Terrorist Attacks........will They Ever Stop

[BobbyBobBob]

How long have terrorist attacks been going on for now? I'm in my 20's and it feels like my whole life there's been danger of terrorist attacks.

Where did it stem from and will it ever stop, or does the world have to put up with this for a long long time into the future? Is it a case of making peace with these countries who attack or is it much more complicated than that?

I love going to big events where there's crowds of people but after hearing things on the news on a regular basis I'm getting pretty put off.

[douglas9401]

Terrorist attacks in one shape or another have been going on forever.
It's just that we now have pretty people on rolling news to tell us about it endlessly so we'll cower in our homes, afraid of our own shadows.

[needawin]

I feel so sorry for the victims of this atrocity in Boston. Many will have their lives shattered.
Here in N. Ireland we have had nearly 40 years of the same. Sometimes daily and still ongoing though thankfully not so frequent now.
The world is a very unsafe place at the moment.

[bibblebub]

wikipedia gives a list going back to 1865 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_terrorist_incidents

[beso]

Compared to the terror endured by people in the middle east from both "insurgents" and foreign invaders you have very little to worry about.

More innocent people have been killed in US drone attacks than any attacks that have been experienced in the West.

[gness]

Yes, terrorist attacks have been happening for a long time but not as we are experiencing them now.
I spent my teens and twenties attending festivals, going to demonstrations and on marches....never with the thought at the back of my mind that I could be the victim of some crazy persons bomb.....I feel for you Bobby...x

[Sharingan]

Stop worrying as is said above this has gone on for centuries , albeit with different groups of disaffected people. You can't allow the threat of terrorism to change your life or you play right into their hands, and besides the chance of actually being involved in a terrorist incident is practically nil.

[Sqad]

Shari

\\\ and besides the chance of actually being involved in a terrorist incident is practically nil. \\\\

;-)

[magsmay]

I think we should become more aware and more vigilant in public places -as they say in the USA -if you see something suspect report it -better that someones forgotten shopping bag gets blown up than a tragedy in a Shopping Mall.

[EDDIE51]

They have been going on for as long as mankind has existed. I am sure one group of cavemen made surprise attacks on other groups back in the stone age. Only the weapons and method of attack have changed. They will go on as long as mankind is on the Earth.

[jno]

Eddie, there's a difference between routine warfare and terror attacks. There were mad bombers in the streets of Victorian London (allegedly); you see them in old cartoons holding things that look like black globes with a fuse wire fizzing away. But I'm not sure they were terrorists trying to scare the public at large, I think they were mostly out to assassinate specific targets. The term as it's used today was first applied to Zionist activists after the war.

[jake-the-peg]

Well jno I think that's come from increasing democracy

The 'terrorists' trying to Assassinate Napolean III for example would achieve nothing by attacking civillians because Napoleon couldn't care less what happened to them.

The whole point of a terrorist attack is to spread fear and dispair and sap the will to continue.

It seems pretty ineffective - most civillian attacks just seem to increase the determination of the state.

'terrorist' attacks on troops however seem much more effective - you see that now with regards to Afghanistan - the News threads on this very site is full of people calling for troops to be withdrawn because soldiers are being killed

[jno]

up to a point, jake, I think rulers do care about attacks in general because they're seen as an assault on the king's peace and his ability to control his country. And terrorism did work for the Zionists, it drove the British out.

[jake-the-peg]

The Zionists prove my point

They were predominantly attacks on British Soldiers abroad - much like Taliban attacks on British troops in Afghanistan.

I think civillian attacks are generally counterproductive to those engaging in them

[TWR]

Re/ the Dogs that bit / mauled that young girl in the UK 2 weeks ago!! will they do it again? Deal with evil, the same way the evil basds deal out their hatred to us.

To people from Boston, my thoughts are with you.

[jno]

yes, fair enough

[jackthehat]

Bomb dog-owners?!?!?

That's a little 'off-the-wall', even for you, TWR.

[jno]

my last post was to jake. I have no opinion on dogs.

[FredPuli43]

Rest assured Bobby that, as you are only in your twenties, you have no memory of the real fun of being subject to terrorism here. It seemed that hardly a day passed without some public building being evacuated because of a bomb threat; I seemed to spend more time standing outside courthouses, where I worked, than in them !

And, as for actual acts of terrorism, as distinct from hoaxes or false alarms, they seemed a daily occurrence in Northern Ireland and quite frequent on the mainland. And we had the odd incident of other, non IRA, terrorism too, just to add variety.

[tenrec]

As a runner, hearing about the Boston bombs has just made me more determined to never give in to terrorism. I will continue to put myself out there and support the good, honest, decent people. We must not let the minority terrorists win.