Massive attacks against trains in Spain/Madrid

2000AD · Post by **2000AD** » 2004-03-11 05:18pm

Colonel Olrik wrote:
Dahak wrote: To do exactly what?
It's not like you're going to invade AlQaidastan...

All one can do is repair the damage, mourn the dead, and go on.
Two months from now the Euro 2004 will take place Portugal. I don't think we (or any other country in the E.U) have the capacity to alone ensure a competition free of these kinds of attacks, if they are really determined in doing them. At the very least, E.U military, police and intelligence cooperation will have to improve dramatically, in a short period of time.

Oh shit, they better not fuck with the football! Given the history of riots and stuff associated with big gatherings of Football (especially English) fans i can see this being one pig keg of gunpowder waiting to go off!

Illuminatus Primus · Post by **Illuminatus Primus** » 2004-03-11 05:21pm

Joe wrote:That isn't enough. Those responsible must be punished.

I concur.

TheDarkling · Post by **TheDarkling** » 2004-03-11 05:29pm

Durandal wrote:This seems like an odd move for al Qaeda. Here they had the US and most of the EU solidly divided about the War on Terror. This will only serve to unify them in the hunt for his ass.

Do they? They have the EU and the US split on the war in Iraq but the war on terror itself is receiving wide support, remember Europe has been fighting terrorism for some time, both of the Islamic and separatist variety.

HemlockGrey · Post by **HemlockGrey** » 2004-03-11 05:33pm

If it were France, I would agree, but there's a reason why no one has ever conquered Spain.

Aside from the Romans, the Goths, the Arabs, the Spaniards themselves, and the aforementioned French?

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2004-03-11 05:41pm

Attack on US '90 Percent Ready'

A couple days ago I wouldn't have taken this seriously. Now I'm scared to death.

Practitioners of the Religion of Peace wrote:"We announce the good news for the Muslims in the world that the strike of the black wind of death, the expected strike against America, is now at its final stage, 90 percent ready, and it is coming soon, by God's will," the claim said.

Sothis · Post by **Sothis** » 2004-03-11 05:52pm

HemlockGrey wrote:Why would the Basques cooperate with Al Quaeda? Aside from causing mindless destruction, how does it advance the cause of Basque independence?

Al Quada aren't noted for their co-operation with non-Islamic terrorists. The BBC News channel had a thing on this earlier today, some security correspondent guy was saying that AQ wouldn't normally trust groups like ETA for that reason. Though in this world, anything is possible.

If it was ETA, then what today's attacks would do is get attention- for all the wrong reasons, but to them, bad publicity is better than no publicity.

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2004-03-11 05:55pm

"Black wind of death" doesn't sound too inviting. Perhaps it's a biological attack?

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2004-03-11 05:58pm

Durandal wrote:"Black wind of death" doesn't sound too inviting. Perhaps it's a biological attack?

I'd have to wonder with what. Unless they've got some new geneered organism, they're not going to do jack.

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2004-03-11 06:12pm

JESUS FUCK

I just saw this on one of my forums.....this is shocking enough to make
me break my hiatus........

you have my condolences, Spain, on this dastardly terrorist attack.

Gil Hamilton · Post by **Gil Hamilton** » 2004-03-11 06:13pm

I don't really take Al Qaedas threat for an attack on America any more seriously than I did yesterday. Even if they are responisible for bombing that train, they doesn't make the problems with attacking American any less problematic.

As for the attack in Spain, I how they cut the fuckers who did it down. Hard.

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2004-03-11 06:13pm

Admiral Valdemar wrote:
Durandal wrote:"Black wind of death" doesn't sound too inviting. Perhaps it's a biological attack?
I'd have to wonder with what. Unless they've got some new geneered organism, they're not going to do jack.

I have to doubt that al Qaeda has the resources to engineer a biological weapon from scratch. They like their explosions, though. A biological/chemical attack isn't really their style.

They like to hit large numbers of people at a time with blood and guts and horror everywhere. And the possible effectiveness of a biological weapon attack has been greatly exaggerated. Even if you managed to get a dispersal unit on a New York City sidewalk, only people in the surrounding area would really be affected. You could be a block away and be just fine. The poison is in the dose, and if you don't get enough of it, you've got nothing to worry about.

However, I'm not going to discount the possibility that al Qaeda are a bunch of retards. An al Qaeda boss was recently apprehended because he was stupid enough to use the same SIM card to make calls from different phones, thinking that using a SIM card equated to a cloaking device. Quite the contrary, the card ended up acting like a CIA magnet. Who knows? They might actually think that a biological attack would be really effective.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2004-03-11 06:23pm

Anthrax is the best we've seen and that was from a US lab assistant ironically.

No, unless al-Qaeda has really found weapons grade stuff, they won't do much.

If they did somehow geneer a new organism, say, a virus in crystalline form with a high latency period of a few days and ability to become an airborne aerosol and survive outside the body for a time, then they managed to spread it at separate cities, it'd be nigh impossible to contain.

