More bad shit happening in France.

[Crispin]

Such sad times. Reports of 60 deaths.

Heart bleeds for those affected.

 

[Bob]

Ah no, where will this end. I sincerely hope its not linked to whatever acronym that hides behind religion is popular today. Mrs. Bob arrived in Sete on the south coast today with her friend for a sneaky beach holiday. Whatever about me, I know she'll be worried sick. Far enough from Nice though. Those poor souls.

 

[TonyP]

Shocking. No words really

 

[froggy Steve]

Madman drove a truck into the crowds watching th efireworks. all in the name of a non existant god.
ffs

 

[clivehorridge]

Some reports put the death toll closer to 90 now. Attacks like these cannot be prevented, unless folks simply become too afraid to partake in any public gatherings, which is what these bastards want.

Incredible inhumanity. So sad for the victims and their families....

 

[StarCruiser]

60 deaths is horrendous. If the truck had been packed with explosives that could have been 600 or more. Thankfully it didn't explode or wasn't rigged.

Sickening. Thoughts are with their families.

 

[chadr]

An ideology set in the dark ages strikes against the modern world, against our freedom and progress yet again.

They will never win........but until they catch-up with the rest of us, we will continue to see atrocities like this unfortunately.

Thoughts are with the victims and their loved ones.

 

[Chas]

So shocked to see such awful scenes on streets that are so familiar and loved by me. My wife and I are regular visitors to Nice, we have been there more times than I can remember.
We usually stay in hotels but we have rented an apartment and lived like locals, my heart goes out to all those affected by this tragedy.
I have been on the Promenade Des Anglais for the Fete de la Musique and know just how many people would have been around. Apparently the death toll is 84 at the moment but will probably rise.

 

[Crispin]

They will never win........but until they catch-up with the rest of us, we will continue to see atrocities like this unfortunately.

While this is true it'll be tough, or extremely drawn out, to get past this....
Sadly though our 21st century liberties will be eroded in the name of protection from this too.

Been watching the news - one picture, a thermal blanket lying over a small body and next to the body was a teddy bear. No person deserves this...

 

[frank rabbets]

I agree with every word said but there are civilian deaths caused by this country and US on an even bigger scale which we must not forget. These deaths are easier to overlook as they are more remote and not publicised.

Easy to call it terrorism but it's war really.

 

[Crispin]

Agree Frank.

one picture, a thermal blanket lying over a small body and next to the body was a teddy bear. No person deserves this...

There have been the same images from "those parts" of the world which tore equally as hard at the heartstrings. A father is a father - regardless of location.

 

[goodoldboy]

M

While this is true it'll be tough, or extremely drawn out, to get past this....
Sadly though our 21st century liberties will be eroded in the name of protection from this too.

Been watching the news - one picture, a thermal blanket lying over a small body and next to the body was a teddy bear. No person deserves this...

sickening news indeed & it seems no end in sight for these attacks.On the plus side if there is one , this is an unsophisticated attack & says much about the threat we are facing but don't expect politicians to react in a reasonable manner.....surely now , post chilcot , we can have a sensible debate about the causes of " terror" & what can be done to prevent further madness on both sides

 

[hopeless wanderer]

Got a call in the small hours that it had happened.
My girlfriends little sister is backpacking in Europe before starting university, she last checked in as being in Nice.
She hadn't appeared on facebook for 9 hours, many anguished calls to her mum in Wellington trying to reassure her that she is probably OK. Went to the upstairs office where the guys from TOTAL are based, Many are ashen faced as they were during the Paris attacks but they rang the authorities and tried to find out if any Kiwis had been affected.
She finally messaged a few hours ago and she'd left early as she is travelling to the Greek islands and flying home from Athens.
I only had a glimpse of the anguish that many people are feeling now waiting for the news about loved ones and no idea of the grief that those who already know.
sickening.

 

[clivehorridge]

I agree with every word said but there are civilian deaths caused by this country and US on an even bigger scale which we must not forget. These deaths are easier to overlook as they are more remote and not publicised.

