Sadly these are getting all to frequent.

My deepest Sympathies to the victims of the Lahore bombing. Double the casualties as in the Belgium attack and only a week apart this is not getting much attention here in the states. Possibly because it challenges the perception of us against them.

This is not just an East/ West issue. Nor is it an Islam versus non Islam issue. There are more Muslim victims of these psychotic attacks than any others. Entire countries are being taken over by ISIS and friends.

Let's not forget that innocent deaths are innocent deaths, and the victims of these attacks and their families should be honored no matter where they are.

Peace.

 

They did specifically target the Christian community in Lahore. You're aware of that, right?
Just to be fair...

 

Yes i am. But in a more general sense they have killed more Muslims that any other group. And of you take religion aside there's definately a difference in coverage when the attack is in Pakistan or another non western country.

Look. I don't want to complicate things...all I'm saying is that we're all in it together.

 

100% agreement. We are certainly creating dangerous polarizing divisions in our societies....religious, economic, political etc. I wonder if the current state of digital neurosis we live in has reduced our capability to breathe slowly, reflect and then come to some sort of conclusion / opinion.

 

There's a difference in coverage whenever the most dominant religion of the West is targeted, versus randomly chosen targets, such as the suicide bombings in Istanbul in January and just a few weeks ago - neither of which received much coverage in the US

 

My point exactly. But it's not religion they're attacking, it's too indiscriminate for that no matter what motivation they use as an excuse. It's liberty, freedom and life.

 

It's that to be sure, but it's also basically a group of angry young men who are lashing out at everything and everyone. It's very sad and I hope the people of Lahore, Istanbul, Brussels, Paris and everywhere else can coexist safe from these attacks as soon as possible.

 

"In this all together". I am not sure. I believe this is fundementally a Shia v. Sunni issue within Islam. Shia Muslims need to either through their lot in with the West or continue to be caught in the middle. Muslim extremism is a cancer that needs to be destroyed. We really need the Shia Muslims to help out.

 

Agreed, but there are other groups being targeted, not just shias

 

I am sorry, but I just read the news stories on this attack. This was an attack on a Easter Christian service. The bomber went to the playground in the middle of the children and blew themselves up. This is despicable and evil beyond words. I can't imagine the worst Nazi doing this and I hate Nazis.

 

Really?

 

No, Nazis would just bring the kids and mothers to a gas chamber in a polite line....

I get your points, and i did get to read the erased post where you made also some points that where clear. My point on this is not wether this is an easter christian celebration being bombed, but a Pakistani one. meaning it is not a bilateral war at an ethnic level. Neither is is at a religious level.

This extremest groups (and yes they can be called openly Extreme Islamic Groups are as Islamic as the ok is Christian. you would not accuse christians, even conservative ones...based on the actions of extreme fundamental groups that brand themselves as such. In a similar way, although it is true that Sunni beliefs lead into fundamentalism and conservative views it is not right to assume all Sunni's are part of this cancer as you call it. For there are many that are not, and that are oppressed and attacked but these groups in a daily basis. Believe it or not there are moderate and even liberal Sunnis...millions of them.

I do agree there has to be a unified front, and I do agree that our so called allied nations such as Arabia Saudi should stop working the angles and just take an open side. I do agree there has to be a solution...but I don't agree an open crusade is such.

More importantly, ISIS and friend's wet dream is that we fall for the "ISLAM" threat, because the more we openly "hate" them the more they can justify to their target young disenfranchised recruits that this is a Holly war. They use religion because religion is a huge motivator. But this is as much about economics and power as it is about anything else.

Anyway.

 

Well maybe I'm guilty of hyperbole but the very fact that were even having a discussion about who's worse - a Nazi or ISIS speaks volumes. Let's not worry about who's worse, they are both just freaking evil.

 

Let's not forget that the Nazi regime designed, installed, and operated a countrywide infrastructure for the express purpose of killing as many people as possible, as efficiently as possible. ISIS are horrible but are just improvising attacks wherever they can make them.