If they got ahold of the 1918 Spanish Flu, that's just unthinkable. And BSL4 bio-labs have got bad enough security in the US as it is.

Phil Skayhan · Post by **Phil Skayhan** » 2004-03-11 07:04pm

To those from Spain, Portugal, and and especially Captian Chewie,
You have my utmost sympathies. I am truly sorry that this happened to you.

The United Stated had better back and support you 100%.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2004-03-11 07:08pm

Phil Skayhan wrote:To those from Spain, Portugal, and and especially Captian Chewie,
You have my utmost sympathies. I am truly sorry that this happened to you.

The United Stated had better back and support you 100%.

Indeed, an attack on our allies is an attack on us.

Phil Skayhan · Post by **Phil Skayhan** » 2004-03-11 07:19pm

Joe wrote:Indeed, an attack on our allies is an attack on us.

I would say the same thing if it had happened in Paris or Berlin.

I still remember the moment of silence they observed when it happened to New York. And even though it may seem like a little thing, it made an impression on me. It shouldn't matter whether or not the country attacked supported the US invasion of Iraq.

The US made a pledge to attack terrorism wherever it is. We cannot deny our aid or even just our moral support simply because our current political relationship with a given nation may not be at its best.

It does pain me, however, that Spain may have been targeted because of their support of the US in Iraq.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2004-03-11 07:21pm

France and Germany are still our allies, technically. Even if relations are less than magnificent at the moment.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2004-03-11 07:26pm

Durandal wrote:"Black wind of death" doesn't sound too inviting. Perhaps it's a biological attack?

Well if we take that literally I think it's more likely to suggest an attack on a chemical plant. Blow one for example ammonia storage tank open and everyone dies for several miles downwind.

Phil Skayhan · Post by **Phil Skayhan** » 2004-03-11 07:26pm

Sorry Joe, I was reading more into your post than there actually was.

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2004-03-11 07:52pm

Wow, I didn't hear anything about this all day. At a university campus I'd expect this sort of thing to get around fast.

Post by **RogueIce** » 2004-03-11 08:04pm

Sea Skimmer wrote:
Durandal wrote:"Black wind of death" doesn't sound too inviting. Perhaps it's a biological attack?
Well if we take that literally I think it's more likely to suggest an attack on a chemical plant. Blow one for example ammonia storage tank open and everyone dies for several miles downwind.

I could also guess another attempted building attack. "Black wind of death" seemed fairly descriptive to me of when the WTC came down, in a way.

Or they could just be saying it to say it, with no real clue as to the type of attack. No matter what though, I really hope it doesn't happen.

And my sincerest condolences to those affected by the attack.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2004-03-11 08:32pm

Sea Skimmer wrote:
Durandal wrote:"Black wind of death" doesn't sound too inviting. Perhaps it's a biological attack?
Well if we take that literally I think it's more likely to suggest an attack on a chemical plant. Blow one for example ammonia storage tank open and everyone dies for several miles downwind.

I was taking it to mean Plague, but as I'm doing a 2,500 word essay report on the organism Yersinia pestis I already know it's portential bioweapon applications as my textbook states. It wouldn't be hard to contain.

Now, what if they did get a decent chemical veering off on your idea. What if they had VX and gassed downtown Los Angeles or NYC? One has to wonder what tricks they're getting upto if flying planes into skyscrapers is not an option now.

theski · Post by **theski** » 2004-03-11 08:36pm

Most likely .... Harbor towns..... Boston.... Charleston... LA.. ports are tough to protect..

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2004-03-11 08:39pm

theski wrote:Most likely .... Harbor towns..... Boston.... Charleston... LA.. ports are tough to protect..

If they somehow got a ship into port filled with enough chemicals and explosives, it could get real nasty. We know bin Laden has a large cargo ship company and plenty of rumours during the Iraq war last year lead to cargo ships being inspected more often incase smuggled weapons were leaving.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2004-03-11 08:45pm

Someone's response to today's attacks on another forum I visit:

Speaking of terrorism, why aren't the Spanish apologizing for the Inquisition? Not to mention Columbus.

Unbelievable.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2004-03-11 08:47pm

Admiral Valdemar wrote:
I was taking it to mean Plague, but as I'm doing a 2,500 word essay report on the organism Yersinia pestis I already know it's portential bioweapon applications as my textbook states. It wouldn't be hard to contain.

We wouldn't even need to bother with containment, anyone cleaner then the Dark Age Christian European population is quite safe. The Japanese couldn't even get it to spread among the Chinese population.

Now, what if they did get a decent chemical veering off on your idea. What if they had VX and gassed downtown Los Angeles or NYC? One has to wonder what tricks they're getting upto if flying planes into skyscrapers is not an option now.

VX is a real bitch to produce and store. Sarin is a possibility though; if the stuff used for the Tokyo subway attack had been properly refined the five thousand people injured in the attack all would have died along with the eleven who already did. And that was all from a container the size of a thermos.