Oh great, the big terrorism craze finally hits sweden

[Kaftan Barlast]

One mentally ill guy blows himself up with a homemade bomb, causing no damage to anyone else, and everyones got their panties in a bunch. I bet the politicians are drooling at the opportunities to implement even crazier and more intrusive anti-terror laws than the ones we have already. The attention this is getting will probably do way more harm than the bombing itself.

 

 

A spokesperson for Swedish security service S

[Walsingham]

No doubt this will be just the excuse needed for Sweden to drop the ordinary people of Afghanistan like the awkward burden they are. Just try not to think too hard about who they are being surrendered to.

 

All this talk the jihadists do about 'protecting the women and children' of Afghanistan makes me ill. These are presumably the same women and children the Taliban routinely intimidate, and even mutilate or kill if they dare to educate themselves or speak out?

[pmp10]

One mentally ill guy blows himself up with a homemade bomb, causing no damage to anyone else, and everyones got their panties in a bunch.

Was there any confirmation of mental illness?

Failing a suicide bombing does not automatically amount to crazy.

[Orogun01]

One mentally ill guy blows himself up with a homemade bomb, causing no damage to anyone else, and everyones got their panties in a bunch.

Was there any confirmation of mental illness?

Failing a suicide bombing does not automatically amount to crazy.

We have very different views on mental illness, anyone willing to kill himself to further nothing is definitively not sane.

[pmp10]

One mentally ill guy blows himself up with a homemade bomb, causing no damage to anyone else, and everyones got their panties in a bunch.

Was there any confirmation of mental illness?

Failing a suicide bombing does not automatically amount to crazy.

We have very different views on mental illness, anyone willing to kill himself to further nothing is definitively not sane.

I seriously doubt that furthering nothing was his objective.

It's more of a result of his failure.

[Orogun01]

One mentally ill guy blows himself up with a homemade bomb, causing no damage to anyone else, and everyones got their panties in a bunch.

Was there any confirmation of mental illness?

Failing a suicide bombing does not automatically amount to crazy.

We have very different views on mental illness, anyone willing to kill himself to further nothing is definitively not sane.

I seriously doubt that furthering nothing was his objective.

It's more of a result of his failure.

If he bombs himself to kill a multitude because he believes that he will be rewarded in heaven he is literally advancing nothing on earth. If anything he is setting back Islam buy making them look like fanatics, in my book pathological fanaticism is a mental illness.

[pmp10]

That assumes that underlying motivation for these acts is religious fanaticism.

Too often that's a very simplistic outlook even from outsiders perspective.

Some studies have shown that it's the sense of community under attack and notions of glorious self-sacrifice that culminate in such events.

 

In short - you can't convince them they are making Muslims look bad and hampering their interests when they believe themselves and the whole Muslim world to be under attack.

[Volourn]

Like he said, that's insanity.

[Kaftan Barlast]

The bomber, Taimour Abdulwahab 28 is believed to just be a lone nutter, unemployed and probably suffering from depression. He claimed to have been to a terrorist training camp in Jordan, but no one knows if thats actually true. The fact that the deed was very poorly planned and carried out suggests he didnt have a clue what he was doing. The bombs he carried were just pipes with black powder in and there was no significant target where he blew himself up. It was just a clothing store. And only one of the pipes actually exploded and the blast wasnt powerful enough to harm anyone. The bomber is believed to have died from bloodloss or shock, not the blast itself.

 

 

I dont think this qualifies as terrorism really

[Hurlshort]

One mentally ill guy blows himself up with a homemade bomb, causing no damage to anyone else, and everyones got their panties in a bunch.

Was there any confirmation of mental illness?

Failing a suicide bombing does not automatically amount to crazy.

 

How so? He might not have been a certified crazy person, but suicide bombing should be enough to tip the scale to the loony bin side.

[pmp10]

One mentally ill guy blows himself up with a homemade bomb, causing no damage to anyone else, and everyones got their panties in a bunch.

Was there any confirmation of mental illness?

Failing a suicide bombing does not automatically amount to crazy.

 

How so? He might not have been a certified crazy person, but suicide bombing should be enough to tip the scale to the loony bin side.

No more than any suicidal action.

Simple explanation like that excuse us from seeking more in-depth answers.

Were attacks in Spain more "reasonable" because they were not suicidal in nature?

Attacks like this can have similar function to self-immolation - they also serve as a self-destructive means of protest.

[Rostere]

The bomber, Taimour Abdulwahab 28 is believed to just be a lone nutter, unemployed and probably suffering from depression. He claimed to have been to a terrorist training camp in Jordan, but no one knows if thats actually true. The fact that the deed was very poorly planned and carried out suggests he didnt have a clue what he was doing. The bombs he carried were just pipes with black powder in and there was no significant target where he blew himself up. It was just a clothing store. And only one of the pipes actually exploded and the blast wasnt powerful enough to harm anyone. The bomber is believed to have died from bloodloss or shock, not the blast itself.

 

 

I dont think this qualifies as terrorism really

 

In intent perhaps... But they're definitely right in that he's the "lone nutter" stereotype. I very seriously doubt there's some kind of organization backing him up though.

[mkreku]

Geez, even our terrorists suck!

[Kaftan Barlast]

Probably the most useless attempt at terrorism in the west thus far. Now they've deduced that he set the bomb of accidentally as he stopped to fiddle with it. Swedish evening press showing surveillance video from the 'accident'

(safe for viewing, doesnt show anything graphic)

 

 

You can tell from the massive amount of smoke that it was a poorly cooked homemade explosive or even modified fireworks.

