At least 85 killed in truck bombing at Somali hotel

No, only a moron would think that. The US government is far better at detecting bomb plots like these before they happen than the Somali "state". The government basically has no control outside the capital, hell last time I checked they didn't even control the entire capital. Meanwhile the US even has your fucking porn history collected so they're pretty good at finding out when you purchase potentially dangerous materials necessary to make a bomb.
I really think it has more to do with the fact that many terrorists either are stupid, not careful enough or simultaneously do something else which makes authorities aware of a possible threat, contacting known extremists who are under surveillance or posting on extremist boards which are monitored by intelligence agencies for instance. And the fact that the United States actually aren't the target of a lot of Islamic terrorist attacks, to begin with.

Even after 9'11, there were too many bombings or attempts of bombings which were not discovered because of the suspect's purchases in nations with government surveillance similar to the US, to really support the thesis that it's very difficult to pull it off.
The Madrid bombings, the '05 London bombings, the 2015 Paris attackers used multiple bombs at different locations, the Brussels bombings last year, the Manchester bombing this year, the low-IQ refugee in Germany who tried to enter a concert and blew himself up (didn't understand that he would need a ticket), a refugee child in Germany who had an explosive belt, the attack on a German soccer team with an explosive device (motive wasn't terrorism but still), several bombings in Turkey, the 2017 Barcelona attackers had tons of explosives and of course there were several folded terrorist plots where bombs were discovered after the suspects were arrested for other reasons.

France has very tight mass surveillance but a horrible track record when it comes to terrorist attacks.

That's only terrorism from the top of my head, in addition to that there is a series of ATM bombings in multiple Western countries and 'regular' criminals use improvised explosive devices for break-ins, bank heists, safes etc. In a way, you could also add shootings in Europe to the list because the perpetrators typically weren't allowed to purchase weapons either (and you have to engage in more severe criminal behavior to get an illegal machine gun than to build a bomb, in a way). Yet the deadliest mass shootings happened in Europe. The teenager who went on a shooting rampage in Munich simply visited some dark web shop, purchased his gun and had it delivered to his mail box a few days later.

I think an intelligent terrorist could build some small bombs with a small blasting agent, which will cause a lot of damage, maybe something like fragmentary bombs, then tactically place them in large crowds. But ISIS simply understood that their people typically aren't the second coming of Einstein and came to the conclusion that car rammings are the most efficient attacks. There are several documented cases of journalists who LARPed as refugees or terrorist sympathizers and contacted ISIS via forums, instant messengers etc They often said stuff like 'I'm going on a rampage with an ax, I'll bomb them, I'll shoot them' etc and they always discouraged them and told them to use a car instead. They would literally say 'no don't do that, use a truck, brother'
 
until it evolves from middle ages mentality to something more resembling a humane ideology.

Muslim ideology in the Middle Ages was more humane than what we have now. It's an insult to the Middle Ages to compare them to this scum.
 
In all seriousness, RIP to the victims.

I wonder if that country will ever find peace, or some semblance of a functioning government that isn't overrun with war lords, corruption and indiscriminate murder, famine, disease....

it's almost as if this country represents all of the bad shit in the Bible.
 
It was most likely the explosives in this case though. The boston bombers used small pressure cooker bombs, basically gun powder inside of pressure cookers. The somalians most likely used a big ass truck filled with fertilizer or old artillery shells. We're talking a couple pounds vs tons of explosives.
No doubt there were more explosives involved in this case. My point, which wasn’t as clear as I intended, was that there can be other factors as to why a bomb like in Boston didn’t have more deaths, unrelated to the actual placement and utilization of explosives. The fact that only a dozen or so people were killed during the Boston marathon bombing, while there were hundreds injured, should still serve as a warning that there are gaps in our security when it comes to explosives. I think everyone is currently on the lookout for a mass shooter, but people in the US have become lax in recognizing the threat explosives pose. So while not many people, comparatively, died in Boston as opposed to Somalia, it could be the result of exceptional emergency medical care, rather than explosives not posing a great threat in the US.
 
I mentioned the Boston Bombers later but compare how many they killed with the death toll here. It was about a dozen, far less than the over 200 in this case. I don't think that's an accident.

I'm sure the Somali blast was a lot bigger than some pressure cookers, but I imagine a direct comparison of lethality is difficult because of how much more advanced our medical care and emergency response is. Somehow I doubt that Mogadishu has the ambulance and first responder infrastructure that we have, and hospitals that have the capacity and ability of ours.

