Discussion About The Reasons For Terrorism

[Sweet Pete]

"Dear Advertisers, I am disgusted with the way old people are depicted on television. We are not all vibrant, fun loving sex maniacs. Many of us are bitter, resentful individuals who remember the good old days when entertainment was bland and inoffensive. The following is a list of words I never want to hear on television again. Number one: bra. Number two: horny. Number three: family jewels."

[ICTChris]

The thing that I don't like caused the bad thing.

[young_bairn]

It's because they're jealous of our way of life. Rule Britannia. God save the queen.

[throbber]

Thinking back to post 9/11 i remember how the news was constantly full of government warnings of intelligence regarding imminent terrorist attacks on our country. Where have they all gone now? Have the terrorists lost interest or was it just a government ploy to make us all fear an enemy that wasn't really there to justify their illegal war?

[Shotgun]

Thinking back to post 9/11 i remember how the news was constantly full of government warnings of intelligence regarding imminent terrorist attacks on our country. Where have they all gone now? Have the terrorists lost interest or was it just a government ploy to make us all fear an enemy that wasn't really there to justify their illegal war?

The second one. You'll notice though, the authorities often thwart "a major attack" right before plans for extensions to surveillance laws are announced.

[throbber]

The second one. You'll notice though, the authorities often thwart "a major attack" right before plans for extensions to surveillance laws are announced.

Absolutely

The fanatics from 9/11 rarely highlight these dirty tactics from the government as well but they certainly suggest foul play. i was a pretty anxious young lad and was forever worried about being blown up every time i was in public coz of these threats

[DAFC]

The second one. You'll notice though, the authorities often thwart "a major attack" right before plans for extensions to surveillance laws are announced.

This happens all the time. Also weird that during 9/11 and the London bombings there was an exercise on at the same time.

The chances of all of the above happening coincidently must be astronomical?

Scaring the population into voting for you is much easier than keeping promises.

[Shotgun]

While it's tempting and even fashionable to think that terrorism is a new phenomenon, it's been going on since the first caveman whacked his neighbor on the head with a rock. It's naive and overly simplistic to think there is any one 'cause'.

If we look at recent history then yes, the actions of the Bush administration caused all kinds of problems for world stability, the impact of which will be felt for decades to come. It was depressing to see the willingness with which Blair followed him down the rabbit hole despite all the evidence that this was a bad idea. And it's frustrating that Obama and Cameron show little heart for discontinuing many of these disastrous policies.

However, the Western powers were interfering with the destinies of other countries for centuries before this. The headlong rush for political dominance required control of the globe and the full might of the military machine was used to this end. The industrial revolution further accelerated the process. Raw materials were needed in abundance and these could only be obtained by exploiting weaker nations. Colonial dominance was the goal and large areas of the map were 'claimed' as if the human beings living there were no more than marbles in a game. Decades later, with the European nations weakened by 2 World Wars, empires were no longer economically or politically viable. So, they withdrew, reluctantly granting independence to their (now much less resource rich) subjects. Often not until after years of bloodshed and usually leaving huge power vacuums and instability behind. The repercussions from this will also continue long after we're all gone.

Among other things, this opened the door to the Cold War. Two major political ideologies striving for dominance and each with the attitude - "If 'we' don't control this region, 'they' will control this region and we can't allow that." More war, more exploitation, more instability around the globe. The Soviet Union is thankfully gone but the damage they did lives on. China, while to all intents and purposes a capitalist society, still retains many of its Communist era policies. And on a local level, political oppression occurs in every region of the globe. Many make the argument that the USA are the defenders of freedom but as we all know, they have a history of undermining democracies, fomenting revolution and sometimes just invading countries in their quest for control. Personally, if given the choice, I'd rather live in a country controlled by the US than one controlled by their enemies but when someone is dropping bombs on your house, shooting bullets at you or torturing your relatives, you don't much care what uniform they're wearing. You're going to fight back.

And then of course you have religion. Not my thing but if people are comforted by the idea of an invisible being watching out for them then hey-ho-the-derry-oh. Except of course, it's never that benign, is it? There are those who use their faith as a weapon for control and exploitation. "God is on our side" has to be the most destructive phrase in the human vocabulary. We can (and probably will) spend the rest of our days arguing about which religion is the most fucked up but does it really matter? There are extremists nutcases in all branches of faith - and yes, non-faith too. If God does exist, he doesn't seem overly concerned about the vile things people are doing in his name. But until the day when humans evolve to the point where they start owning their own behavior instead of saying "My actions are God's will", we will continue to see religion used as an excuse for terrorism.