Easy to call it terrorism but it's war really.

Whilst I have to agree with you to an extent Frank, the majority of US or British responsibility for civilian deaths is, in the main, collateral damage. I accept that the terms of the "war" itself may be suspect, yet I will still find it hard to accept that US or British forces have deliberately targeted innocents. I will stand corrected.

These attacks are random, indiscriminate and deliberately target the helpless, unarmed, women, children & babies, the disabled, and all that get hit, for the sole purposes of terror in its purest form.

There is no excuse, or reasoned defence for this behavior, these perpetrators should go to hell, directly, without passing GO and no virgins, end of.

JMHO as a human being.

 

[frank rabbets]

It's a very fine line though isn't it Clive? We know we will definately kill civilians but it just feels a bit more remote as they were not targeted. Then there is a question of scale with our country and US killing many thousands in other countries. How much is one European life worth? 100 lives in collateral damage?

Don't get me wrong that truck driver was totally wrong.

It's the human condition I'm afraid.

 

[Shayne]

I have said it before and i will say it again , the scale of a war is measured in collateral damage , when willing opponents meet on a battlefield it is a contest not a war .

What is terrorism to one is guerilla warfare to another . What makes this Isis bullshit even worse is there are no demands that might be met or even used as grounds for negotiation .

They have set upon a program of mindless cold blooded murder of entirely innocent people for what purpose ?

Because they can't legally declare war and openly admit there will be many civilian casualties the Western governments usually respond by arming a similar bunch of lunatics so the fight takes place at a safe distance and these second bunch of lunatics will eventually turn against the West as well .

Is that not how we got into this mess in the first place ?

 

[clivehorridge]

It's a very fine line though isn't it Clive? We know we will definately kill civilians but it just feels a bit more remote as they were not targeted. Then there is a question of scale with our country and US killing many thousands in other countries. How much is one European life worth? 100 lives in collateral damage?

Don't get me wrong that truck driver was totally wrong.

It's the human condition I'm afraid.

Can't disagree with you Frank, as in the first line of my post. Shayne is spot on.

 

[hopeless wanderer]

Whilst I have to agree with you to an extent Frank, the majority of US or British responsibility for civilian deaths is, in the main, collateral damage. I accept that the terms of the "war" itself may be suspect, yet I will still find it hard to accept that US or British forces have deliberately targeted innocents. I will stand corrected.

These attacks are random, indiscriminate and deliberately target the helpless, unarmed, women, children & babies, the disabled, and all that get hit, for the sole purposes of terror in its purest form.

There is no excuse, or reasoned defence for this behavior, these perpetrators should go to hell, directly, without passing GO and no virgins, end of.

JMHO as a human being.

It's indefensible as you rightly said.

90% of deaths in WW2 were military, 90% of deaths in operation Iraqi freedom were civillian.
This is a war of a different kind. We are being held responsible for the actions of our governments.
Not conscripts or willing volunteers in the forces like before who went away to fight in foreign lands sparing us from the horror of it all.
Now we are paying the price in Paris,Nice, Madrid, London, Ankara, Sydney, Baghdad, Islamabad etc etc.
Violence begets violence and always will.
ISIS are the bogeyman they just claim every incident that happens ...its hard to defend against.
There is no command and control, No formal structure just what MI5 referred to as "a bunch of guys"
If you take the Florida shooting, ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack and said he was one of theirs, till it came out (unlike the shooter) the guy himself was gay and used to pick up guys in the same nightclub.
I know the yanks have "don't ask don't tell" and they now allow transgender persons to serve in the forces, something tells me that ISIS dont have a gay battalion.

 

[Shayne]

Sadly fear is the ultimate weapon .

The rights and wrongs of using Atomic weapons against Japan in 1945 will be debated forever but if you cut all the political bullshit away it was simply a choice of approx 200,000 deaths against an estimated million plus deaths .

There i nothing right and good about war and the pretense of the west at being civilized just adds fuel to the fire .