3 ms·

Did this even happen? Initial reports were that firefighters on the scene were disputing that a drone attack even happened, but rather a gas tank exploded in a

Did this even happen? Initial reports were that firefighters on the scene were disputing that a drone attack even happened, but rather a gas tank exploded in a kitchen in a building across the street. (You can see the building in the above link.) See at the 7:10 reporting mark in https://apnews.com/db760dac560840309cd320648ba12c9a https://apnews.com/db760dac560840309cd320648ba12c9a Also, there was a report that journalists were arrested immediately after the explosion. Which seems rather odd. https://twitter.com/jake_hanrahan/status/1025905621646929920?s=21 https://twitter.com/jake_hanrahan/status/1025905621646929920...

tim333 8y ago
I guess it could end up being like the Turkish 'coup attempt' where it's mostly used as an excuse to arrest a lot of people.
dredmorbius 8y ago
The confusion, uncertainty, deeniability, and allegations possible make such attacks, or claims of them, particularly destabilising. The root of "war" is the German verwirren: "to confuse, perplex"), from PIE wers- (1) "to confuse, mix up". Cognates suggest the original sense was "to bring into confusion."* https://www.etymonline.com/word/war https://www.etymonline.com/word/war Mission accomplished.
- stan_rogers 8y ago
  No, verwirren comes from the same root, it's not the source of war. Your statement is the etymological equivalent of saying that humans descended from modern chimpanzees.
booleandilemma 8y ago
This is what I heard from a friend who is in Venezuela. Your comment is only the 2nd time where I’ve seen mention of the firefighters. Here in the US all the major newspapers (nyt, wsj, wapo) are going with drone attack because it’s the official statement from the Venezuelan government, but they’re not even mentioning the firefighters, from what I’ve seen. What’s the real story here?
- jonathankoren 8y ago
  The other thing that seems odd is that they jumped immediately to blaming Columbia prior to this previously unknown group claiming responsibility. I would think something like this would take a few days before blame could be properly assessed, especially if it was a state (or state supported) actor.

tim333 8y ago

I guess it could end up being like the Turkish 'coup attempt' where it's mostly used as an excuse to arrest a lot of people.

dredmorbius 8y ago

The confusion, uncertainty, deeniability, and allegations possible make such attacks, or claims of them, particularly destabilising. The root of "war" is the German verwirren: "to confuse, perplex"), from PIE wers- (1) "to confuse, mix up". Cognates suggest the original sense was "to bring into confusion."* https://www.etymonline.com/word/war https://www.etymonline.com/word/war Mission accomplished.

stan_rogers 8y ago
No, verwirren comes from the same root, it's not the source of war. Your statement is the etymological equivalent of saying that humans descended from modern chimpanzees.

booleandilemma 8y ago

This is what I heard from a friend who is in Venezuela. Your comment is only the 2nd time where I’ve seen mention of the firefighters. Here in the US all the major newspapers (nyt, wsj, wapo) are going with drone attack because it’s the official statement from the Venezuelan government, but they’re not even mentioning the firefighters, from what I’ve seen. What’s the real story here?

jonathankoren 8y ago
The other thing that seems odd is that they jumped immediately to blaming Columbia prior to this previously unknown group claiming responsibility. I would think something like this would take a few days before blame could be properly assessed, especially if it was a state (or state supported) actor.