Explosion reported at Brussel airport

[Zaap]

Like the first sentence in the link separates them

Terror attacks by Islamist extremists to further a perceived Islamic religious or political cause have occurred globally.

They probably try to separate the hundreds of different groups doing attacks for hundreds of different reasons, so Americans don't panic at the thought of a global takeover

Its been pointed out to you multiple times you can't separate Islamic ideology and politics the way you're attempting to.

The way Wikipedia (edited by anyone) words something is about the least credible form of evidence... and even then it doesnt prove what you're saying.

 

[Zaap]

And again, he was not in any of the planes.

The 911 hijackers weren't peasants either.

If you focus on the leaders, more will rise up to fill their vacuum once dealt with. If you remove the followers, then they are left to be hermits and madmen.

As long as you all want to focus on how not to solve things, by all means, continue.

??

Is this actually serious, or parody?

Its the first I've ever seen anyone suggest that expendible minions are more important than the proverbial head of the snake.

Its like believing taking out some random nazi (one of millions) would have been a better target than dropping a bomb on Adolph Hitler (one IN a million).

 

[Darwin333]

Did we really have a choice in Afghanistan though? It was a sovereign state openly supporting a terrorist group who was attacking the United States and killing hundreds of people. I mean, your options are rather limited at that point. I'll concede Iraq was a mistake.

I would argue that Saudi Arabia had more to do with 9/11 than Afghanistan but we couldn't go to war with SA because we import too much oil from them. If we can make that kind of decision under those circumstances then yes, I would argue we very much had a choice.

Besides, as the previous poster asked, has it made a difference? How do you beat terrorism by going to war with a nation of people living in huts and shitting in holes they dug themselves?

 

[kage69]

Obama wants them here as well.

Yeah, you guys should definitely keep spewing the hate loaded hyperbole. It's gotten you far.

 

[tynopik]

Integration is still the right answer, even with its consequences. Shutting them out only confirms their dogmatic nonsense. They will die out long before we do.

These aren't mutually exclusive

Work to integrate those that are here while not letting more in.

 

[bshole]

These aren't mutually exclusive

Work to integrate those that here while not letting more in.

Yea, not sure what you gain by letting more in. Out of all possible immigrants, they are the least likely to integrate and most likely to instigate a terror attack.

 

[Jaskalas]

Yea, not sure what you gain by letting more in. Out of all possible immigrants, they are the least likely to integrate and most likely to instigate a terror attack.

There's some notion of a "greater good" floating around, whereby if we open all borders and give everyone a warm embrace that terrorism somehow looses.
That attacks such as September 11th are "acceptable losses" towards such a goal.

 

[jackstar7]

The 911 hijackers weren't peasants either.


??

Is this actually serious, or parody?

Its the first I've ever seen anyone suggest that expendible minions are more important than the proverbial head of the snake.

Its like believing taking out some random nazi (one of millions) would have been a better target than dropping a bomb on Adolph Hitler (one IN a million).

It's not a 1:1 situation. It's a 10,000:1 situation. Remove the minion pool and the leader is leader of nothing.


EDIT: Additionally, has it proven to be a snake? Seems as though it has not since each time a head is removed another seems to spring right into place. But keep on with your whack-a-mole solution and let me know when we get the prize.

 

[Orignal Earl]

Its been pointed out to you multiple times you can't separate Islamic ideology and politics the way you're attempting to.

The way Wikipedia (edited by anyone) words something is about the least credible form of evidence... and even then it doesnt prove what you're saying.

Yes, pointed out to me by the Islamic scholars of P&N
A couple of minutes on Jhihadwatch and you guys consider yourselves experts

 

[Oric]

AP : Turkey's Erdogan: one of the Brussels attackers was caught in Turkey in June, deported to Belgium.


meaning : Turkey caught this man on the border (going to ISIS), deported to Belgium (saying he is a terrorist), Belgium set him free saying he is not a terrorist

 

[Victorian Gray]

Yes, pointed out to me by the Islamic scholars of P&N
A couple of minutes on Jhihadwatch and you guys consider yourselves experts

You mean there's more to know? Huh, who'd a thunk it.

 

[FerrelGeek]

Yeah, you guys should definitely keep spewing the hate loaded hyperbole. It's gotten you far.

Ohhh the irony.

 

[FerrelGeek]

Yes, pointed out to me by the Islamic scholars of P&N
A couple of minutes on Jhihadwatch and you guys consider yourselves experts

Did you read my post on page 9?? I stated the observations by a guy who lived side by side with Muslims in the ME for 20 years. I'll take his observations over your drivel any day.

 

[Victorian Gray]

Did you read my post on page 9?? I stated the observations by a guy who lived side by side with Muslims in the ME for 20 years. I'll take his observations over your drivel any day.

Wow! So you knew a guy who lived in the Middle East. Well, shit, that's all ya really need to know, eh.

 

[Pocatello]

AP : Turkey's Erdogan: one of the Brussels attackers was caught in Turkey in June, deported to Belgium.


meaning : Turkey caught this man on the border (going to ISIS), deported to Belgium (saying he is a terrorist), Belgium set him free saying he is not a terrorist

The Belgium counter-terrorism or police should do more. Some of the mothers of the young men who want to fight in Syria were calling the police to do something before those men leave the country, nothing was done. Some of them were killed in Syria, some of them are coming back with the experience and expertise to do significant damage across Europe. The authorities have to be realistic, they have to limit the rights of certain group of people who want to destroy our way of life.

 

[Jaskalas]

IS trains 400 fighters to attack Europe in wave of bloodshed

The officials, including European and Iraqi intelligence officials and a French lawmaker who follows the jihadi networks, described camps in Syria, Iraq and possibly the former Soviet bloc where attackers are trained to attack the West

We are lead to believe this is just the beginning of Islamic terrorism in Europe.