Edited December 12, 2010 by Kaftan Barlast

[Tigranes]

If you can't speak Swedish, and watch the video while listening to King Crimson, it's pretty surreal. I recommend it.

[Moose]

It really is "Four Lions". I swear that films underated, it's absolutely boom on.

[Walsingham]

Actually it seems he was British, and far from being a 'nutter' he was described as bubbly and friendly. As many jihadists often are, he was approaching his thirties, and was married, a graduate, and had children. Moreover, it seems he was challenged logically and reasonably within his own mosque in Luton, and simply stormed off.

 

As for this being abortive and beneath consideration, Kaftan, you sound as if you're grasping. Lone terrorist tradecraft is always going to be substandard. But their intent to kill is perfectly genuine. Getting lucky is hardly good grounds for complacency. Or do you want to visit the victims and relatives of victims when the next one works effectively, and say that you argued against protective action?

 

Contempt for terrorists is perfectly appropriate. Contempt for their ability to maim and kill is not.

~

 

 

I think it's interesting that people like this are mounting direct real violent attacks on free speech (he attributes the attack at least partly to the cartoons), and there isn't a fraction of the media and left wing support against them that there is for Wikileaks against the USA.

[Kaftan Barlast]

Ted Bundy had a degree in psychology and was believed to be completely normal by his neighbours too. My argument is that this was a minor incident that didnt hurt anyone except from the bomber himself. There was no al-qaeda behind it, just a crazy single simpleton that fancied himself a mujahedin. The only thing accomplished by the huge attention this has recieved, is to encourage more potential nutters to make bombs and blow themselves their 15 mins of fame. It should have been dismissed as the futile effort it was and thouroughly ignored.

 

And there is no remotely effective way to prevent this kind of thing, you could pump billions into counter-terrorism and have armed military surveil the whole city 24/7 and an idiot with taped-together fireworks could still manage to blow himself and possibly others up. In 2003, a mentally deranged person saw the foreign minister shopping, nicked a kitchen knife from the store and stabbed the minister to death with it. This year, a lone idiot managed to wound 12 people in a series of shootings before he was found and arrested.

 

There is just no way we can protect ourself against lone nutters in a reasonable and cost-effective way. We just have to accept that these things happen and get on with our lives. And try not to encourage more idiots by giving attention to these kinds of insane deeds

Edited December 13, 2010 by Kaftan Barlast

[Tigranes]

It should have been dismissed as the futile effort it was and thouroughly ignored.

 

That's Route One to the classic media coverage: "Yesterday the Swedish town of Vikingsborg was bombed by terrorists killing 17 sheep and an elephant. Authorities say that this attack was completely unexpected. Critics say that there was in fact a precedent in a failed bombing several months ago, and ask why the government did not heed this warning sign."

[Kaftan Barlast]

Reports state that jihaddist websites are beginning to call the incident a success, on account of the wide media exposure and following fear-mongering. Thats definently a step towards inspiring another nutter to try something similar. And it could have been avoided by being sensible about the whole thing instead of treating it like something newsworthy.

 

 

But I guess its something that we have both the worlds most useless serial killer AND most rubbish suicide bomber.

Edited December 13, 2010 by Kaftan Barlast

[Walsingham]

Kaft, would you mind indulging me by reading a bit more about this guy? Because the steer we're getting in the UK is that he was well known to his local mosque as an extremist nutloop.

 

It's one thing to say we can't do anything about some guy no-one knew was in a bad way. It's another thing entirely to say we can't do anything if someone is stamping about saying they wish to 'take matters into their own hands' and preaching violence.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ter...calisation.html

 

 

AFrom the article:

 

Two years ago the Centre for Social Cohesion think tank warned in a report called Islam on Campus that radical Islam was increasingly taking hold in British universities, with a third of Muslim students who were questioned saying killing in the name of religion was justified.

 

Police and the security services have been concerned for years that British universities have become a breeding ground for terrorists.

 

This is not something we can just wish away, Kaft.

Edited December 14, 2010 by Walsingham

[Rostere]

Reports state that jihaddist websites are beginning to call the incident a success, on account of the wide media exposure and following fear-mongering. Thats definently a step towards inspiring another nutter to try something similar. And it could have been avoided by being sensible about the whole thing instead of treating it like something newsworthy.

 

I agree to this...

 

Kaft, would you mind indulging me by reading a bit more about this guy? Because the steer we're getting in the UK is that he was well known to his local mosque as an extremist nutloop.

 

Well. From what we read around here, he was a quite "normal" guy until he, after visiting Britain, became "increasingly radical and angry". Maybe he was known there for these tendencies, but I think very few, if any, in Sweden knew of the extent of his radicalization.

 

Also, I very much doubt that he had training with explosives, from what I've read... I could have made a better bomb myself, from the descriptions of those.

Edited December 14, 2010 by Rostere

[Orogun01]

Kaft, would you mind indulging me by reading a bit more about this guy? Because the steer we're getting in the UK is that he was well known to his local mosque as an extremist nutloop.

 

Well. From what we read around here, he was a quite "normal" guy until he, after visiting Britain, became "increasingly radical and angry". Maybe he was known there for these tendencies, but I think very few, if any, in Sweden knew of the extent of his radicalization.

 

Also, I very much doubt that he had training with explosives, from what I've read... I could have made a better bomb myself, from the descriptions of those.

"After visiting Britain"

[Tigranes]

That's what they do to ya up yonder. Horrible place.

[mkreku]

Is it bad that I'm a bit ashamed of both our crappy mass murderers and crappy terrorists?