Two explosions and gunfire have been reported at Belgium's Brussels Zaventem airport, 11 people have been confirmed dead with many others injured. Reports say Arabic shouting was heard before the explosions and gunfire. Unconfirmed reports also state that a third explosion has occurred at Maalbeek Metro station, however information is only just coming through. Brussels is now on it's highest terror alert level.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/belgium/12200780/Brussels-airport-explosions-Reports-of-two-blasts-as-smoke-rises-from-terminal-building.html

 

The metro explosions were confirmed. The subway system has been closed down.

I just read it on FOX5 news its horrible. may the victims rest in peace and condolences to family and friends.

Russian news sources report several subway explosions. Reminds me of the London Bombings, several connected attacks on the public transportation route, but terrorist attacks in peaceful and tranquil Belgium, can't believe it. Just freaks me out when I think about innocent and unsuspecting people being killed at random...

I'm sure it's connected with the arrest of the fucker who is responsible for the Paris attacks. Religion of peace is at it again.

 

Well, shit. That's definitely not good news.

Again more, cowards pushing their confused understanding of a peaceful religion through terrorist attacks. Rest in Peace to all victims. Hopefully this isn't something which is again taken out on all Muslims, but instead the terrorists, the Islamist's who do the attacking.

I'm going to be that guy who says "where was our thread when 35 people in Ankara, Turkey were killed as a result of a car bomb a few weeks ago?" or what about the most recent suicide bomb that went off in a shopping centre in Istanbul?

Where was the front page headline for these attacks, the live breaking news? What about the #PrayForAnkara or #PrayForIstanbul.

My point is this happens more than you realise just the media and the people don't give a shit about certain countries. The 7 most popular articles on the BBC homepage are about the Brussels attack, no mention of the Turkey attacks.

 

Just some food for thought.

4 minutes ago, LukeD said:

I'm going to be that guy who says "where was our thread when 35 people in Ankara, Turkey were killed as a result of a car bomb a few weeks ago?" or what about the most recent suicide bomb that went off in a shopping centre in Istanbul?

I hope this isn't directed at me because I don't check the news very often and it was simply pure coincidence that I just happened to be doing my college assignments while watching TV when this flashed up, which is why I made a thread about it.

Turkey is in an unstable region as it stands, so it's not surprising that attacks are occurring there more often there than not. But in the end, Western countries will get more coverage because it's more relevant to us, the Western world.

1 minute ago, Illusionyary said:

I hope this isn't directed at me because I don't check the news very often and it was simply pure coincidence that I just happened to be doing my college assignments while watching TV when this flashed up, which is why I made a thread about it.

Turkey is in an unstable region as it stands, so it's not surprising that attacks are occurring there more often there than not. But in the end, Western countries will get more coverage because it's more relevant to us, the Western world.

It wasn't directed at anyone in particular (nor will the rest of this post be FTR). It was a general purpose "take some time to think about this" post.

And I firmly believe there is no such thing as an unstable region. Not any more. If Turkey was unstable why have France and Belgium gone under attack? Seemingly stable countries?

The Turkish citizens are no less human than the Belgians, the French, The English etc. This is my critical point I'm making. "It's more relevant to us" so what we just don't care for other countries because it's not relevant? Is that what being human has become? "Oh I don't need to care much about attacks in Turkey, they're far enough away that it's not my problem." Well look up, it's now your problem people. (again this is not directed at you, just the point you made about the sad truth of western culture)

15 minutes ago, LukeD said:

I'm going to be that guy who says "where was our thread when 35 people in Ankara, Turkey were killed as a result of a car bomb a few weeks ago?" or what about the most recent suicide bomb that went off in a shopping centre in Istanbul?

Where was the front page headline for these attacks, the live breaking news? What about the #PrayForAnkara or #PrayForIstanbul.

My point is this happens more than you realise just the media and the people don't give a shit about certain countries. The 7 most popular articles on the BBC homepage are about the Brussels attack, no mention of the Turkey attacks.

 

Just some food for thought.

its very simple, most people dont give a shit about what happens in turkey, or israel or any other country in the middle east. people dont care then the news wont sell. i always hear about different terrorist attacks happening in israel. not from the news, from my friends and family. 

I don't think it's anything to do with people not caring. It's as Illusionyary said, it's broad-casted more because it is more relevant to us, and that's a harsh thing to say but its reality. Stuff like this happens a lot more often around the area's of Israel, Turkey and Iraq, the reason it's not reported as much is because it's a lot easier sadly, to plan and take out Terrorist Attacks around those areas because it's so close to the center of the fighting. 

The Attacks in Belgium, France and other area's are reported on so much, because with all the countries in this area, there is a lot of communication, interception of terror threats etc. Thus meaning it should be a lot more difficult for a Terrorist Attack to take place with all the cooperation going on between the countries. 

7 minutes ago, LukeD said:

It wasn't directed at anyone in particular (nor will the rest of this post be FTR). It was a general purpose "take some time to think about this" post.

And I firmly believe there is no such thing as an unstable region. Not any more. If Turkey was unstable why have France and Belgium gone under attack? Seemingly stable countries?

The Turkish citizens are no less human than the Belgians, the French, The English etc. This is my critical point I'm making. "It's more relevant to us" so what we just don't care for other countries because it's not relevant? Is that what being human has become? "Oh I don't need to care much about attacks in Turkey, they're far enough away that it's not my problem." Well look up, it's now your problem people. (again this is not directed at you, just the point you made about the sad truth of western culture)

Unlike France or Belgium, Turkey sits right on the border of countries such as Syria, which has a massive ISIS following. That's what I meant by an unstable region, not Turkey in particular but where it sits geographically. Because of its close proximity to Syria and its collaboration with NATO forces against ISIS, Turkey is a prime and easier to hit (than Europe) target.

