the tide of public opinion on England about the "war on terror" and especially Iraq? Will it galvanize and partly polarize opinion like after 9/11 in America?

What happened after Madrid? Did they ever pin those bombings on Al Quada/Islamic Radicals or was it those separatists?

[Pagal4321]

I'm gonna have to go and disagree with tranny on this one, you can't possibly think London was a random target.
That's like claiming the WTC was a random target for 9/11. These terrorists do large scale attacks for a reason, god only knows what it is.

These are some horrible horrible pictures.....and this makes security even tighter around the world now.