Now I understand why some Americans are so uptight about terrorists and other threats

[dream431ca]

I was watching CNN last night and this show came on (I forgot what it was called) but it was a women talking about the Londen attack. But she wasn't just talking...she was yelling and the expression on her face was full of fear and she kept on yelling:

"Are we next!?"

"Can I take the Train Tomorrow!?" and other things like this.


Doesn't this just spread fear like wildfire instead of analysing the situation?

She was also talking to someone from London that night and she asked,

"Will everybody be reluctant to take the train tomorrow!? I'm just Horrified!"

and the person interviewed calmly said: "Well..I would take the train tonight actually, if it wasn't closed."

Why is the woman yelling like this and most people from Londen are Calm?

In my Newscast here in Canada, I saw Londen people drinking outside a local bar just talking about other things instead of the terrorist attack.

I guess that Londen is a very strong city and is already starting to recover dramatically. I'm extremely impressed on how they are handling the situation. There not spreading any fear.

One more thing about the show I saw on CNN. You know the terror level thing, with the low to severe thing? That all of a sudden popped up on screen and the High (Orange) Part came leaping out at the screen. This just causes more fear.

It seems to me that America gets so uptight about these things because of the media spreading fear. Even on Holidays like Christmas, the media will say the government raised the terror level to high, and small rumors become big news. I'm sorry that you guys have to go through this. It must suck alot.

On a good note, I'm very happy that Londen is recovering quickly from this and it just proves that Londen is a very strong city.

 

[Ennui]

well, you have to understand that 9/11 was a LOT different than this recent attack. More than 100 times the amount of people were killed, and they brought down the two largest and proudest buildings in our most populous city, and this was before terrorism was such a global agenda - so for Americans, terrorism is quite a different thing, much more personal.

Plus, that woman you saw is probably a rarity. Most people don't respond that much - CNN is also showing how most New Yorkers are riding the subways as normal.

 

[Dag]

Actually, it's not the media, its the people who base thier whole life around the rantings of one or two people, or become Zealots over 15 second sound-bites. You can't base your opinion of one American Person to one London Person. What if they had gotten a crazed Londoner, and a really calm American, would your opinion change? But I do have to agree, the media only shows things that will get them money.

 

[gh0st]

thats why i spend my days locked in an ice cooler with a laptop. they will never find me there! we arent uptight about it, our government is. they do so by playing off of our natural fears of the unknown (of which terrorism is to us) to perpetuate their agenda. blah blah its nothing new.

 

[dream431ca]

Actually, it's not the media, its the people who base thier whole life around the rantings of one or two people, or become Zealots over 15 second sound-bites. You can't base your opinion of one American Person to one London Person. What if they had gotten a crazed Londoner, and a really calm American, would your opinion change? But I do have to agree, the media only shows things that will get them money.

9/11 was extremely terrible..possibly the most terrible thing I have ever seen. One of things I will never forget is alot of people walking over the brooklin bridge to get home and so many people helping alot of other people.

I realise that in Londen, the attack was no where near that scale, but I am still happy about how they are handling it. I realise that alot of Americans, probably around 90% are still taking the trains and riding the buses and other sorts of transportation. But the attacks were in Londen and I think that even in the same day, people are starting to get this thing out of their minds and get on with normal life.

 

[Razor]

The 9/11 attacks was far more serious, that is probably why American's might see terrorism as different. Now if the whole of the Houses of Parliament went up or St Pauls or even Buckingham Palace, that would probably of jolted the British people a lot more. But then, Britain has been living with terror for 30 years now thanks to the IRA.

 

[gh0st]

ira? the international rifle association? the **** u talkin about?

irish republican army

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IRA

 

[Ennui]

ira? the international rifle association? the **** u talkin about?

irish terrorist organization

 

[Sulkdodds]

Why is the woman yelling like this and most people from Londen are Calm?

We keep a stiff upper lip, old chap.

 

[dream431ca]

We keep a stiff upper lip, old chap.

Words of AC/DC :cheers:

 

[Pesmerga]

Fear of death is a fear of life.

 

[Tr0n]

We was hit way worse...that's why we're so up tight about it.When terrorist first attacked the WTC (where they put bombs in the parking garage at the bottom) not many ppl cared after it happened.Why?Well almost 3000 people didn't die and 3 different buildings didn't fall.

If what happened in london was just as bad as 9/11...I can assure you the Brits would start their own personal war with terrorism and probally hunt down every single al'queda member themselves.

 

[Jangle]

on the news i heard in america a policeman has to inspect every train before it leaves the station following what happened in london

 

[CptStern]

I was watching CNN last night and this show came on (I forgot what it was called) but it was a women talking about the Londen attack. But she wasn't just talking...she was yelling and the expression on her face was full of fear and she kept on yelling:

"Are we next!?"

