BS: Islamabad Marriott hotel terror bomb

Subject: BS: Islamabad Marriott hotel terror bomb
From: Alice
Date: 20 Sep 08 - 11:17 AM

Just watched the live video of this attack that just happened.car bomb blast

Subject: RE: BS: Islamabad Marriott hotel terror bomb
From: Alice
Date: 20 Sep 08 - 12:34 PM

At least 40 killed. No one claiming responsibility yet according to Reuters.

Subject: RE: BS: Islamabad Marriott hotel terror bomb
From: DougR
Date: 21 Sep 08 - 01:24 AM

Obviously no one opened up discussions with the terrorists. If they had, I'm confident some sort of accord would have been reached, the terrorists would have expressed their sincere regrets, and everybody could get on with their lives. Right.

DougR

Subject: RE: BS: Islamabad Marriott hotel terror bomb
From: Ebbie
Date: 21 Sep 08 - 02:55 AM

Snarky, DougR.

Subject: RE: BS: Islamabad Marriott hotel terror bomb
From: CarolC
Date: 21 Sep 08 - 03:24 AM

Newly elected President Asif Ali Zardari had addressed a joint session of Parliament and promised to root out terrorism just hours earlier.

No, they didn't negotiate. They just used the same kind of rhetoric that GW Bush has been using, and they got pretty much the same result.

Subject: RE: BS: Islamabad Marriott hotel terror bomb
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 21 Sep 08 - 04:44 AM

So Carol, what should world leaders say to terrorists?
Or for that matter, to the frightened people of the countries where the terrorists operate?

JM

Subject: RE: BS: Islamabad Marriott hotel terror bomb
From: CarolC
Date: 21 Sep 08 - 05:03 AM

I guess that would depend on who it was that committed this act and what their reason was for doing so.

Subject: RE: BS: Islamabad Marriott hotel terror bomb
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 21 Sep 08 - 06:14 AM

Is there a good reason for indiscriminate slaughter?

Subject: RE: BS: Islamabad Marriott hotel terror bomb
From: CarolC
Date: 21 Sep 08 - 02:10 PM

My own opinion is that there is not. But since the governments of both of our countries are responsible for a hell of a lot more indiscriminate slaughter than any terrorists are, I don't think we're really in a position to be pointing fingers on that one.

Subject: RE: BS: Islamabad Marriott hotel terror bomb
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 21 Sep 08 - 02:48 PM

So you condone this slaughter on the grounds of previous slaughters?

Subject: RE: BS: Islamabad Marriott hotel terror bomb
From: CarolC
Date: 21 Sep 08 - 03:14 PM

I don't condone any slaughter. Not even the ongoing slaughter that is being conducted by both of our governments. People who are in the process of engaging in ongoing slaughter of innocents are not the best people to be dictating how best to accomplish the end of the slaughter of innocents being engaged in by others.

And as we can see, when other countries adopt the tactics of the government of my country (the country responsible for the indiscriminate slaughter of the largest number of innocents), we get the result that we now see in Islamabad. So we know that doesn't work.

If we want to reduce and/or end the slaughter of innocents, we need to adopt an approach that works. Clearly the tuff talk approach doesn't work, and neither does the military approach. The proof is in the pudding.

Subject: RE: BS: Islamabad Marriott hotel terror bomb
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 21 Sep 08 - 09:42 PM

Now then Teribus. Repeat after me. We are winning. The world is becoming a safer place...

Subject: RE: BS: Islamabad Marriott hotel terror bomb
From: GUEST,number 6
Date: 21 Sep 08 - 10:49 PM

I'm with Carol C.

"I don't condone any slaughter. Not even the ongoing slaughter that is being conducted by both of our governments. People who are in the process of engaging in ongoing slaughter of innocents are not the best people to be dictating how best to accomplish the end of the slaughter of innocents being engaged in by others."

biLL

Subject: RE: BS: Islamabad Marriott hotel terror bomb
From: GUEST,Sam
Date: 21 Sep 08 - 11:01 PM

It seems the soft approach of trying to negotiate and appease terrorists is the approach that is failing. We need to get tough - much tougher with them so that they understand that the course of action they are taking is wrong. There is only 1 way to stop people who think that they are on a mission from God to kill all non-beleivers and that is to stop them first!.

Subject: RE: BS: Islamabad Marriott hotel terror bomb
From: CarolC
Date: 21 Sep 08 - 11:15 PM

Who is trying to negotiate with and appease terrorists? As far as I can see, that's the only approach that hasn't been tried yet.

Subject: RE: BS: Islamabad Marriott hotel terror bomb
From: CarolC
Date: 21 Sep 08 - 11:24 PM

...and nobody thinks they're on a mission from God to kill all non-believers, except possibly some of the dominionist Christians in the US.

Subject: RE: BS: Islamabad Marriott hotel terror bomb
From: Little Hawk
Date: 22 Sep 08 - 12:10 AM

Extreme force is being used by the terrorists. Extreme force is being used against the terrorists. Extreme force is, in either case, affecting a lot of innocent people who happen to get in the way.

NO ONE is negotiating here or appeasing anyone in this war of mutual terrorism, and calls by paranoid and ignorant people to get "tougher" with the terrorists are simply an indication that whoever issued such a call has little or no idea about what's actually going on already, which is total toughness, absolute ruthlessness, torture, murder, and extreme brutality on BOTH sides. There is no desire for appeasement or negotiation on either side of this idiotic struggle between 2 sets of fanatics who both think God is on their side.

