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>I appreciate you're playing devil's advocate, so I'm holding back. And if his views were genuine, would you then be rude? I find this implication troubling an

>I appreciate you're playing devil's advocate, so I'm holding back. And if his views were genuine, would you then be rude? I find this implication troubling and corrosive to open discussion. >It is the media attention given to the situation, not the situation itself, that is terrifying. Europe is extremely safe and does not have a security problem. I couldn't disagree more. If such incidents were rare two decades ago and increasingly common today, then clearly something is going wrong. In fact, you try to make that same argument later in your post, saying that we creating the terrorism through our actions and making ourselves less safe. Which one is it? There's a difference between self-inflicted harm and violence inflicted on strangers. Terrorist attacks in France over the last year are almost 50% on top of the normal murder rate. And while most murder victims are killed by people they were in personal conflict with, the victims of terrorism are random. There is good reason to fear them more.

sdoering 10y ago
Regarding potential terrorism death in Europe, two to four decades ago was a very dangerous time here. Be it Ireland, Spain or Germany - the 70s, 80s and 90s had a way higher death toll from terror in any given year. We had the RAF in Germany, ETA in Spain, IRA in Ireland/Britain and so on. Not to talk about Securitate in Romania and so on. So statistically speaking we non the less have to fear less then our parents had to fear. I am not saying, that we should just ignore it. No - on the contrary - but first we shouldn't give in to the media crazed panic and throw our freedoms in front of this Angst-Train. We should identify the problems, look for valid solutions and then fight the causes, not the symptoms. In my eyes having our nations (living in Germany) export war and terror into the world, then take in the refugees without helping them cope with what they went through is a recipe for disaster. We should take in refugees, as this is just basic humanity calling, but we also have the obligation to help these people with more then "just" shelter. We also have the obligation to elect leaders wo are not trying every day to set the world on fire. Maybe in the long run this would help a "little bit" as well. And yes - one might call me a naive idealist.
Blahah 10y ago
> And if his views were genuine, would you then be rude? I find this implication troubling and corrosive to open discussion. No, I would have been more extensive and detailed in my answer. Instead I went for a few short points in rhetorical language. The other reply to your comment has addressed the other points.
maze-le 10y ago
> If such incidents were rare two decades ago and increasingly common today, then clearly something is going wrong That is just plainly wrong. In the 70ies, 80ies and early 90ies we had more terrorists and more terrorist attacks, that killed people. There was the (P)IRA in Northern Ireland, the ETA in Spain, the FLNC in France and the RAF in Germany, and these were only the most notorious groups. All of them laid down their arms and integrated into civil political groups in the past 40 years.
- marcoperaza 10y ago
  Two decades ago was a very quiet time for Europe in terms of terrorist attacks. The groups you cite, which are anyhow a totally different problem than Islamist terror, had mostly died down. The number of Islamist terrorist groups in the world has been increasing since the 80s and attacks on the West have been rising again since around the turn of the century. The recent spike is severe. What's most alarming about the current wave is that they are lone wolf attacks that defy our traditional capabilities to uncover plots before they are executed. ISIS has decentralized terrorism.

sdoering 10y ago

Regarding potential terrorism death in Europe, two to four decades ago was a very dangerous time here. Be it Ireland, Spain or Germany - the 70s, 80s and 90s had a way higher death toll from terror in any given year. We had the RAF in Germany, ETA in Spain, IRA in Ireland/Britain and so on. Not to talk about Securitate in Romania and so on. So statistically speaking we non the less have to fear less then our parents had to fear. I am not saying, that we should just ignore it. No - on the contrary - but first we shouldn't give in to the media crazed panic and throw our freedoms in front of this Angst-Train. We should identify the problems, look for valid solutions and then fight the causes, not the symptoms. In my eyes having our nations (living in Germany) export war and terror into the world, then take in the refugees without helping them cope with what they went through is a recipe for disaster. We should take in refugees, as this is just basic humanity calling, but we also have the obligation to help these people with more then "just" shelter. We also have the obligation to elect leaders wo are not trying every day to set the world on fire. Maybe in the long run this would help a "little bit" as well. And yes - one might call me a naive idealist.

Blahah 10y ago

> And if his views were genuine, would you then be rude? I find this implication troubling and corrosive to open discussion. No, I would have been more extensive and detailed in my answer. Instead I went for a few short points in rhetorical language. The other reply to your comment has addressed the other points.

maze-le 10y ago

> If such incidents were rare two decades ago and increasingly common today, then clearly something is going wrong That is just plainly wrong. In the 70ies, 80ies and early 90ies we had more terrorists and more terrorist attacks, that killed people. There was the (P)IRA in Northern Ireland, the ETA in Spain, the FLNC in France and the RAF in Germany, and these were only the most notorious groups. All of them laid down their arms and integrated into civil political groups in the past 40 years.

marcoperaza 10y ago
Two decades ago was a very quiet time for Europe in terms of terrorist attacks. The groups you cite, which are anyhow a totally different problem than Islamist terror, had mostly died down. The number of Islamist terrorist groups in the world has been increasing since the 80s and attacks on the West have been rising again since around the turn of the century. The recent spike is severe. What's most alarming about the current wave is that they are lone wolf attacks that defy our traditional capabilities to uncover plots before they are executed. ISIS has decentralized terrorism.