Monday, July 02, 2007
Are we more or less at risk?
Mark Devenport with some interesting thoughts in the wake of the firebombing at Glasgow airport. Is Northern Ireland at greater or lesser risk in a future bombing campaign. The Secretary of State says “no more or no less” than Britain, the passengers at City Airport say less.
In general terms I agree more with the passengers in transit than the Cabinet minister. There are more high profile targets in Great Britain than here, so if you are an international terrorist mounting a campaign then you are more likely to be active there. Also given that most terrorists are mindful of the media impact of what they do, they might consider an incident in Northern Ireland to be simply too confusing in terms of the message it projects.
Mick Fealty @ 10:16 AM
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/6258544.stm
As long as we don’t criticise the religion of peace we should be ok.
Mr Fealty must remember little about the Provos’ camapaign. Soft targets, belly of the beast and all that. The playbook is the same.Posted by on Jul 02, 2007 @ 12:11 PMThere’s always the media spin the terrorists know they would get if they hit NI - “after Tragic NI sorts out it’s problems blah blah blah” but people here are accustomed to the threat.
Posted by on Jul 02, 2007 @ 12:14 PMthere is always the chance that the groups responsible would expect a bigger backlash from the norn irish public against ethnic groups
would this increase or decease the chance of an attack?
Posted by on Jul 02, 2007 @ 12:44 PMMaybe there’s less risk because they have a beef with Britain and not Ireland, which for most of the world is a separate country.
Don’t worry I’m sure the UUP could send a delegation to Al Queda demanding they be included on a list of targets cause they’re as British as Finchley and all that sh*t*.
Waaa we want to be bombed too… you’re discriminating against our cultr’n'heritage. This is worse than Patten. So much for an “Ireland of Equals” etc. ad nauseum.
Posted by on Jul 02, 2007 @ 12:50 PMWhat was their beef with Bali ?
And those Shannon flights ....
Posted by on Jul 02, 2007 @ 12:54 PMUFB
cut the caffine mate mondays are hard enough for us all!
just exploring the options Glasgow after all has one of the most integrated asian communities in the UK
Posted by on Jul 02, 2007 @ 12:54 PMThe Shannon Airport is a logistical apparatus of the War effort, something that is widely publicised.
The Royal Irish Regiment are part of the coalition forces.
Irish companies have won contracts for the reconstruction of Iraq.
The South of Ireland has a large group of militant Muslims and its government has been criticised in the past for not monitoring them enough.
the Islamic movement in its extremes still finds plenty of support amongst a certain class of people on the Island.
So we have involvement in the invasion of Iraq, we have profit accrued from that invasion and we have a local gang of organised Mohammedans, it seems to me that the potential impetus for the identification of Irish targets is there.On the other hand, the Irish movements have always been at pains to stress their support for assorted Arab groups, something which may even have influence in certain sections of America and the Moslems no doubt are aware of the advantage of maintaining friends ‘inside enemy lines’, so perhaps with a view to their strategy rather than their ethics, targeting Irish concerns or Irish territory may not be a popular ambition.
and, by the way, it verges on the pathetic that here, through the slugger commentators kaleidoscope, this issue could provoke comments on the UUP and the supposed absurdity of their British identity. Does everything in the Chucky mind boil down to contrived slights against Unionists ?Posted by on Jul 02, 2007 @ 01:08 PM“Maybe there’s less risk because they have a beef with Britain and not Ireland, which for most of the world is a separate country.”
So you don’t think allowing Shannon to be used as airstrip one might make the RoI a target? Hell France even opposed the war in Iraq and Al Queda considers it a ‘legitimate’ target.
“Don’t worry I’m sure the UUP could send a delegation to Al Queda demanding they be included on a list of targets cause they’re as British as Finchley and all that sh*t*.”
Considering the Royal Irish Regiment has fought in both Iraq and Afghanistan I’m sure Islamists would consider NI firmly within the UK.
Posted by on Jul 02, 2007 @ 01:14 PMNotice that, as the more obvious targets are “hardened”, the attacks switch to the peripheries and softer options.
Don’t take your eyes off the ball! It’s not over till it’s over!
And, quite frankly, your age, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, place of residence or line in personal abuse won’t make a blind bit of difference.
Devenport’s original question seems in quite disgusting bad taste, anyway.
Posted by on Jul 02, 2007 @ 01:27 PMit would be interesting however (in a narrow NI egotistical way) to see how they see NI. think they have moved on from the old gaddaffi days?
Posted by on Jul 02, 2007 @ 01:50 PMIf Al Queda’s view of Ireland (north and south) is as sophisticated as the typical man-in-the-street view of Islam, I imagine they will make no distinction between any of us -north, south, Prod, Fenian. They will see the island of Ireland providing Shannon to the US as the (spurious) justification for indiscriminate attack.
Such a view is fortified by the vitriol expressed against all Muslims in parts of the internet, a haunt not unknown to Islam extremists…
Posted by on Jul 02, 2007 @ 02:06 PM‘The Royal Irish Regiment are part of the coalition forces.’
The 1st (and only battaion left) of the Royal Irish Regiment is home based in Scotland and not Northern Ireland.
Posted by on Jul 02, 2007 @ 02:23 PMRegardless of anything else, it seems like the recent targets were “soft touch” targets. I doubt NI would be considered a particularly soft touch because security and being alert to potential dangers seems to still be more ingrained in the NI psyche than elsewhere in the UK (or RofI for that matter).
