BristolUK

Are you after extra work?

magnumpi

It would keep many companies busy I think, including me, at a reduced cost, but it will never happen.

Pizzawheel

For democracy to actually work you need a fully educated population. Otherwise it just ends up in a tribal/ religious bunfight.

See the USA.... (you thought I was going to say africa didn't you)

MillieF

But the whole problem is that ISIS is in a perfect position to flourish, because great portions of the Middle East and North Africa are smack bang in the middle of a tribal/religious bun fight. We might not have liked the previous leaders of many of those countries, or their method of governance, but they certainly kept the lid firmly on the pot.

JonboyE

I think that we (the West) actually did like the previous leaders as long as they kept a lid on things (and the oil flowing westwards). As long as they did that we were indifferent to their methods of governance.

What has happened in the last few years seems to me to be a flowering of Arab nationalism. A groundswell of Arabs who want to determine their own future and that future does not involve subservience to The West or Western supported dictators. I don't think that bombing the s**t out of them or forcing a Western style and supported government on them is going to solve anything. (I know that you were not advocating this.) As Oakvillian says up thread, it is much more likely to escalate things unless we are prepared to carry out genocide on an previously unimaginable scale.

The West has to plan a way out, a way to disengage. There are Arab terrorists in the West because we are sticking our noses in where they are not wanted or needed.

MillieF

Totally agree

...did anyone mention the Balfor Declaration? We seem to just constantly stick our nose in and never learn from history. It has all been oil driven, I bet we'd resuscitate Ghadaffi in a heartbeat if we could, with Saddam not far behind - he might not have been the marsh Arabs best friend, but boy could he keeps those pumps flowing.

The problem is that so many young Arabs feel disenfranchised in Europe, chances for employment aren't great, and they've romanticized the reality of life in the countries they've originated from. They are ripe for the picking really....pity no positive forward thinking firebrands are stepping up to give them a cause for hope....not in my lifetime I fear.

Pizzawheel

Good to see this discussion take a sensible turn.

MikeUK

Did anybody bring up Migrants from Syria yet

?

scrubbedexpat091

France has intercepted an individual who has in advance stages of an attack. Although apparently no link to the attack this week or Paris a few months back.

Frenchman in 'advanced stages' of plotting attack arrested - World - CBC News

magnumpi

Oh my, how many more are out there with the same intentions, one just wonders?

Siouxie

Hundreds if not thousands, I suspect.

dave_j

I don't belittle the events in Bruxelles but I do question the hysteria that results.
An IS attack has killed 30+and resulted in a 24 hour wall to wall takeover of news for days and generated a warning from the US State Department not to visit europe.
But.. in the US in 2015 in excess of 13000 gun related murders were recorded, a rate that is 30x that in the UK. In addition a further 33000 died on the US roads in 2014.
A cynic might argue that there is a great deal of financial inertia keeping the auto and gun industries motoring along whereas keeping people fearful assists the argument for more military and security spending, especially in an election year.
So where is the wall to wall coverage encouraging people to drive safer and appealing to people not to reach for a gun whenever they get a headache?

Pizzawheel

Good points Dave.

Comparable to the numerous travel questions I fielded in the 00's about safety in south africa. Everyone was petrified about gun crime. No one thought about how dangerous the roads are down there (due to the drivers, not road conditions)

Former Lancastrian

Bombings and shootings at airports don't happen every day. Unfortunately we become desensitized to every day events such as 3 killed in a highway accident or another shooting overnight in Chicago. There is always wall to wall coverage at a school shooting in the USA where several people are killed or injured. This has been going on for years and has anything changed?
Chicago averages over 200 shootings a month has anything changed?
A multitude of adverts and educational programmes, leaflets etc etc regarding drinking and driving and texting while driving have been put out but do they really change anything?

Don't forget the media love to sensationalize the latest breaking story that might hook viewers.

We are just getting reports that a plane is being diverted to London Heathrow.
Stay tuned for more exclusive coverage with our reporter at Heathrow.

End of the day the plane was diverted because of a medical emergency but Holy Crap for a few minutes will we see the plane blow up or crash?

dave_j

I understand why the media behaves the way it does, I simply make the point that it's not doing the job well.
A corollary of your last point will lead to events like those found in the Roman Colliseum, the film 'The Running Man' and latterly 'The Hunger Games' to name but a few.