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Serious Bombings in Brussels
- Thread starter apt-get
- Start date
I offer kind platitudes to everyone and hope this thread can become a safe space for everyone to pray to Brussels.
I hope good things will happen to good people and bad things will happen to bad people.
My news said they take responsibility, or at least it sounds like that in my language.
What can I say, other than it is yet another case of islamist fundamental extremists not showing any care for anyone's wellbeing, not even themselves? I am truly sorry for the families and friends who are the victims of this heinous, senseless attack.
And yeah, I've too heard that this is some stupid attempt to get revenge for the capture of one of the Paris attackers, but I've also heard that this sort of attack took a long time to plan (can't remember if it was days, weeks, or months), and that the capture of one of the Paris attackers instigated the plans being put into action far further than originally planned. I don't known which is the case.
I've also heard that part of the problem is Muslims not feeling like they are a part of the European community or culture, and feeling alienated. I've said this before: as long as we as an international community fail to show that ISIS are a group of barbarians, and that we are the community they should want to be a part of and contribute to, then ISIS will continue to have steam, and continue to be able to influence disillusioned individuals to do their bidding. I get the feeling this is a battle of ideals and beliefs.
But if they think this attack is an attempt to cow the Belgian government into submission, I hope they prove them that such tactics don't work.
And yeah, I've too heard that this is some stupid attempt to get revenge for the capture of one of the Paris attackers, but I've also heard that this sort of attack took a long time to plan (can't remember if it was days, weeks, or months), and that the capture of one of the Paris attackers instigated the plans being put into action far further than originally planned. I don't known which is the case.
I've also heard that part of the problem is Muslims not feeling like they are a part of the European community or culture, and feeling alienated. I've said this before: as long as we as an international community fail to show that ISIS are a group of barbarians, and that we are the community they should want to be a part of and contribute to, then ISIS will continue to have steam, and continue to be able to influence disillusioned individuals to do their bidding. I get the feeling this is a battle of ideals and beliefs.
But if they think this attack is an attempt to cow the Belgian government into submission, I hope they prove them that such tactics don't work.
First Paris and now Brussles. This fucking sucks; I really feel for the families of the dead. Assuming their claim of responsibility is true, ISIS has just added another reason to hate them. I don't understand what motivates these jackasses tbh, cause whatever it is it most certainly isn't the teachings of the Quran. Quite frankly its more likely that that ISIS' leaders are just a bunch of rich tossers who dropped out of education and were bored. Its such a waste of human life, and its utterly pathetic to be completely frank.
This is a real tragedy. I wish the best for those effected and healing for Belgium as a whole.
It's a mix of a lot of complex issues, really, but I'll quickly touch on some of (what I see as, at least) the bigger ones.
Let's start with a strong religious devotion, which means fully accepting a philosophy to shape your worldview. When your mindset and entire way of life is formed by a specific doctrine, those that oppose it are often seen as threats, whether it's real or only perceived. Islam, like any philosophy, is open to interpretation. Jihad, which can refer to internal or external struggles, appears often in the Quran and can have some dangerous interpretations among extremists.
Next up is history, where the interactions between the Arab and Western worlds have been quite rocky to say the least, and for the past several hundred years, the burden of blame has mostly fallen on the West. The Crusades, the Reconquista, various attempts at colonialism, the formation of Israel, etc. have all been rather invasive. Heavy reliance on bombings in modern warfare has also caused countless, unintentional civilian deaths in recent history (not that there weren't plenty of those, including intentional ones, in the past).
I should probably touch on globalization for good measure, since it's stripped the world of isolationism, especially in a region as resource-rich as the Middle East. This can be seen as more of a cultural invasion, but it's certainly made the West impossible to ignore anymore.
The two sides aren't even fighting the same war as each other anymore. Too many complicated factors have evolved over a rather long and bloody history to make this sort of attack at all easy to comprehend. It's also truly fucking terrible, and does go against the overall philosophy preached in the Quran. Even if you don't like it (which is honestly the only healthy reaction), hopefully you can at least start to understand why these sorts of things keep happening.
Calling them a group of barbarians is sort of funny when you're talking about alienation as a partial cause. The word itself comes from the Greek barbaros, basically meaning "not Greek." It has a long history of being used to describe any "strange" or foreign culture, and has grown into a dismissive way of writing off other cultures as simply uncultured entirely. That outlook's fueled both sides for over a millennium, and is indeed part of the problem.
Cresselia~~
Junichi Masuda likes this!!
There is a lot of oppression from christian countries to islamic countries but they are not strong enough to start a proper war
But that still doesnt really justify anything
christians did fail the crusade
Building on what Jellicent said: With ISIS specifically, a lot of their doctrine is wrapped up in old end times prophecy. That's where all the stuff about defeating "the armies of Rome" comes from. Supporters are told that there will be a massive final war between Muslims and Christians within the next two or three generations, Jesus will eventually come back to support the Muslims, and they need to be ready to fight to the very end.
