Explosion at Manchester Arena

[GodsGift]

Greater Manchester Police confirm there have been fatalities following some sort of explosion at an Ariana Grande concert.

 

[Murphy]

There's something horribly callous, harrowing and overly cowardly about this. All terrorism is awful, but to attack a concert full of teenagers is just fucking awful.

*Assuming this is terror, shouldn't have jumped to that conclusion really.

 

[Smudge]

Some complete and utter bastards around. Still a lot of rumour and hearsay flying around so nobody should really speculate just yet, but either way, nobody should go out to something like a gig for a good time and end up dead.

Especially a gig involving an artist who has a lot of young fans. Would have been loads of kids there, just doesnt bear thinking about.

 

[valefan16]

Seeing people asking about young family members on twitter (one looking for a six year old girl) just strikes at the heart of a parent. If this is terrorism I just get that guilt that I have put my two babies to grow up in a world like this.

It's just heart wrenching. RIP to all the victims

 

[Chief Rocka]

This must be a parent's worst nightmare, whatever the cause accident or malicious these fatalities are going to be kids and teenagers, so sad.

 

[Laker]

Update from GMP: 19 confirmed dead, around 50 injured....

No words. That's horrendous.

 

[The Eyes of Self Actual]

Sadiq Khan: London mayor says terror attacks 'part and parcel' of living in a major city

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...l-major-cities-new-york-bombing-a7322846.html


Sad to say he is right... This isnt going away. This is the new normal. The West is changing. Western culture is being replaced.

 

[Super_horns]

So sad.

Yet more lives (potentially very young) taken in such a callous way.

 

[claret50]

May the innocents rest in peace.

 

[markwwfc1992]

Horrible, sickening news. As people have said above most of the victims of the attack will be children. RIP to those who have lost their lives and wish the injured a speedy recovery.

 

[Dave]

Interesting shoutbox last night....

 

[AFCB_Mark]

What absolutely horrendous news to wake up to. Cowardly tossers going after a concert full of teenagers. Sickening and incensing.

 

[Alty]

Truly horrific. Obviously details still emerging but early signs that this was a more sophisticated attack than some of the more recent attempts (successful or otherwise).

That's what so mind-boggling. Some of these guys clearly aren't low-IQ marginalised members of society. They're clever, often university educated and seemingly (by the standards of rational folk) have good life prospects. They're just completely brainwashed.

Prevent's reputation is (unfairly in my view, but hey) not good. Either people need to get on board with it now or an alternative programme should be set up pronto. Clearly we can't continue to let this issue drift.

Manchester doing itself proud with the reaction, at least. Nice to see.

 

[Ian_Wrexham]

Truly horrific. Obviously details still emerging but early signs that this was a more sophisticated attack than some of the more recent attempts (successful or otherwise).

That's what so mind-boggling. Some of these guys clearly aren't low-IQ marginalised members of society. They're clever, often university educated and seemingly (by the standards of rational folk) have good life prospects. They're just completely brainwashed.

Prevent's reputation is (unfairly in my view, but hey) not good. Either people need to get on board with it now or an alternative programme should be set up pronto. Clearly we can't continue to let this issue drift.

Manchester doing itself proud with the reaction, at least. Nice to see.

Details of the attacker haven't been released as far as I'm aware. Maybe have a couple of hours off before trumpeting how great Prevent is (it's fucking horrendous).

If you want something to read in the meantime on the causes and motivations behind home-grown terrorism and how it intersects with extreme religious and political views and how it intersects with state violence and control, you can do worse than read The Muslims Are Coming by Arun Kundnani.

I don't have the time or inclination to quote large chunks of it at you this morning.

 

[Jockney]

Can't imagine what those parents are going through right now. Fucking horrendous. And the reactions have started already. Katie Hopkins calling for a Final Solution on Twitter. This is a situation where everyone loses and will provoke a response where more lives will be lost, either at home or abroad. I'm up there next week as well. So completely gutted.

 

[Modernist]

What's happened is almost beyond my comprehension, that another human being could do such a thing. I regularly attend concerts but I'm glad I don't have one for a while, of course this sort of thing can happen at any place a large group of people are.

The idea of children being killed just breaks my heart, trying not to think about it too much just too sad.

Unfortunately whoever did this will now get all the attention they wanted which will not only increase the chances of some other person doing it and will lead to even more extremist views...on both sides of the coin. I wish the news channels would change how they report these crimes, but they won't.

 

[HertsWolf]

Truly dreadful news. Most of the victims appear to have been young girls and boys. Just kids.

 

[Liam_SWFC]

Anyone still think Donald Trump is a bastard?

R.I.P to all the victims shocking.

 

[Renegade]

As horrible as it sounds, I was almost becoming desensitised to these attacks, they are becoming so commonplace. The reactions to every terrorist attack in Europe since Charlie Hebdo have been declining in their passion and/or virulence. As already mentioned by others, this one is particularly callous and cowardly, I am actually surprised by how much it took me aback. They are teenagers for fuck's sake. The reaction to this one could be particularly ugly, especially leading up to an election.

Anyone still think Donald Trump is a bastard?

R.I.P to all the victims shocking.

Yes.

 

[Ian_Wrexham]

Anyone still think Donald Trump is a bastard?

R.I.P to all the victims shocking.