"Can I take the Train Tomorrow!?" and other things like this.


Doesn't this just spread fear like wildfire instead of analysing the situation?

She was also talking to someone from London that night and she asked,

"Will everybody be reluctant to take the train tomorrow!? I'm just Horrified!"

and the person interviewed calmly said: "Well..I would take the train tonight actually, if it wasn't closed."

Why is the woman yelling like this and most people from Londen are Calm?

In my Newscast here in Canada, I saw Londen people drinking outside a local bar just talking about other things instead of the terrorist attack.

I guess that Londen is a very strong city and is already starting to recover dramatically. I'm extremely impressed on how they are handling the situation. There not spreading any fear.

One more thing about the show I saw on CNN. You know the terror level thing, with the low to severe thing? That all of a sudden popped up on screen and the High (Orange) Part came leaping out at the screen. This just causes more fear.

It seems to me that America gets so uptight about these things because of the media spreading fear. Even on Holidays like Christmas, the media will say the government raised the terror level to high, and small rumors become big news. I'm sorry that you guys have to go through this. It must suck alot.

On a good note, I'm very happy that Londen is recovering quickly from this and it just proves that Londen is a very strong city.

because:


"Naturally the common people don't want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor in Germany. That is understood. But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country"

Hermann Goering, at nuremberg trials

 

[Dag]

We was hit way worse...that's why we're so up tight about it.When terrorist first attacked the WTC (where they put bombs in the parking garage at the bottom) not many ppl cared after it happened.Why?Well almost 3000 people didn't die and 3 different buildings didn't fall.

If what happened in london was just as bad as 9/11...I can assure you the Brits would start their own personal war with terrorism and probally hunt down every single al'queda member themselves.

Even though thier attack wasn't as large, this will still jostle Britian into rethinking it's war on terror.

 

[Ennui]

on the news i heard in america a policeman has to inspect every train before it leaves the station following what happened in london

No. However, in some of the larger cities, due to the terror alert being higher for the transportaion system, there are a lot of extra police and terrorism response personnel taking bomb dogs around train stations and just generally watching out.

 

[Icarusintel]

on the news i heard in america a policeman has to inspect every train before it leaves the station following what happened in london

well, they did in dc this morning before the trains left for their daily rounds... i don;t think they checked them in between stops though

 

[Hapless]

because:


"Naturally the common people don't want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor in Germany. That is understood. But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country"

Hermann Goering, at nuremberg trials

Well, by God, if he said it, it must be true, and it MUST apply to the current situation. You forget that he was talking about manufacturing a crisis, while in the current situation there have been attacks on the US, Spain and now Great Britain. Let's stop comparing us to the Nazis, shall we?

 

[Tr0n]

He isn't comparing us to nazi's.Re-read the quote and think about it, then you might see what he was saying.Which is pretty much the reality when it comes to politics/goverments.Almost every goverment does it or has done it.

 

[Hapless]

He isn't comparing us to nazi's.Re-read the quote and think about it, then you might see what he was saying.Which is pretty much the reality when it comes to politics/goverments.Almost every goverment does it or has done it.

Could be. However, the fact that the quote is from a Nazi invites such comparisons.

 

[Kangy]

ira? the international rifle association? the **** u talkin about?

Wow, it's weird to think that people don't know of the IRA - they practically invented modern terrorism. Britain has been bombed, intimidated and threatened by the IRA for night on 40 years now - bombings like yesterday were smaller, but they were quite regular at one point. We didn't really flinch to them, and I doubt we'll flinch for Al Queda either.

People like that woman annoy me. They're letting the terrorist win by doing things like that. As their name suggests, they want to instill terror in their target, and giving into that is the worst thing you can possibly do following these attacks. The best course of action is to simply mourn the dead, be ever more prepared and secure and carry on as best you possibly can. What does shrieking and cowering achieve? Bugger all!

 

[CptStern]

Well, by God, if he said it, it must be true, and it MUST apply to the current situation. You forget that he was talking about manufacturing a crisis, while in the current situation there have been attacks on the US, Spain and now Great Britain. Let's stop comparing us to the Nazis, shall we?

you know that quote is funny ...no one ever reads the damn thing everyone just focuses on the person who said it. While I've often used that quote I'm always a little hesitant in attributing it to goering much for the exact same knee-jerk reaction you displayed here hapless ...but I firmly believe that the author of the quote makes it that much more impactful because he's an example of the ideology in action

 

[Kamikazie]

I can assure you the Brits would start their own personal war with terrorism and probally hunt down every single al'queda member themselves.

