Scores die in Madrid bomb carnage

[Jorath Calar]

Wellard, there is nothing normal about terrorism, I was just saying the whole scene is very unlike ETA's work.
Probably could have worded it better... sorry

[wellard]

Originally posted by Jorath Calar: Wellard, there is nothing normal about terrorism, I was just saying the whole scene is very unlike ETA's work. Probably could have worded it better... sorry

Oh sorry Jorath I was not having a dig at you, you should know that [img]smile.gif[/img]

Just the shock of reading this news, then listening to the radio, all just before i posted. They (the radio)where saying the same thing, "its not ETA normal terrorism tactics"

[The Hierophant]

Out of curiosity, does anyone know the Muslim population figures for Spain (or more specifically, Madrid)? If the Al Qaeda responsibility claim is genuine I'm wondering what sort of support they hope to garner through this... Spain certainly has a strong Islamic history, I'm wondering how local Muslims feel about these bombings.

[johnny]

There's still very strong muslim influences in Spain, dating back from the days the Mores were in charge. They don't live an easy life, Spain can be pretty racist. I've seen the Guardia Civil in action against dark skin colored people who roam the boulevards of places like Benidorm and Fuengirola. They beat you up first and ask questions later. Must be an attitude remaining from the Franco era or something. All in all this isn't going to improve things for the local muslim population.

[Sir Taliesin]

Terrible, terrible news! My sympthay goes out to the families of the dead and wounded. I understand the death toll is over 192 with another 1400 hurt. I don't think the authorites have a clue right now who did it.

[Chewbacca]

Nuts!!!

This is so terrible and it doesn't not help my post-9-11 subway paranoia one bit either.

[Grojlach]

Originally posted by pritchke: CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - The Arabic newspaper Al-Quds al-Arabi said Thursday it had received a claim of responsibility for the Madrid train bombings issued by the Brigade of Abu Hafs al-Masri in the name of al-Qaida.

Like I said above, this brigade has made similar claims in the past - including claiming responsibility for the power outage a while ago in New York (!). Just keep that grain of salt in mind.
And I personally think that a van full of detonators and Arabic texts all over the place is a bit too convenient to show up, but time will tell.
Creepy coincidence is that it took place exactly 2.5 years after 9/11.

[ 03-12-2004, 04:46 AM: Message edited by: Grojlach ]

[Link]

Morbid fact, but more coincidence if you ask me. I know you mean nothing with it, Groj, but those 'facts' (ooh look these numbers, turn them around and divide them by two, and you'll get 911!!!) are getting the best of me lately.

[Grojlach]

Originally posted by Link: Morbid fact, but more coincidence if you ask me. I know you mean nothing with it, Groj, but those 'facts' (ooh look these numbers, turn them around and divide them by two, and you'll get 911!!!) are getting the best of me lately.

Considering the fact that whatever terrorist organization responsible had to pick a date anyways, it may not be a complete coincidence, but whatever - it just struck me last night as a possible side-reference to that awful day, don't recall it being mentioned on the news however.

Either way, it was just a side-remark, not some sort of Evident Truth That Makes You See Things In A Completely Different Light.

(also changed the wording of my previous post a bit to avoid further misunderstandings, I'm not in the mood to argue over something as trivial as this - and at least it's not some lame fake Nostradamus reference )

[ 03-12-2004, 04:48 AM: Message edited by: Grojlach ]

[Donut]

Originally posted by Timber Loftis: Anyone have a good link regarding ETA and, more importantly, the separatist movement? Why would you prefer it to be ETA, D1?

Because if it's Al Qauda they did it because Spain supported the US in Iraq. The UK will be next on their list.

It doesn't really matter. It's only a matter of time anyway.