Posted by on Jul 02, 2007 @ 02:38 PM“The 1st (and only battaion left) of the Royal Irish Regiment is home based in Scotland and not Northern Ireland.”
Yeah and full of Scots, not an Irish person to be seen…
Posted by on Jul 02, 2007 @ 02:42 PMPity the extremes of bigoted, fundamentalist Islam and Christianity couldn’t square up to each other in some place like the deserts of the Sahara,
Leaving the rest of us to pursue the dream of a liberal paradise of Enlightenment, Tolerance and the search for Truth.
I find both sides so utterly boring! siamese twins of doom.
Unfortunately we the ordinary people, are the cannon fodder between these two violent lunatic idealogues.Posted by on Jul 02, 2007 @ 02:48 PMJamie
7/7 consisted of attacks on the Tube and a London bus. These cannot be defined as other than soft touch targets either. Ironically, the stepping down of security in NI (because of the diminished local paramilitary threat) has put NI in the headlines - possibly to be perceived as a lower security area to those intent on inflicting destruction on the West, per se. However, I doubt that south Armagh is likely to be a prime target for Islam extremists. :)
Posted by on Jul 02, 2007 @ 03:10 PM“What was their beef with Bali ? “
- Western hedonism, easily accessible.
Also, anything seen as “decadent” in their sick morality. Thats why there was a bomb intended for the Gay Pride parade on Saturday.
Mind you, given that fundamentalist Christians object to such things as homosexuality etc is there really that much difference in their respective views? We have seen how anti-gay Christians in the US abuse those attending the funerals of US soldiers killed in Iraq - precisely because they fight for a country which recognises homosexuality.
Is the difference really only one of access to explosives? Extremes are all the same - they are violent and irrational. Prior to 9/11 the main threat to the US was internal and white - remember Oklahoma?
Posted by on Jul 02, 2007 @ 03:16 PMThey both kill in the name of God, hate humour, gays, women, the MSM, rock music, partying.
Both are in a constant state of outrage.The rageboys of certain right wing sites are no different from the rageboys of Jihadis sites.
Weapons? Bush has access to cruise missiles to bomb and maim at will in foreign lands to fulfil his demented ambitions.
NI is safe, as most sensible people on the planet regard it as Ireland, and partition a nonsense!
Posted by on Jul 02, 2007 @ 03:37 PM“NI is safe, as most sensible people on the planet regard it as Ireland, and partition a nonsense!”
What do you base that assertion on?
And if Islamic militants are ignoring geopolitical fact, well that tells us alot about those regard partition as nonsense :o)
Posted by on Jul 02, 2007 @ 04:01 PMRichard, just my experience
Partion is an historical farce, a colonial legacy, and utterly ridiculous esp when you consider Ireland is bordered by water on all sides.
I don’t even believe Al_quaida are that thick :-)Posted by on Jul 02, 2007 @ 04:10 PMAfraid we are in the same cross hair as all infidels, the guys who bombed ‘Paddys Pub’, the irish bar on Bali, when asked about differentiating western targets clearly could not tell any westerners apart, they had never even heard of Ireland.
Posted by on Jul 02, 2007 @ 06:19 PMAs and when there is a successful *hit* in Ireland, I trust my postings will be preserved as highlighting that certain sites, revelling in their obnoxious hatred of Muslims, may have served to attract Islamic fundamentalist hatred to this island.
I pray it doesnt happen.
Other *born again* people pray that it does. Thats because in the unlikely event of a disaster involving them, they believe, like their Islamic fundamentalist parallels, they will go straight to Heaven, having during their lives, having articulated in their lives, nothing but hatred. Fortunately for them, it wont hit their little 95% Loyalist village. #
I wish I wasn’t predicting the future. But I fear I am.
Posted by on Jul 02, 2007 @ 06:33 PMFundamentalist Christians are indeed capable of similar naked violence, note for example the attacks on abortion clinics in the USA, or the nail bombs in soho, etc.
Yup, agreed with all the posters about Ireland. I’m afraid Ireland is quite likely to be a target for this same kind of extremism. The Irish government didn’t come out in favour of the Bush/Blair agenda, but it certainly didn’t nail it’s colours to the cross in opposition.
Posted by on Jul 02, 2007 @ 07:38 PMWhy does everyone trot out the war in Iraq when second guessing (quasi justifiying) terrorist motives? It’s the biggest step of false logic ever.
Eh, who is killing the largest amount of muslims in Iraq? eh other muslims, strangley you don’t see any terrorist attacks in Iran, Lebannon et al to protest at the killing of muslims in Iraq. This idea of a pan-arab brotherhood is a complete fallacy. when did it ever exist?
Al-Q and various loosely affiliated groups are using the west and any other spurious “reason” to further it own ends, and there MO is to kill christians, muslims, westerners, arabs whoever happen to be a convienient target to stir up conflict, hatred so that they can channel it in support of their own advancement.
The fact people buy this “reasoning” is shocking and then tue themselves in knots completely misses the point.
Posted by on Jul 02, 2007 @ 08:15 PMParcival: You and your type are an integral part of the Coalition of the Willing. Please spare us your holier than religious people attitutde. Bush, THatcher and the others went to war for the Empire you have gained by, not for religion.
The Royal Irish Rangers. What an abuse of a name.Posted by on Jul 02, 2007 @ 09:54 PM
