Terrorists hit Istanbul again: at least 25 dead

[cstaylor]

Not exactly Japan news, but...
At Least 25 Killed, 320 Hurt; Bush and Blair Condemn Attacks

Explosions blasted the British consulate and the international bank HSBC in Istanbul today, and a television station reported that more than two dozen people were killed in the blasts, which were so powerful that they sheared the face off the buildings and rocked nearby houses.

[AssKissinger]

It's a reasonable thing to post because it shows again how Al-Qeada will strike anywhere they can, including Japan. This may sound like a crazy thing to say but I don't feel like the Bush administration has been or is really serious about fighting Al-Qeada. I'm not totally sure what I think, but this whole thing in Iraq leaves me full of doubt. What do you think, Mr. Taylor? Is it all a bunch of bullshit or are there some genuine good intentions going on? Anybody...what the hell do you think about all this shit?

[cstaylor]

I think we're seeing where science has taken us: a handful of angry men can build terrible weapons, load them into a common passenger vehicle, and commit multiple counts of murder.

I'm afraid that the only sure way of ending these things once and for all would require a return to the tactics of Rome:

In the last Punic war Carthage was destroyed along with its agriculture: Buildings and walls were razed to the ground; the plough passed over the site, and salt was sown in the furrow made...A solemn curse was pronounced that neither house, nor crops, should ever rise again.

Not a healthy direction for the world to take by any means, but in comparison I find it hard to comprehend ideas from some of the softer heads in Europe, those who desire a "political solution" (how do you discuss politics with a non-state entity?) There's been a religious awakening within Islam over the last 30 years, as they've been growing at a tremendous rate. If we peg the number of angry extremists at a a hundredth of a percent of the total Islamic population of 1.2billion, that would make 1.2 million foot soldiers/suicide bombers, larger than the armies that most countries can field in strength. In addition, by using the freedoms of civilized nations against them like a virus, they can murder a magnitude greater number of people.

Let us hope that we don't see Japanese importing these ideas.

[kimpatsukun]

I think that in the minds of radical Muslims of the al-Qaeda type, modern Turkey has turned its back on the Muslim world and joined the West.

It is an ally of the United States and Israel, it is a member of Nato and a would-be member of the European Union. And, crucially, it has been committed to secularism ever since it was founded as a modern republic in the 1920s.

Just to add some more light, the statement from al-Qaeda

The statement, from a wing of al-Qaeda, said it had carried out the synagogue attacks - and warned that more "cars of death" would target America's allies, especially Britain, Italy, Australia and Japan

Note that Japan has been added to the list! I also noted that Norway had been removed.