 

[FerrelGeek]

Wow! So you knew a guy who lived in the Middle East. Well, shit, that's all ya really need to know, eh.

I'd trust him over the so called experts these days. I'll take direct experience over alleged know-it-alls.

And btw, he had absolutely NO axe to grind wrt Muslims. He really loved living there.

 

[realibrad]

Engineers seem to be easily radicalized

Why do so many jihadis have engineering degrees?
Two researchers comb through the records and discover that religious faith doesn’t drive Islamist terrorism

http://www.macleans.ca/news/world/why-do-so-many-jihadis-have-engineering-degrees/

So your article is about how there seems to be an underlying trend among terrorists and, while not fully understood, seems to mean something. That is fine when the relation is to engineering but not religion. Why is their education fine to correlate but not their religion?

Also, what in the world does this mean?

Whether the discipline makes the man—it’s worth noting engineering, like the virtually women-free world of right-wing extremists, is male-dominated—or the man seeks the discipline, Hertog is not prepared to say, but the correlation is undeniable. And so is what it points to: contrary to what seems obvious, religious faith does not so much drive Islamist terror as provide its cover.

The first part I understand. He does not want to say anything definite because he is unsure. The next part is written so poorly that I cant understand it. I think the person is trying to say is that the relationship of an education in engineering and terrorism is a link, but religion is not. I did not see any part of that article where it would explain why religion is not a factor. They explained the link between engineering but that was it.

 

[Fern]

As regards engineers and jihad - perhaps there are more of them because ISIS etc focuses their recruiting efforts on engineers. Engineers are valuable in carrying out attacks. Chemical engineers with the know-how to create powerful explosives from household chemicals and other types of engineers that can best determine where to place the explosive charge for maximum effect on a plane or in a building etc.

Fern

 

[realibrad]

As regards engineers and jihad - perhaps there are more of them because ISIS etc focuses their recruiting efforts on engineers. Engineers are valuable in carrying out attacks. Chemical engineers with the know-how to create powerful explosives from household chemicals and other types of engineers that can best determine where to place the explosive charge for maximum effect on a plane or in a building etc.

Fern

Well that would go against the argument that those radicalized are poor and or uneducated.

 

[Brian Stirling]

AP : Turkey's Erdogan: one of the Brussels attackers was caught in Turkey in June, deported to Belgium.


meaning : Turkey caught this man on the border (going to ISIS), deported to Belgium (saying he is a terrorist), Belgium set him free saying he is not a terrorist

And a few years earlier the Russians informed the FBI and other US intelligence agencies that a couple brothers had visited the terrorist regions within the Caucasus and that they should be looked into. The FBI and other US intelligence agencies had not time to investigate the brothers cause, you know, they had better things to do like spying on everyone else. Then a couple bombs went off in Boston.

You can't see what in front of your face if you're fixated on something else.


Brian

 

[HamburgerBoy]

I think the masculinity connection is potentially valid and interesting; engineering is definitely male-dominated and radical Islam can be quite wonderful if you're a male. Maybe there's some biological aspect that makes people conducive to both. At least personally, I'm not someone that believes male brains and female brains are created equally, nor do I believe that personality traits are equally distributed among all ethnicities around the world.

Of course, I don't think that article considered the possibility that Muslims on a whole are much more inclined towards engineering than other groups. For example, even moderate Muslims are going to tend towards being socially conservative, which might discourage them from getting degrees in the arts or social sciences. Devout religious beliefs could also discourage life sciences due to the evils of evolution (although I think our Christians still beat our Muslims in terms of creationism). Engineering might be a result of process of elimination.

Also, doing some quick Googling, I did find that apparently there's an old study showing engineers as having the highest percentage of religious and conservative members of any field of study; this would be limited just to Christians since we're talking about the 70s, but it fits into the male-brain theory for me imo.

 

[fskimospy]

And a few years earlier the Russians informed the FBI and other US intelligence agencies that a couple brothers had visited the terrorist regions within the Caucasus and that they should be looked into. The FBI and other US intelligence agencies had not time to investigate the brothers cause, you know, they had better things to do like spying on everyone else. Then a couple bombs went off in Boston.

You can't see what in front of your face if you're fixated on something else.


Brian

It's also important to remember just how many of these kind of tips our intelligence community gets. It's impossible to get them all right. You often don't hear about the success, but you always hear about the failure.

This doesn't mean we shouldn't hold them accountable when they do fail, but it's a hard job.

 

[Fern]

Engineers seem to be easily radicalized

Why do so many jihadis have engineering degrees?
-snip-

I'm not sure it's fair to say that engineering students are "easily radicalized".

I found a study (I can't figure out how to link it, it's a pdf download) that says engineering is one of the most popular fields of study for foreign students. I.e., if you're recruiting college students you're more likely to end up with engineers because most of them are engineering students.

I would guess it's a popular field of study because most foreign students explained their choice of major was based on employment prospects. I don't see much prospects for that if one chooses gender studies, black African studies, or medieval lit etc. Engineers OTOH seem really needed in Middle Eastern countries: Petroleum engineering, chemical engineering (useful in the petroleum industry), civil engineering and electrical engineering all seem in need in the M.E. countries.

Fern

 

[Brian Stirling]

It's also important to remember just how many of these kind of tips our intelligence community gets. It's impossible to get them all right. You often don't hear about the success, but you always hear about the failure.

This doesn't mean we shouldn't hold them accountable when they do fail, but it's a hard job.

That's quite true, however, when the FBI et al are provided information they should at least look into it -- the little we know about there response is that it was perfunctory at best. It should also be noted that this occurred before Snowden revealed that the NSA was spying on everyone and before new limits were placed in the NSA in this data collection process.


Brian