One set is based in Washington D.C. and they wear business suits, the other set is based wherever the Islamic terror cells can hide out and find angry young men (and women) to do their killing for them.

Both keep the other one rolling full steam ahead. That's how a symbiotic relationship works, specially one based on violence.

There IS no solution to such a situation, because there is no real will on either side to find any solution...and neither side is going to run out of fighting men either. Not while there are idiots calling for those in charge to "get tougher".

You cannot end this thing through the cycle of vengeance.

Subject: RE: BS: Islamabad Marriott hotel terror bomb
From: CarolC
Date: 22 Sep 08 - 12:49 AM

We really don't know if there is any will on the side of the people we are calling "terrorists" to negotiate with us, because with one exception, we've never tried. It's entirely possible that they would negotiate with us if we made the offer. And we never will know until we do try.

The one time any negotiations have been tried is when we negotiated with the Sunnis who were conducting an insurgency in Iraq and we bribed them to stop killing people and committing acts of violence. And guess what? They DID.

Subject: RE: BS: Islamabad Marriott hotel terror bomb
From: s&r
Date: 22 Sep 08 - 02:54 AM

I think that there are no public negotiations. Governments negotiate all the time, often through third parties. Publicity doesn't help these delicate negotiations

Stu

Subject: RE: BS: Islamabad Marriott hotel terror bomb
From: beardedbruce
Date: 22 Sep 08 - 12:39 PM

Dinner plans save Pakistan's rulers from hotel bomb attack

Story Highlights
NEW: Pakistan PM, president, cabinet were due at hotel when truck bomb hit

NEW: Interior minister: Planned dinner with foreign dignitaries changed at last minute

Truck loaded with more than a half-ton of explosives, official says, killed 57

Police: Czech Republic's ambassador to Pakistan, died in hotel bombing
   
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan's president, prime minister and other Cabinet members were supposed to have been at the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad when a massive truck bomb detonated outside, killing 57 and injuring 266, Pakistan's head of the Interior Ministry Rehman Malik said Monday.
Malik said their planned dinner was changed at the last minute, although did not say how far in advance it had been planned.

The Speaker of the House, Fahmida Mirza, had planned the event for ministers, the president, their guests and various foreign dignitaries.

But at the last minute, President Asif Ali Zardari asked that the event be transferred to the Prime Minister's compound, Malik told reporters during a handover service for Czech Ambassador Ivo Zdarek, who died in the blast.

On Sunday Malik called the massive blast "the biggest attack, volume-wise" in Pakistan in seven years, based on the quantity -- 600kg -- and type of explosives used.

Two American military personnel who worked for the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad were among those killed, the U.S. military said. A Lithuanian Pakistan was also among the fatalities, police superintendent Sheikh Zubair told CNN Sunday. The injured included 11 foreigners, Malik said.

No arrests have been made in connection with the attack. But Malik said suspicion is falling on militants in Pakistan's tribal regions.

"I am not in a position to tell you who has done it, but (in) all the previous investigations, all the roads have gone to South Waziristan," he said Sunday.

South Waziristan is one of seven agencies of Pakistan's tribal areas where Taliban and al Qaeda militants are active.

But Amir Mohammad, an aide to leader of the Pakistani Taliban Baitullah Mehsud, said he shared the country's grief and was not involved, The Associated Press reported.

Saturday's massive blast left a nearly 60-foot-wide (18 meters) crater, which was 24 feet (7m) deep, Malik said. It also caused a natural gas leak that set the top floor of the five-story, 258-room hotel on fire, police said. The blaze quickly engulfed the entire structure.

The blast occurred about 7:50 p.m., after the breaking of the fast during the holy month of Ramadan, Malik said. Trees were felled by the explosion, which occurred hours after newly elected President Asif Ali Zardari addressed a joint session of Parliament and promised to root out terrorism.

At a news conference in Islamabad on Sunday, Pakistani authorities released security video of the blast, showing a small explosion inside the truck before the larger, deadly explosion.

In the video, a large truck crashes into the security gate, sending one security officer scurrying for safety. Then, as security guards approach the truck, the top of the vehicle explodes and the security guards flee. Watch guards scatter after an explosion »

A small cloud of smoke appears above the truck, which is engulfed in flames minutes later. One of the security guards tries to put out the fire with a hand-held extinguisher, to no avail. The guards then walk away, and the camera freezes on the burning truck. Watch the truck bomb caught on tape »

Pakistani officials said the blast apparently disrupted electricity to the area, causing the closed-circuit television camera to malfunction.

The Marriott, a Western brand-name hotel, has been the site of attacks in the past.

Malik said authorities had received a threat against the parliament two days ago. "We had taken all security measures," he said. "There was heavy security in the city."

Located near the diplomatic section of the city and heavily guarded by police and military, the hotel is popular among tourists and had been packed Saturday night. See where the attack occurred »

British Airways temporarily suspended its flights to Islamabad Sunday as a result of the security situation, according to an airline spokeswoman who did not want to be named.

A Sunday night flight was canceled, and the airline is reviewing its operations for later in the week. British Airways operates at least three flights a week to the Pakistani capital out of London's Heathrow Airport.

• Militants kidnapped an Afghan diplomat and killed his driver in northwest Pakistan Monday, police said. The diplomat, Abdul Khaliq Farahi -- who works in the Afghan consulate in Peshawar -- was on his way home when someone opened fire, police in Peshawar said.

The shooting killed Farahi's driver and he was abducted, said Akhtar Muneer of Peshawar police