But you have to admit that the brits wouldnt take as drastic measures as the Americans did. I would think that Tony Blair would let the Americans take action against the terrorists and learn from the Americans mistake of going to war and risking and taking lives of his own men.

 

[Dag]

But you have to admit that the brits wouldnt take as drastic measures as the Americans did. I would think that Tony Blair would let the Americans take action against the terrorists and learn from the Americans mistake of going to war and risking and taking lives of his own men.

They already helped in Iraq and Afghanistan. And what drastic measures would Tony Blair not take in the war on terror that we took right after 9/11?

 

[Kamikazie]

Like that he would start his own war and let the Americans help

 

[SAJ]

For those unaware of the IRA and their bombing campaign in England:

The IRA bomb campaign, which hit London from 1973 onwards, sought to create a climate of fear over a long period, but it soon tried to explode two or more devices at a time to maximise the havoc. There were 36 bombs in London in 1973.

Over 20 years, the IRA strategy shifted away from causing as many casualties as possible to trying to cause economic damage to London's financial centre.

The major incidents were:


1973, March 8: two IRA car bombs in London explode outside the Old Bailey and government's agriculture department headquarters, killing one person and wounding more than 150


1974, October 5: two IRA bombs explode in pubs in the London suburb of Guildford; five dead, more than 50 injured


November 21: two IRA bombs in Birmingham kill 19 and wound more than 180


1982, July 20: two IRA bombs in Hyde Park and Regent's Park in London kill 11 British soldiers and wound more than 40, mostly civilian onlookers


1983, December 17: IRA car bomb explodes outside Harrods department store, killing six people and wounding about 100


1984 October 12: IRA targets conference of ruling Conservative party, killing five and wounding 24, but narrowly missing the prime minister, Margaret Thatcher


1989, September 22: the IRA bombs the Royal Marines School of Music in Deal, killing 10 soldiers and wounding more than 30


1991, February 7: IRA fires three homemade mortar shells at No 10 Downing Street, the British prime minister's official residence in London. No injuries


1992, April 10: a massive IRA truck bomb in London's financial district kills three and causes hundreds of millions of pounds worth in damage


April 24: an IRA truck bomb in London's financial district, killing one and causing heavy damage


1996, February 9: IRA ends a 17-month ceasefire with a third massive truck bomb in London's financial district, killing two


February 18: an IRA bomber accidentally kills himself aboard a London double-decker bus, five injured


June 15: for the first time, the IRA targets a different English city - Manchester - with a massive truck bomb, wrecking the central shopping area and wounding about 200


2000, September 20: IRA dissidents fire rocket-propelled grenades at headquarters of MI6 security agency. No injuries.

Odd as it may seem this article(http://www.guardian.co.uk/attackonlondon/story/0,16132,1524470,00.html) gave me some comfort, as it put the London bombing into a historical context.
This line is especially startling in print

There were 36 bombs in London in 1973.

What the article doesnt count are the numerous false alarms( a list would take pages of its own) that were part of the IRA`s strategy, so that at times during the seventies bombs and bomb threats seemed like a daily occurence.

Its something to consider when every news outlet is (imho) accelerating a sense of unique panic, and seemingly reacting with an attitude of amnesia regarding Londons recent history.

 

[Hapless]

you know that quote is funny ...no one ever reads the damn thing everyone just focuses on the person who said it. While I've often used that quote I'm always a little hesitant in attributing it to goering much for the exact same knee-jerk reaction you displayed here hapless ...but I firmly believe that the author of the quote makes it that much more impactful because he's an example of the ideology in action

What knee-jerk reaction are you referring to? The last sentence of my post referred to the Nazi thing, and that was an afterthought. You didn't address what I said other than the Nazi thing.

 

[Sulkdodds]

But the Americans did it too in the fifties, blowing communism out of proportion. It probably wouldn't be that hard to find a quote to the exact same effect from an American source.

 

[baxter]

because:


"Naturally the common people don't want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor in Germany. That is understood. But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country"

Hermann Goering, at nuremberg trials

I don't see that anybody is being compared to Nazi's by this quote, infact it is a perfect example of how a population can be manipulated by people in power, whether that power comes from the politician or the media.
The point that was being put across, I believe, is that if you are continually bombarded by propaganda and hysteria, eventually you will believe what you are told, whether it be the truth or not.

 

[dream431ca]

Oh..and another thing I witnessed on CNN...I have come to the conclusion that stupid people should not call larry king live, as I was watching it last night. Some barbaric moron called up and blamed the London attacks on the french, Now...you have to be one of two things to do that:

1. A complete and sadistic moron who hates the french cause they never joined in the war with Iraq (please don't discuss this, just making a point).

