Terrorist tried to bomb Portland, Oregon

[bowdown]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101127/ap_ ... _bomb_plot

Dang this is scary stuff. This guy was gonna kill many people. It is pretty close to where my whereabouts are usually. It is really close to my college campus.

[Andrew]

Well, it was his intention to kill a lot of people but considering that the explosives were duds supplied by the authorities who knew who he was and what he was planning, fortunately no one was in any real danger this time. Scary intentions nevertheless, but if anything positive has come out of the terrorist attacks in the last decade or so it's the vigilance and attempts to stay ahead of the people who want to commit these terrible acts.

[Tupik]

Well at the same time it can sometimes trigger off over-vigilance, like that time a British got sent to jail (he was released later on iirc) because he threatened to blow up the airport if they wouldn't do something to shorten the waiting time. This is exactly what the terrorists are aiming at, they want us to be afraid, and some people are actually feeding this fear that the terrorists are trying to put in us by overreacting and making it seem like we are always at risk of being hit by a terrorist attack.
It is still a good thing that this guy was able to get stopped, but we have to keep in mind that the number of deaths each year because of terrorist attacks is ridiculously small compared to car accidents, alcoholism, or almost everything except death due to eating radioactive potatoes.
So I say yes to stopping terrorists, no to overreacting and always warning the population of some kind of risk, thus creating an atmosphere of fear and tension, which is exactly what the terrorists want.


Which is why I don't give a fuck about all the threats France received from Bin Laden recently, it's my way of combating Al Quaeda I guess (I bet Bin Laden is having trouble sleeping at night )

[Mandich]

Bin Laden doesn't exist, he is just a person some fucked up people invented to get people's minds [like you and me ] off the real bad guys

[Tupik]

haha.
He does exist, but I agree he isn't the brain of the operations, he's just a funder who used the spotlight to... well terrorize people. I'm just using him as an example because he's the most recognizable terrorist out there. That is, after Tom Cruise.

[Mandich]

No i don't mean like he doesn't exist as a person, sure he does but he is just a marionette in all the terrorist action

[Andrew]

Well at the same time it can sometimes trigger off over-vigilance, like that time a British got sent to jail (he was released later on iirc) because he threatened to blow up the airport if they wouldn't do something to shorten the waiting time. This is exactly what the terrorists are aiming at, they want us to be afraid, and some people are actually feeding this fear that the terrorists are trying to put in us by overreacting and making it seem like we are always at risk of being hit by a terrorist attack.

True, it can get that way. My aunt was pulled aside in an airport because she made some remark to my uncle about being "glad it was over", referring to the flight which had been somewhat unpleasant. Her timing wasn't great though as it was just as she'd gotten through the security check and while her remark was innocent enough, they took it to be suspicious. One might suggest that was taking things too far.

I see what you're saying about not living in fear though and I certainly agree that's the way it should be, but that is the goal of the added security measures after all. I'd much rather we err on the side of caution and not be cavalier about these things. The fact they're not taking any risks and people are working on staying ahead of terrorists should make us feel safer in the long run and I believe that's the intention, peace of mind as well as prevention.

[Tupik]

No i don't mean like he doesn't exist as a person, sure he does but he is just a marionette in all the terrorist action

I know, my "haha" was just me finding your sentence funny, I wasn't saying you were wrong, I actually quite agree with you.

Andrew, I agree that we should be vigilant, but sometimes I feel like governments tend to over-emphasize on the risks, creating an atmosphere of unsafeness as well. I say try to keep things safe but without being too alarming and making people believe they're always at risk of being attacked when this isn't true at all.

[Houndy]

More stupid people trying to kill themselves for nothing..... Can someone just kill these people off the face of the Earth