Live data from Hacker News

Brussels Rocked by Terrorist Attacks

wsj.com

21–30 of 345 posts

Re: Brussels Rocked by Terrorist Attacks

#21
post #9

As sad as it is, I think the responses will be: - we need more surveillance rights and money for the secret services - we need more police and higher spending - and possibly bomb some country (Syria is en vogue) What won't be said is: - How come this happens again without anyone having seen it coming? - What does it say about the success of the Western anti-terror foreign policy adopted ~2001?

Why would we bomb Syria? Isn't the al-Assad government working against ISIS and related organisations?

ISIS are in Syria.

Re: Brussels Rocked by Terrorist Attacks

#22
post #2

The comments there are... as expected I guess.

What didn't you expect? Hug-protest and tolerance march? People in Benelux are scared since November, after Paris attacks underground was blocked for a few days and military with full armament was on every corner.

Re: Brussels Rocked by Terrorist Attacks

#23
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess it's hard to feel in any other way when recent migration policies have translated into a sharp decline of our own security in our own developed countries.

Maybe yes, maybe not, but you are a troll who created the account about 24 hours before the attacks.

Maybe I was behind the attacks. Or maybe your comment is a senseless ad-hominem.

Re: Brussels Rocked by Terrorist Attacks

#24

This is a mess larger than I can comprehend, with scores of innocent dead. The spectrum of political issues this crosses is vast. We're talking nationalism, immigration, religion, extremism, surveillance, privacy, and war to name a few. The nuance required to understand and attack the big picture is almost nowhere to be found. I saw the French PM said something like "we're at war" - I'm not sure who they're at war wi…

Honest question that always crosses my mind. Why do we always assume a terrorist group is behind such attacks? Couldn't it be a couple of deranged persons acting on their own?

Re: Brussels Rocked by Terrorist Attacks

#25

People always freak out when this happens. As long as there have been people with enough hate (or often political motives) there has always been terrorist attacks. Even the Romans suffered as much. I don't think there is any solution which makes everyone perfectly safe. Politicians always want to guarantee perfect safety but it's not possible. Some things you can prevent, some things you can stop, but some horrible t…

You seem to attribute a lot to politics. I would argue that religion is the variable that plays the dominant role in this war of ideas.

In these situations, religion is politics.

Re: Brussels Rocked by Terrorist Attacks

#26
post #24

This is a mess larger than I can comprehend, with scores of innocent dead. The spectrum of political issues this crosses is vast. We're talking nationalism, immigration, religion, extremism, surveillance, privacy, and war to name a few. The nuance required to understand and attack the big picture is almost nowhere to be found. I saw the French PM said something like "we're at war" - I'm not sure who they're at war wi…

Honest question that always crosses my mind. Why do we always assume a terrorist group is behind such attacks? Couldn't it be a couple of deranged persons acting on their own?

Considering it comes 4 days after the arrest of the man who planned the Paris attacks, it's possible that this is just a couple of deranged people but it's unlikely. In this context, even with no detailed information about the attackers, it's quite likely that this is a terrorist attack somehow connected to fundamentalism/etc.

Re: Brussels Rocked by Terrorist Attacks

#29
Facebook has activated Safety Check. — https://www.facebook.com/safetycheck/brusselsexplosions-marc...

I guess it’s official. Facebook Safety Check is for terrorist attacks in white, western countries only. Good to know.

Edit: I was wrong and I take back what I said: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook_Safety_Check#Other_de...

Re: Brussels Rocked by Terrorist Attacks

#30
post #9

As sad as it is, I think the responses will be: - we need more surveillance rights and money for the secret services - we need more police and higher spending - and possibly bomb some country (Syria is en vogue) What won't be said is: - How come this happens again without anyone having seen it coming? - What does it say about the success of the Western anti-terror foreign policy adopted ~2001?

Why would we bomb Syria? Isn't the al-Assad government working against ISIS and related organisations?

But we, the United States, are more concerned about getting rid of Assad than we are about fighting ISIS, which is why we even train and arm some of the less ISIS-ish ISIS groups that fight Assad.
Post reply on HN