There's also a lot of propaganda about what it means to even be a Muslim. ISIS claims that it is a caliphate, which means that all Muslims have a religious obligation to obey its leaders, and no one who refuses can really be considered a Muslim. Obviously this isn't a popular claim in the broader Islamic world, but it works on enough people worldwide to bring in recruits.
As for history, a lot of ISIS' leaders met and built connections while in US-controlled prisons during the Iraq War. They definitely weren't just bored. And of course they've also tapped into more local grudges (e.g. against the Assad regime in Syria and the Shi'ite majority in Iraq) to bring angry people onto their side.
There's also a lot of propaganda about what it means to even be a Muslim. ISIS claims that it is a caliphate, which means that all Muslims have a religious obligation to obey its leaders, and no one who refuses can really be considered a Muslim. Obviously this isn't a popular claim in the broader Islamic world, but it works on enough people worldwide to bring in recruits.
As for history, a lot of ISIS' leaders met and built connections while in US-controlled prisons during the Iraq War. They definitely weren't just bored. And of course they've also tapped into more local grudges (e.g. against the Assad regime in Syria and the Shi'ite majority in Iraq) to bring angry people onto their side.
Cheryl.
Celesteela is Life
In regards to ISIS, the finance minister of ISIS has been reported dead.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/25/politics/isis-no-2-in-command-killed-u-s-believes/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/25/politics/isis-no-2-in-command-killed-u-s-believes/index.html
It's pretty horrible, yeah.
I'm not going to pretend that I know a lot about this issue, because I don't. I only heard about it two days ago. I'm terrified by it, and then infuriated because widespread panic is ultimately their goal, and by being scared I feel as if I'm giving in to them. My condolences go out to the dead and their families.
I'm not going to pretend that I know a lot about this issue, because I don't. I only heard about it two days ago. I'm terrified by it, and then infuriated because widespread panic is ultimately their goal, and by being scared I feel as if I'm giving in to them. My condolences go out to the dead and their families.
I was just about to touch upon that point. I discovered this topic on Twitter (thanks Occupy Wall Street!):
https://theintercept.com/2016/03/25...s-while-ignoring-victims-of-western-violence/
And there are many more links to related articles. Needless to say, I am absolutely disgusted and furious with the barbaric, reckless, incompetent actions of our own military and it's allies, and the incompetence or just the ball-lessness of our media for refusing to cover this. By not taking care to make sure that civilians don't get hurt, or even worse, not even giving a shit, and by keeping it from reaching the public eye, all of this just encourages the family and friends of victims, or even people of the same ethnicity to go to fight for the faction that will fight against those who slaughter who they perceive to be their kind. The fact that the media doesn't give the victims in those countries of these airstrikes the time of day only pours salt in the wound, and gives them the impression we don't give a shit about them. I don't justify ISIS, and I still say that terrorism is primaevally barbaric, but I think I can see why ISIS gets no shortage of recruits, even those who are willing to kill themselves. It's about joining whoever will help them fight those they perceive has wronged them, giving us a taste of our own medicine, and revenge, pure and simple. They must view us westerners as arrogant, living in our high castle, comfortable society, while their kind in Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia, Libya, and Iraq lose their homes, businesses, places of worship, and homes from above. They can't do much about the warplanes and drones, so they go for the least resistance: they go for us civilians, because they see very little alternative, and they probably think we deserve it. I still think that the top brass of ISIS are just using pissed off people to do their bidding, just as the top brass of the military and intelligence doesn't always tell us everything we need to know, but if we had negotiated with these organizations, and make a deal where we wouldn't kill anymore civilians if they didn't kill any of ours, or at least made an attempt, as well as held the moral high ground by not killing civilians anyways, and if Muslims and Islamists saw that we were trying to be the good guys (which not all see us as at all), ISIS might find itself more hard pressed to find pissed off recruits who are willing kill themselves. By now, it is probably too late, and I doubt they'd trust us to keep our word, and the top brass of ISIS probably wants the massive civilian casualties to continue, so that affected families and friends will flock into their waiting arms.
Speaking of which, that is exactly why I disagree with Trump's idea of killing the families of ISIS. All it will take is the son or daughter whose family is killed in an airstrike, and some money, and some nuclear or biological material from Iran or North Korea to create a disaster, and we could be the victims of the military's incompetence. By killing civilians, they aren't keeping us safer, they are only creating more hate. And hate is like fire: it just feeds off itself. That and it is just morally wrong, and not who we are, or supposed to be. We start killing the families of civilians, even children, on purpose, and it will take us to a very dark place, and there might be no turning back. It might also split the military as well between those who will tolerate it, and those who won't.
And I use the word "barbaric" and "uncivilized" synonymously, irony not intentional.