2. A confused dilinguent who is racist against the french and they think they should all die.

None of those things are good, but please...if your stupid, don't call larry king and tell him "Do you think it's the french because they lost the bid for the 2010 olympics?" Thats what he said on live national TV. Unfortunate as it sounds, people have to finish grade 3.

 

[MjM]

Look at it from a historical view point.

Its has been such in recent history, that any military conflict that the US has been involved in, has never come close to affecting the 'mainland' civilian population. i mean sure there was Pearl harbour, but that was halfway across the pacific, and in my view still wouldnt have the pshycological impact that a Japanese bombing on the West Coast of the USA would have had.

While Europe and many parts of the world, the civilian populations have lived with war and death and terrorism, like America never has.

So naturally Londoners response to dramatic events is, more moderated by their history.

But thats not to undermine the significance of the loss that America suffered. As far as drama goes, 9/11 re-wrote the book. I also think that the fact that 9/11 played out over nearly an hour, and the footage was often horrific, of people jumping or falling, it adds a huge emotive element that doesnt occur when its a subway bombing where most of the carnage is hidden from the cameras.

I heard a discription of the recovery of bodies at one of the trains, in 60 degree celcius temperatures, with rats everywhere. I mean that indicates the horrific nature and the carnage of what happened. But it still doesnt come close to what the impact would have been on people had they seen it in realtime, immediately after the event.

And i mean the London bombing footage was comparitively tame, dispite the fact there were serious burns and trauma, we seldom saw it. Perhaps grainy amature footage of the Bus scene, but i say it still doesnt come close to people jumping from the n-th floor of the trade centre.

Ultimately it probably re kindled memories of 9/11 for many Americans, and again reinforced their newfound(post 9/11) insecurity, that they are no longer isolated from attacks.

 

[Foxtrot]

Look at it from a historical view point.

Its has been such in recent history, that any military conflict that the US has been involved in, has never come close to affecting the 'mainland' civilian population. i mean sure there was Pearl harbour, but that was halfway across the pacific, and in my view still wouldnt have the pshycological impact that a Japanese bombing on the West Coast of the USA would have had.

While Europe and many parts of the world, the civilian populations have lived with war and death and terrorism, like America never has.

So naturally Londoners response to dramatic events is, more moderated by their history.

But thats not to undermine the significance of the loss that America suffered. As far as drama goes, 9/11 re-wrote the book. I also think that the fact that 9/11 played out over nearly an hour, and the footage was often horrific, of people jumping or falling, it adds a huge emotive element that doesnt occur when its a subway bombing where most of the carnage is hidden from the cameras.

I heard a discription of the recovery of bodies at one of the trains, in 60 degree celcius temperatures, with rats everywhere. I mean that indicates the horrific nature and the carnage of what happened. But it still doesnt come close to what the impact would have been on people had they seen it in realtime, immediately after the event.

And i mean the London bombing footage was comparitively tame, dispite the fact there were serious burns and trauma, we seldom saw it. Perhaps grainy amature footage of the Bus scene, but i say it still doesnt come close to people jumping from the n-th floor of the trade centre.

Ultimately it probably re kindled memories of 9/11 for many Americans, and again reinforced their newfound(post 9/11) insecurity, that they are no longer isolated from attacks.

The US has had many wars and conflicts in the country, the Civil War being the biggest. There is also the Revolutionary War, The War of 1812, The Mexican-American War and the westward expansion.

 

[MjM]

You miss the fact that i said recent history. Londerers have living memories of bombings and air raids, something Americans havnt had to expierience for a long while i am sure.

I mean NZ had violent wars some hundred years ago, but that would never come close to preparing me for anything like what has happened in NY, Madrid, Bali and London ...

 

[RakuraiTenjin]

A lot has to do with LITERALLY, the geography of the cities.

People on the east coast are far more observant/aware and expecting a terrorist attacks. The cities there are vertical, where you can easily take out couple thousand people by hitting one building. On the west coast, we have a LOT more open area, and while the cities have the same population, we spreeeaad out, a lot like London.

You'll find that if you travelled across America going from California to New York, you'd go from very little worry of terror disrupting things, to increased fear of it.

Plus, we're not used to terrorism at home really at all. While we had once in a great while HUGE incidents, London has taken constantly bombings, etc, and grew resiliant to it (as you could see from the impeccable emergency response teams.) They're (sadly) more used to it.

 

[DreadLord]

On the subject of increased security in American cities, it is present in Boston. There are many more policemen around the subways, now several holding automatic weapons etc..