Our government keeps tabs on people trying to build explosives obviously, but that shit isn't fool proof, and you can never regulate away all the materials that someone can build a bomb from. A dude with a van and some gasoline is always going to be able to kill a lot of people.
 
I'm sure the Somali blast was a lot bigger than some pressure cookers, but I imagine a direct comparison of lethality is difficult because of how much more advanced our medical care and emergency response is. Somehow I doubt that Mogadishu has the ambulance and first responder infrastructure that we have, and hospitals that have the capacity and ability of ours.

Our government keeps tabs on people trying to build explosives obviously, but that shit isn't fool proof, and you can never regulate away all the materials that someone can build a bomb from. A dude with a van and some gasoline is always going to be able to kill a lot of people.
Sure but as you yourself admit there are a lot of factors at play in Somalia that aren't in the US. If anything those factors also relate to my earlier point about the difference in the capability of the state.

I don't think its useful to try to draw any conclusions relating to discussions on domestic policy in the US from this incident in Somalia. If we were talking about Germany, the UK, or France it would be different. There's a limit to the usefulness of comparisons between the US and those countries as well but its a more reasonable comparison than one between the hegemonic power of the world and the poster child for failed states.
 
I really think it has more to do with the fact that many terrorists either are stupid, not careful enough or simultaneously do something else which makes authorities aware of a possible threat, contacting known extremists who are under surveillance or posting on extremist boards which are monitored by intelligence agencies for instance. And the fact that the United States actually aren't the target of a lot of Islamic terrorist attacks, to begin with.

Even after 9'11, there were too many bombings or attempts of bombings which were not discovered because of the suspect's purchases in nations with government surveillance similar to the US, to really support the thesis that it's very difficult to pull it off.
The Madrid bombings, the '05 London bombings, the 2015 Paris attackers used multiple bombs at different locations, the Brussels bombings last year, the Manchester bombing this year, the low-IQ refugee in Germany who tried to enter a concert and blew himself up (didn't understand that he would need a ticket), a refugee child in Germany who had an explosive belt, the attack on a German soccer team with an explosive device (motive wasn't terrorism but still), several bombings in Turkey, the 2017 Barcelona attackers had tons of explosives and of course there were several folded terrorist plots where bombs were discovered after the suspects were arrested for other reasons.

France has very tight mass surveillance but a horrible track record when it comes to terrorist attacks.

That's only terrorism from the top of my head, in addition to that there is a series of ATM bombings in multiple Western countries and 'regular' criminals use improvised explosive devices for break-ins, bank heists, safes etc. In a way, you could also add shootings in Europe to the list because the perpetrators typically weren't allowed to purchase weapons either (and you have to engage in more severe criminal behavior to get an illegal machine gun than to build a bomb, in a way). Yet the deadliest mass shootings happened in Europe. The teenager who went on a shooting rampage in Munich simply visited some dark web shop, purchased his gun and had it delivered to his mail box a few days later.

I think an intelligent terrorist could build some small bombs with a small blasting agent, which will cause a lot of damage, maybe something like fragmentary bombs, then tactically place them in large crowds. But ISIS simply understood that their people typically aren't the second coming of Einstein and came to the conclusion that car rammings are the most efficient attacks. There are several documented cases of journalists who LARPed as refugees or terrorist sympathizers and contacted ISIS via forums, instant messengers etc They often said stuff like 'I'm going on a rampage with an ax, I'll bomb them, I'll shoot them' etc and they always discouraged them and told them to use a car instead. They would literally say 'no don't do that, use a truck, brother'
That's all true but nonetheless a stupid terrorist is more likely to get away with his bomb plot in the absence of a strong state with a capable intelligence and surveillance apparatus as is the case in Somalia. As I said in my earlier post, if you want to draw comparisons between the US and Western Europe in terms of domestic policy related to terrorism that would make much more sense despite the fact there are limits to those comparisons as well. I think the US and Somalia are just too radically different to be able to compare them productively while with the case of Western Europe there are enough similarities that some level of comparison could be valid.
In all seriousness, RIP to the victims.