When you sit down and think about it, really think about it, what the Nazis did was massive in its scope and its utter lack of humanity. I think the Nazis win this one.

 

Both are evil beyond comprehension. ISIS would no doubt do the same if they were capable. My concern is that all men are evil, and if we allow ISIS to continue it may possibly unleash forces within the West that we can not control. Two paths are before us. WWII in which we waited far too long to confront Japan and Germany - causing hell on Earth, or the Cold War in which we again waited out the communists to our benefit. It appears the West is going to again attempt to wait out the enemy - in this case - ISIS. The gamble if they don't fall on their own is that when we do need to get involved the cost will be very high. On the other hand if they fall, it will not be a high cost to us. It is the very definition of a high stakes poker game.

 

Hi Guys !

Hi @Nobel Prize

I'm sad the World is not a safe place anymore more recently with the Twin Terrorist Bombings in Lahore & Brussels. I had a similar frightening experience during the Marriot Hotel bombing in Jakarta 5th August 2003. I did some shopping , nothing happen to me...it's just that i walked pass that very hotel about 30 mins before the car bomb blast.. otherwise bye bye Megan , pieces of me would have be... like ..splattered all over the place... like 'e' here , capital 'M' there , 'n' in the lobby , maybe 'g' &
' a ' on the ceiling....

Check this out Guys


Self appointed Isis Militant leader Abu Bakar al Baghdedi denouncing the West & preaching Jihad was ridiculed for wearing a flashy Swiss timepiece.
So..what was this Hypocrite wearing ?

A ) Rolex $ 13000
B ) Omega Seamaster $ 4000
C ) Sekonda
D ) Swiss Made Al Fajr WA 10-S Deluxe

Okeeeyyy... i get it...Maybe he needed Swiss precision timings to coordinate his attacks
( sic )

 

We actually didn't wait that out. When the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979 we saw an opportunity to stick it to them without directly engaging them. What that entailed was having the CIA provide small arms to warlords in the mountains, including a young scion of a Saudi Arabian construction company by the name of Osama bin Laden, who found success fighting Soviet troops by having his mujahedeen blend into the local populations - patterned after the asymmetrical warfare successes of the Viet Cong against the French and later, the US Army. Then, when the Soviets sent attack helictopters that began decimating the fighters with frightening success, we armed them with shoulder-fired man-portable air defense systems.

We are currently arming militias in Syria that oppose the Islamic State - because of ideological differences, mainly that they don't belong to the same sects of Islam...

and so it goes on....

 

I was in the World Trade Center until minutes before the first plane hit, but I had an early meeting a few blocks away. I guess it wasn't our time, Megan. I've noticed a few of these jihadists pictured with blingy watches (not that I could identify the make from a blurry photo). Very strange.

 

Well, if anything good comes from this thread Megan is back!

For the rest let's all hope for a peaceful resolution, although with all my open mindness and all I must agree i fear a much stronger stance will be needed. Not exactly on the direction described above but I do believe there is a hypocritical expectation. We cannot do business and support the economy of our enemy at the same time we fight them. We are just too greedy to let go of 100 year old oil treaties that favor us to really cut ties with certain countries. And support others more openly.

I believe in diplomacy and I believe in politics but I also believe sometimes you can't just walk on the gray area and expect results.

We should require absolute clarity and stance from governments like Pakistan and Arabia Saudi before supporting them. I get Pakistan is part of a whole other geopolitical equation with nuclear proliferation and India, but still....

The number 1 dirty player for me is not Iran, it's Arabia Saudi. Iran at least call it as it is, there's no ambivalence.

I am talking about governments, not people, nor religion. It is hard to ignore the sunni influence but that ws there for centuries before this all was an issue. The CURRENT climate is what makes sunni conservatism the vehicle du jour for conservative values always resonate more in times of crisis....and a lot of the people in these countries and in ours are in a deep crisis which is why there are so many disenfranchised recruits.

Anyway....