It is quite fucked up that the media chooses to cover attacks in Western countries over seemingly worse attacks in Middle Eastern countries, but that's just how the media works. As with everything else, media has a set demographic target audience and will only cover events that they believe will appeal/are more relevant to that audience.

6 minutes ago, Ben said:

<snip>

 

22 minutes ago, OfficerFive0 said:

<snip>

 

5 minutes ago, Illusionyary said:

<snip>

 

FYI I am well aware of WHY we get such large media coverage of Western Countries. I'm just making a point that we should care more for those not so publicised than we are doing. A lot of people don't care about anyone further than France (from England). This was made very clear when a news crew went around asking what people in the country thought about refugees and our government supporting them, and most answers were on the level of Donald Trump supporters.

My intention here was to make people aware that this is happening elsewhere as well. So if you're going to go through the whole #PrayForBelgium thing, take a minute to pray for the others who don't get the media coverage too.

1 hour ago, LukeD said:

I'm going to be that guy who says "where was our thread when 35 people in Ankara, Turkey were killed as a result of a car bomb a few weeks ago?" or what about the most recent suicide bomb that went off in a shopping centre in Istanbul?

 

Nowhere, I guess. I know for Europeans it will sound barbaric, racist, fascist, and all that, but there's no way people will care equally for everyone. A few days ago an explosion in Dagestan, Russia, killed several police officers but even you don't care much. For example I don't, because Dagestan is a war zone with civilians and cops diyng every week, and that doesn't touch me. Despite the fact that it's sad, and the Turkey attacks are horrible, and people dying yesterday in a FlyDubai plane crash in Russia don't make my mood lighter in any way too, certain things touch me deeper than overs for my personal reasons. Like, for example, I lived in Brussels for 2 and a half months and I really loved the people and the city. I see nothing weird in spending my grief only on things I care about.

Sorry for that off-topic.

Edited March 22, 201610 yr by Hastings

49 minutes ago, OfficerFive0 said:

 i always hear about different terrorist attacks happening in israel

Please, don't bring this topic into the discussion. It's a completely unrelated matter, like completely, even the context is different.

Edited March 22, 201610 yr by Hystery

7 minutes ago, Hastings said:

Nowhere, I guess. I know for Europeans it will sound barbaric, racist, fascist, and all that, but there's no way people will care equally for everyone. A few days ago an explosion in Dagestan, Russia, killed several police officers but even you don't care much. For example I don't, because Dagestan is a war zone with civilians and cops diyng every week, and that doesn't touch me. Despite the fact that it's sad, and the Turkey attacks are horrible, and people dying yesterday in a FlyDubai plane crash in Russia don't make my mood lighter in any way too, certain things touch me deeper than overs for my personal reasons. Like, for example, I lived in Brussels for 2 and a half months and I really loved the people and the city. I see nothing weird in spending my grief only on things I care about.

Sorry for that off-topic.

My point again, we should care.

I for one don't give a rats ass what happens or how it happens, I care about the fact people are losing their lives unnecessarily, and I care for the friends and families of these people who are affected.

4 minutes ago, Hystery said:

Please, don't bring this topic into the discussion. It's a completely unrelated matter, like completely, even the context is different.

Please don't tell others what they can and can't post.

3 minutes ago, LukeD said:

Please don't tell others what they can and can't post.

It was a polite request, not a harsh order. Terrorist attacks on a free soil are different from terrorist attacks between a civilization settling on another. If we want to stick to the topic at hand, I think it'd be better to talk about what happened today. But again, it's just my opinion 

Edited March 22, 201610 yr by Hystery

9 minutes ago, LukeD said:

My point again, we should care.

I for one don't give a rats ass what happens or how it happens, I care about the fact people are losing their lives unnecessarily, and I care for the friends and families of these people who are affected.

I believe that I demonstrate that I care through my work, since I do it exactly because I hate when bad things happen to innocent people. On the other hand, if a sad event touches me closely, I say it or write about it or whatever. It doesn't do anything good to anyone but it shows the way I feel.

Don't think I'm clear enough here, but I hope you understand me.

11 minutes ago, Hastings said:

I believe that I demonstrate that I care through my work, since I do it exactly because I hate when bad things happen to innocent people. On the other hand, if a sad event touches me closely, I say it or write about it or whatever. It doesn't do anything good to anyone but it shows the way I feel.

Don't think I'm clear enough here, but I hope you understand me.

If I recall correctly you're military personnel, I would argue that isn't caring in terms of the job you do but that's only because I am exceptionally anti-war. I see no need for it, I see no need for nuclear deterrents or the need for guns. But I can't tell you what you do and don't care about, it's your personal belief and I wont interfere with that.

I understand you perfectly, the minor part where you are wrong is the fact it doesn't do anything good to anyone. You can change the world with a single idea 1 person at a time. And to be obnoxiously iterative, that's all I'm doing here. Yes the incident in Brussels is tragic, but just for a minute spare a thought for the Turkish, or for the Syrians, or for the Russians or for anyone going through this. If you care and tell others to care, others will care and do the same. It spreads :)

Can only imagine if an LSPDFR player in Brussels, of which there are many, were to come on here to get away from it all and when opening this topic instead of seeing simple messages of support and condolences they find that people are more interested in arguing with each other and debating politics.

Seriously, get a grip.  All of you.

My sincere condolences to the people affected by this tragedy.