UK Terror Attack- Your thoughts?

[gareth brown]

Any thoughts on the possibility of a UK Terror Attack? The Government certainly seem to think one's on it's way now they're handing out the warning/safety advice leaflets across the country...

 

[deep]

when is blair's reelection?

 

[BVS]

News alert to the world, there is always a possibility of a terrorist attack, there is always a possibility of a mugging, there is always a possibility of lightning striking you, as long as you live in this world any of these can happen. Until anyone gives you proof that a terrorist attack is more likely than any of these things, then just live life and don't live in fear. You are more than likely to die by a car accident than a terrorist attack if you are living anywhere in the western world right now.

 

[A_Wanderer]

Unlike street crime, car accidents and plane crashes terrorism can be prevented if sound measures are taken, that is why it is important to carry out threat analysises because if terrorists ever used a nuclear device in a major city it is end game and hundreds of thousdands of people would die.

 

[gareth brown]

Blair's so-called 're-election' isn't going to take place. Sorry to disappoint you, Mr Deep. He's totally blown it...

It's Liberal Democrats all the way if the country gets it's head screwed on and remembers that Lib-Dems were against the war all the way when both Labour and the Tories backed it! (As most people have turned on Labour simply because of the war...)

To say 'I'm no longer voting Labour because of an unjust war on an innocent country...' or whatever, and then vote for the Tories is a complete and utter cop-out if one holds takes the war-issue really personally and is against anyone who backed it...so vote Lib Dems...

 

[FizzingWhizzbees]

Originally posted by
Blair's so-called 're-election' isn't going to take place. Sorry to disappoint you, Mr Deep. He's totally blown it...

It's Liberal Democrats all the way if the country gets it's head screwed on and remembers that Lib-Dems were against the war all the way when both Labour and the Tories backed it! (As most people have turned on Labour simply because of the war...)

The Lib Dems have about as much chance as the SNP of forming the next government. It's not going to happen. Their success in the local elections and Leicester by-election was largely due to a protest vote against Labour and people are much less likely to cast a protest vote in a general election. That said, there are now more Labour/Lib Dem marginal seats whereas in the past it's tended to be Tory/Lib Dem marginals, so it'll be interesting to see how that works out.

BTW, it's nice to see someone who's interested in UK politics here.

 

[BVS]

Unlike street crime, car accidents and plane crashes terrorism can be prevented if sound measures are taken, that is why it is important to carry out threat analysises because if terrorists ever used a nuclear device in a major city it is end game and hundreds of thousdands of people would die.

All the things listed can be preventable. But what if someone said you will be in a car accident this week. Then you would probably live in fear and not set foot in a car until the week is over, but if someone said you will get in an accident at this intersection on this day you would know what to do. Right now generic warnings do nothing for people. Nothing but put people in fear and if people live in fear then the terrorist are winning.

 

[A_Wanderer]

They are not preventable in the same manner as terrorism. Terrorism operates over time, its thought out to the finest detail and if it is cracked by law enforcement then it can be averted. Muggings are a crime of oppertunity that will always happen, car crashes will always happen - the rates can be drastically reduced but there is going to be a residual ammount of freak accidents. These steps are done so that the terrorists do not win, Islamic Terrorism does not want to see the west cower in fear, it wants to see each and every person exterminated. I cannot stress this enough, it is a bloody death cult with apocalyptic goals and they will never stop coming.

Generic warnings are unfortunately a response to the attacks because it helps demonstrate some form of action before any attack. People said "We Were Not Warned" and the government gives them an alarm system, its pure beurocracy that nobody gives a fuck about. It doesnt create a culture of fear, people tune out and ignore it and then they will be shocked the next time an atrocity happens. I simply do not buy this culture of fear hypothesis, it takes a real and tangiable threat to create that permanent cycle. You say culture of fear think like USA, I say no way think like USSR. Living in free and open societies means that people will distract themselves with their own live oblivious to any possible dangers.

 

[BVS]

Generic warnings are unfortunately a response to the attacks because it helps demonstrate some form of action before any attack. People said "We Were Not Warned" and the government gives them an alarm system, its pure beurocracy that nobody gives a fuck about. It doesnt create a culture of fear, people tune out and ignore it and then they will be shocked the next time an atrocity happens. I simply do not buy this culture of fear hypothesis, it takes a real and tangiable threat to create that permanent cycle. You say culture of fear think like USA, I say no way think like USSR. Living in free and open societies means that people will distract themselves with their own live oblivious to any possible dangers.

When there were generic warnings that there could be an attack in Texas, there were small towns here that completely shut down. So yes it affects some people.

 

[A_Wanderer]

I stand by it, people move on in blissfull ignorance, it takes time but as months move to years people forget and are ready for a wakeup call, if in the next 5 years there is not a single attack then people will assume the threat isnt there. I am sad to say it but 9/11 was not a proper wakeup call and until there is a truly massive attack the west will remain divided and the risks will just keep on increasing.

 

[RockNRollDawgie]

The terrorist warnings in the US have become a joke. Whenever Dubya slips
in the polls or wants his name in the papers, they issue an alert.

 

[Anthony]

There is no doubt in my mind that a terrorist attack will happen on British soil in the future. I don't know when or how, of course, but its only a matter of when, not if.

The Lib Dems wont win, though matters would improve significantly if they did. However, things will only get worse - even if Blair loses, the Tories will take over and they will prove to be worse than Blair's New Labour, anyway.

I think its safe to say that civilisation, at least in my corner of the world, is crumbling.

Ant.

 

[Harper]

I live in Greater London and terrorist acts or the threat of them have been a part of my life. That said, I have to admit that I'm more wary of venturing into town now simply because I know we're not going to get a phone call with a coded warning and the possibility of evacuating the area when it happens. It doesn't have to be a nuclear or biological weapon...it just needs a couple of people with explosives strapped to their chests to blow themselves up on a crowded tube.

And I also think that the Lib Dems are going to surprise us all. We've got a PM who's role model appareas to have been Thatcher, and a tory party who are a joke. They both supported this war when the Lib Dems were totally opposed to it, and if the war is the basis of voters turning away from New Labour, I think they can really give Blair a good run for his money.

 

[oliveu2cm]

BTW, it's nice to see someone who's interested in UK politics here.

Hey Fizz, do you have any websites you could reference me to where I can read more about UK politics? Stuff on the basic level to learn how the government operates, major parties, etc? My boyfriend's moving here soon and it'll help me to know more about his country's political background in order to teach & talk to him about mine.

thanks!!

 

[FizzingWhizzbees]

Hey Fizz, do you have any websites you could reference me to where I can read more about UK politics? Stuff on the basic level to learn how the government operates, major parties, etc? My boyfriend's moving here soon and it'll help me to know more about his country's political background in order to teach & talk to him about mine.

For a general introduction to how the British political system works you could try the Wikipedia article on the subject: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_the_United_Kingdom
It's a fairly detailed article but it does manage to explain all the basics quite well.

You might also find the UK Parliament website useful as it has a section explaining how Parliament works: http://www.parliament.uk/works/works.cfm

For information on the political parties you could try their individual websites, the three main parties website are:

Labour: www.labour.org.uk
Conservatives: www.conservatives.org.uk
Liberal Democrats: www.libdems.org.uk

I don't know if that's the sort of information you're looking for, feel free to ask if there's anything else you want to know.

 

[oliveu2cm]

Thanks so much, Fizz!! I'll let you know if there is anything more specific I want once I get to check out these links.