Strip away all the shit though, Islam, Christianity, Communism, Capitalism, our true beliefs and their false ideology and what do you have left?

Basically, humans are arseholes and will use any excuse to exploit, oppress and take advantage of those weaker than them. And they'll always portray themselves as the good guys and someone else as the enemy. Those on the wrong end of this exploitation will get angry about it and as soon as they have the opportunity, will fight back. Violence will continue to flow in both directions. When 'we' disagree with those causing the violence we call them terrorists and will try to stop them. When 'we' agree with them, we'll call them freedom fighters and we'll support them. And on and on and on it will go.

Additionally, terrorism will never go away because those in power need it to exist. Governments since the dawn of time have adopted the tactic of creating an enemy, from whom we need protection. We need to be kept in fear so we'll give up control of our destiny in order to preserve what we think is our freedom. "The commies, the muslims, Eastasia, the imperialist pigs of the West...the terrorists - they're out to destroy your way of life. Let us take away your freedoms so we can secure your freedoms."

Kinda depressing, huh?

[Zebadee]

Islamic terrorists Murder Again.141 killed in peshawar, 132 children in school massacre.

Al qaeda kill at least 25 in car bombings in yemen.

I will take your silence on todays events as representative of your shame. defending such terrorists and religion instead blaming your own people.

[Sergeant Wilson]

Islamic terrorists Murder Again.141 killed in peshawar, 132 children in school massacre.

Al qaeda kill at least 25 in car bombings in yemen.

I will take your silence on todays events as representative of your shame. defending such terrorists and religion instead blaming your own people.

Aye but they're killing other Muslims.

[DAFC]

Aye but they're killing other Muslims.

Can you imagine the news coverage if this had happened in America or the UK?

Two adults killed yesterday and entire news was taken over. Hundreds of kids killed and a quick five mins tonight.

[Zebadee]

Can you imagine the news coverage if this had happened in America or the UK?

Two adults killed yesterday and entire news was taken over. Hundreds of kids killed and a quick five mins tonight.

The coverage of this on bbc and sky news was pretty simlar to al jazeera and Russia today.

[Shotgun]

Can you imagine the news coverage if this had happened in America or the UK?

Two adults killed yesterday and entire news was taken over. Hundreds of kids killed and a quick five mins tonight.

Probably because all the people killed today were open to radicalization and while many of them may not be criminals, many of them did hold extremist views.

[Sergeant Wilson]

Probably because all the people killed today were open to radicalization and while many of them may not be criminals, many of them did hold extremist views.

Better safe than sorry.

[yoda]

It was the presence of US troops in Saudi and their support for the monarchy there. IIRC he had no objections in principle to them throwing out a non Muslim Hussain (although they would have preffered an all Muslim army to have done so) just that they stuck around. From their all kinds of "grievences" were tacked on to rationalise the attacks. At one point the clown used Global Warming to justify attacks on America.

You're right. I knew there was some objection to the US being involved but couldn't remember if it included them being based there.

China more so. When Mao complained to Stalin how many troops they were losing, Stalin replied something on the lines of "Chill, plenty more where they came from."

Imperial Japan was a lot to blame as well iirc.

Nah that can't be right. We've been told by the OP that it was all down to the USA.

[DAFC]

Are we talking about the same thing here?

Hundreds of kids killed in a school in Pakistan. Are you saying they are criminals?

[DAFC]

Better safe than sorry.

Yep, dem pesky kids.

[Shotgun]

Are we talking about the same thing here?

Hundreds of kids killed in a school in Pakistan. Are you saying they are criminals?

Zebadee explained this on the Sydney cafe thread. All Muslims are open to radicalization and many hold extremist views. He did acknowledge that not all Muslims are bad though and many are not criminals, so that's nice.

[DAFC]

Holy shit you were serious.

That's the worst post I have ever read on a forum.

Kids innocently slaughtered but it's ok not to care because they may or may not be open to radicalisation.

That makes about as much sense to me as saying the kids in Dunblane deserved to die because they lived near a tennis court.

[Shotgun]

Holy shit you were serious.

That's the worst post I have ever read on a forum.

Kids innocently slaughtered but it's ok not to care because they may or may not be open to radicalisation.

That makes about as much sense to me as saying the kids in Dunblane deserved to die because they lived near a tennis court.

No, you're missing my point. I was drawing attention to the idiocy of Zebadee's comments yesterday by presenting them alongside his faux outrage today.