[themaclad]

Is it me or does anyone else think there could be a major terrorist attack on the Championships next year, given tonight's events 40 dead 100 hostages seems Paris is becoming the target of attacks. A stunningly sad night for the French

[St Charles Owl]

Hadn't heard anything about these latest attacks until I read your report, terrible news once again from Paris and obviously there has been no official announcement of who is responsible but we all know what or who it is likely to be!! Unfortunately this will lead to more tension between religions and races, the vast majority of whom are normal law abiding citizens, but events like this tend to tar everyone with the same broad brush!!

As for the football next summer, so far the terrorists seem to have stayed away from sporting events. Maybe this is due to the already heavy police and security at these event or maybe its due to even the terrorists we see today knowing that attacking innocent sports fans will destroy and chance they ever had of achieving their goals or some sort of respect or peaceful solution. Long may that stay the case and I think at this time there are so many far easier targets for them anyway.

[Amelia Chaffinch]

One of the bombs is reported to be near the Stade de France where there has been a friendly so it looks like they are taking it to sport.

---

In fact it looks like the crowd are too afraid to leave the stadium. They are waiting on the pitch.

[St Charles Owl]

One of the bombs is reported to be near the Stade de France where there has been a friendly so it looks like they are taking it to sport.

---

In fact it looks like the crowd are too afraid to leave the stadium. They are waiting on the pitch.

Yes I saw that but it was a bar near the stadium as opposed to in the stadium itself.  Next summers Euros will present a lot of opportunities away from the stadiums next year for any terrorist group who is so inclined, I still think though that the actual stadiums themselves will be ok.  But you can never tell with these terrorists in this day and age.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Maybe this is due to the already heavy police and security at these event or maybe its due to even the terrorists we see today knowing that attacking innocent sports fans will destroy and chance they ever had of achieving their goals or some sort of respect or peaceful solution.

Unfortunately, the goal of religious fundamentalists - especially theocratic fascists, who form a political ideology around their faith - is solely to impose their "version" of their religion over all societies, and their fervent belief is that anything which turns non-believers against "their people" is indeed advancing that goal.  That's not to say that there's not still a warped moral code at work which may prevent them from attacking certain targets, but it's more likely to be based on some obscure line written on a parchment a thousand years ago than any practical consideration, I'm afraid.

I think security's going to be beefed up big-time for next summer, and sadly, it's going to be a necessary precaution after these tragic events.

[St Charles Owl]

I heard an interesting comment on CNN this morning asking this question. The "expert" they were talking to said that these terrorists want to cause maximum damage and death before they either get killed or blow themselves up, he said they really don't care about historical or symbolic targets, just the numbers. Because of this goal, they tend to stay away from event that have security or lots of police and hit easier targets. They could have caused a lot more carnage if they could have made it into the stadium, but their fear was they would not be successful and not achieve the most effect from their actions. So they attacked restaurants and a concert venue where there was no security.

Thing for me is, how do we stop this???

[spireitematt]

One of the suicide bombers had a ticket for the France and Germany game but the security guard stopped he or she from getting in as they discovered an explosive vest as they carried out a search.

[St Charles Owl]

One of the suicide bombers had a ticket for the France and Germany game but the security guard stopped he or she from getting in as they discovered an explosive vest as they carried out a search.

Haven't seen that reported over here yet but the first explosions took place 20 minutes after kickoff, so what was he doing trying to get in so late when he would stand out so much!!!

[themaclad]

One of them had only entered Europe via Greece in the last two months, methinks Frau Merkel might just be regretting the decision to open the door to hundred and thousands of newcomers

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Thing for me is, how do we stop this???

As always, Maajid Nawaz is the man to be reading/listening to on this subject.  As an ex-Islamist who's spent the last decade or so fighting his erstwhile comrades and their ideology, he knows the problem inside out.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/20...error.html

The long and short of it is, liberal Muslims in the West need to be given support and solidarity in tackling Islamists within their communities rather than being ignored/smeared/betrayed by all sides of the political spectrum, and in the Middle East, the Kurds need to be given a shitload of support in tackling ISIS militarily.

And as none of this will be solved in a matter of days, months or years (even decades might be overly optimistic), the rest of us need to crack on with our lives, not be bullied by hate-spewing dickheads of any stripe, and keep pushing the spread of secular democracy worldwide