Reconsider the choices that you made that lead to you posting that.

 

[blade1889]

Unfortunately whoever did this will now get all the attention they wanted which will not only increase the chances of some other person doing it and will lead to even more extremist views...on both sides of the coin. I wish the news channels would change how they report these crimes, but they won't.

Times like this I hope there's an afterlife. That this monster is sat somewhere, being forced to watch what's unfolding. I hope that anyone else thinking of carrying out is watching, and realising, you haven't won and you wont win. Manchester has come together, you've wanted to divide but instead our emergency services ran towards danger and people opened up their homes for strangers. Our spirits won't be broken by your senseless acts.

 

[Benji]

This is sad. I hope people find it in themselves to pull together rather than lazily assign blame.

 

[Jockney]

Times like this I hope there's an afterlife. That this monster is sat somewhere, being forced to watch what's unfolding. I hope that anyone else thinking of carrying out is watching, and realising, you haven't won and you wont win. Manchester has come together, you've wanted to divide but instead our emergency services ran towards danger and people opened up their homes for strangers. Our spirits won't be broken by your senseless acts.

At the risk of sounding callous, whoever did this doesn't really care about the response of Manchester, but the response of UK intelligence agencies, media outlets, politicians and more broadly how this fuels hardline approaches to domestic and geopolitical situations vis-a-vis the Middle East. And in that sense they will have won again. As they do nearly every time, despite the best responses of the public.

 

[Captain Scumbag]

As horrible as it sounds, I was almost becoming desensitised to these attacks, they are becoming so commonplace.

I think the more it happens the more one is confronted with the plain, unvarnished truth that there really isn’t a guarantee against this sort of thing. Or, to be precise, there isn’t a solution that wouldn’t create even bigger problems.

The security services can’t be everywhere, and no one who values liberty would want them to be anyway. Deporting the country’s entire Muslim* population isn’t practicable, and no one with a shred of human decency would favour that even if it was. A re-think of our foreign policy vis-à-vis the Middle East is long overdue, but only a naïve fool would think that’s a panacea. And so on.

It’s not a completely hopeless situation, but I find it impossible to watch things like the rolling news coverage this morning and not be gripped by a strong intuitive feeling that it is. And, for me, that can have a kind of numbing or deadening effect. Like I feel it less because I don’t want really want to engage with it, because it’s a problem that I don’t think I can do anything about.

*Aye, I've assumed it’s an Islamist terror attack. I don’t anticipate being proven wrong but will gladly correct myself if I am.

 

[T.A]

I think "we" as a country can do more security wise at events such as concerts and sporting events although I know quite a few top footballing clubs are security conscious. A big thing in this election is how police forces across the country are stretched and are desperate for new recruits. Whoever the Prime Minister is after this election needs to address the situation. If we are on high alert, then surely we should be doing everything we can to make security a high priority if not the highest.

 

[blade1889]

I think "we" as a country can do more security wise at events such as concerts and sporting events although I know quite a few top footballing clubs are security conscious. A big thing in this election is how police forces across the country are stretched and are desperate for new recruits. Whoever the Prime Minister is after this election needs to address the situation. If we are on high alert, then surely we should be doing everything we can to make security a high priority if not the highest.

On that note GMP had huge cutbacks under Cameron's government and are currently doing a big recruitment drive now they have more funding.

 

[Redfox]

For fucks sake, two terror attacks on British soil just two months apart from each other and this latest one being even more deadlier than the last!!

How could we let this sort of fucked up, barbaric, savage, backward ideology come into our society?

Assuming it's Islamic terrorism which it probably is, this sort of thing never used to bother us until after 9/11 and for a good 15 years or so we had been kept relatively safe apart from the 7/7 bombings.

No way can we let this become the norm.

 

[Ian_Wrexham]

I think "we" as a country can do more security wise at events such as concerts and sporting events although I know quite a few top footballing clubs are security conscious. A big thing in this election is how police forces across the country are stretched and are desperate for new recruits. Whoever the Prime Minister is after this election needs to address the situation. If we are on high alert, then surely we should be doing everything we can to make security a high priority if not the highest.

More cops and more paranoia doesn't necessarily make us more safe. The last few times there's been a major terrorist attack, it's been followed by a wake of wrongful arrests and police shootings.

Any "solution" to terrorism needs to be holistic and needs to revisit the flawed models that currently underpin counter-terrorism strategies.

 

[Redfox]

More cops and more paranoia doesn't necessarily make us more safe. The last few times there's been a major terrorist attack, it's been followed by a wake of wrongful arrests and police shootings.

Any "solution" to terrorism needs to be holistic and needs to revisit the flawed models that currently underpin counter-terrorism strategies.

If it is Islamic inspired terrorism then what we need to do is find out where these stupid passage teachings of killing as many innocent people as possible so you go to paradise come from exactly. If it is not compatible with our values then it needs to be gotten rid of from our society.

 

[T.A]

More cops and more paranoia doesn't necessarily make us more safe. The last few times there's been a major terrorist attack, it's been followed by a wake of wrongful arrests and police shootings.

Any "solution" to terrorism needs to be holistic and needs to revisit the flawed models that currently underpin counter-terrorism strategies.

I'm talking more of a presence at big events such as last night, rather than more men to investigate. There needs to be more importance of what's going on around these buildings while an event is going on and the like.