I wonder if that country will ever find peace, or some semblance of a functioning government that isn't overrun with war lords, corruption and indiscriminate murder, famine, disease....

it's almost as if this country represents all of the bad shit in the Bible.
The northern autonomous region of Somaliland is a lot less dysfunctional and unstable than the rest of the country. Its still a third world shithole in many ways but its got a relatively functional democratic government that can sustain public institutions like a police force and military and they even have their own currency.

They've been trying to gain recognition ever since they declared their independence in 1991 but the international community is hesitant to grant them that. Its thought that their independence would further ruin chances for stability in the rest Somalia as well as encourage separatist movements in other parts of Africa.
 
Muslim ideology in the Middle Ages was more humane than what we have now. It's an insult to the Middle Ages to compare them to this scum.
Not just ideology but practice as well. The modern state and technology have changed the game in a huge way. Now a couple of fuckfaces can do a lot more damage than they once could when they only had swords and matchlock rifles.
 
The northern autonomous region of Somaliland is a lot less dysfunctional and unstable than the rest of the country. Its still a third world shithole in many ways but its got a relatively functional democratic government that can sustain public institutions like a police force and military and they even have their own currency.

They've been trying to gain recognition ever since they declared their independence in 1991 but the international community is hesitant to grant them that. Its thought that their independence would further ruin chances for stability in the rest Somalia as well as encourage separatist movements in other parts of Africa.


Some may think I'm trolling, but I wonder if Somalia could actually have a booming tourist industry...

I mean, with all that coast line...

and I wonder if their waters still have fish in them (because every industrialized nation seems to head there and over fish their waters)

Unfortunately, all I know about Somalia is the capital, Mohamed Aidid and Black Hawk Down. .
 
Some may think I'm trolling, but I wonder if Somalia could actually have a booming tourist industry...

I mean, with all that coast line...

and I wonder if their waters still have fish in them (because every industrialized nation seems to head there and over fish their waters)

Unfortunately, all I know about Somalia is the capital, Mohamed Aidid and Black Hawk Down. .
I think you're right to spot the coastline as a valuable resource for them. Somaliland recently received a huge foreign investment from Dubai to help develop one of its ports in the Gulf of Aden. That's more for the purpose fo trade but maybe fishing is something that could take off. With the scale of trade they're trying to encourage it might leave the little guys out who might benefit more from investments from the fishing industry that I would guess could support smaller enterprises.
 
Blowing up people is wrong.


Is this the final nail in the coffin of....
"only guns can kill this many people this quickly" debate?
They track and limit ammonia nitrate purchases for this reason. A form of Bomb control you could call it.
 
Some may think I'm trolling, but I wonder if Somalia could actually have a booming tourist industry...

I mean, with all that coast line...

and I wonder if their waters still have fish in them (because every industrialized nation seems to head there and over fish their waters)

Unfortunately, all I know about Somalia is the capital, Mohamed Aidid and Black Hawk Down. .

The overfishing argument is just used by people trying to excuse the resurgence of pirates out of Somalia.

The pirate boats could be out fishing instead of sending out bogus SOS signals....
 
The overfishing argument is just used by people trying to excuse the resurgence of pirates out of Somalia.

The pirate boats could be out fishing instead of sending out bogus SOS signals....


I'm just trying to examine all perspectives...I'm not excusing pirating...but I wonder how this became such a booming "enterprise"
 
I heard about this yesterday when the death toll was at about 30. To see now that a zero could be added to that is truly horrible. RIP to all the victims of this attack.
 
The overfishing argument is just used by people trying to excuse the resurgence of pirates out of Somalia.

The pirate boats could be out fishing instead of sending out bogus SOS signals....

Wut?

This does not computer.

If their waters are being overfished and they cannot make a living they should....go fishing?
 
Wut?

This does not computer.

If their waters are being overfished and they cannot make a living they should....go fishing?

The silly overfishing excuse refers to boats nearby out in international waters. Not an argument i make but the pirate boats go out deep into international water to rob people. People aren't arguing that the entire ocean is now fish-free

You could have said it to him as well, if the waters are overfished, why are all the foreign boats there?
 
This is very sad news.
May the victim's be at peace in God's grace. And may the wounded be healed by the Archangel Raphael.

These attacks by Islamic extremists are getting very very old.
 
Disgusting act. Feel very fortunate to live somewhere where atrocities like these aren't as commonplace, but the truth is terrorism is very widespread now and it can happen anywhere nowadays. RIP to the victims and condolences to the families.
 
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