Soldato
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Training that isn't realistic leads to bad things happening when it's not a drill.
Manchester Police forced to apologise for "Racial Stereotyping" during mock attack
- Thread starter Darg
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Soldato
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We are still facing IRA splinter groups terrorism. Have people forgotten?
The greatest number of terrorist incidents in recent years in the UK have been IRA/splinter groups/Loyalist/splinter groups and probably will into the future.
There hasn't been an IRA attack in 15 years, the last serious one that injured a lot of people was in 1996. I think it's important we prepare for likely terrorist attacks; which, as anyone with an ounce of common sense would know, would be something similar to the Paris attacks.
Caporegime
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I haven't read all the thread, but from news reports, my reaction is that it's a ridiculous reaction to expect police to apologise. The vast bulk of terrorist attacks in recent years have come from the extreme nutjob end of Islam, and time and again, that is exactly what we've seen said nutjobs shouting.
If, however, police had suggested that these nutjobs were representative of the wider Muslim community, then they certainly would have something to apologise for.
This is not a slur on Islam, which is fundamentally peaceloving, or on most Muslims, who are just ordinary folk wanting to live their lives. It is merely a reflection, post-Paris, Brussels, etc, of the facts about what the primary terrorist threat is, which is radical extremists using, or abusing, Islam to justify their barbaric acts.
It's also worth remembering that by far the biggest group suffering at the hands of these Islamic nutjob fundamentalists is the rest of the normal, peaceloving Muslim community that just wants to get on with making a living and raising kids. But, western media being what it is, kill 100 people in a western capital and the media drone on about it for months. Kill 100 in a third world country and it'll get a brief mention for a day or two, if that.
If, however, police had suggested that these nutjobs were representative of the wider Muslim community, then they certainly would have something to apologise for.
This is not a slur on Islam, which is fundamentally peaceloving, or on most Muslims, who are just ordinary folk wanting to live their lives. It is merely a reflection, post-Paris, Brussels, etc, of the facts about what the primary terrorist threat is, which is radical extremists using, or abusing, Islam to justify their barbaric acts.
It's also worth remembering that by far the biggest group suffering at the hands of these Islamic nutjob fundamentalists is the rest of the normal, peaceloving Muslim community that just wants to get on with making a living and raising kids. But, western media being what it is, kill 100 people in a western capital and the media drone on about it for months. Kill 100 in a third world country and it'll get a brief mention for a day or two, if that.
Man of Honour
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Yes, but in GB the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre have said that there is a bigger risk from islamist extremism and is reflected in the different terror levels (even with the recent rise in level for NI)
I agree with the rest of your post, but surely Western media is going to focus on attacks in the West. And surely it's more obvious that an attack in a first world developed country is bigger news than an attack in Pakistan or Afghanistan where these attacks are fairly common
Apparently, according to a leaked memo, the short list of options considered was to have someone shouting:
1. "Allahu Ackbar!" to simulate an attack by Islamist terrorists
2. "Hi Di Hi!" to simulate an attack by Maplins Fundamentalists
3. "Oh Yay! Oy Yay! Oh Yay!" to simulate an attack by the Branch Davidian Town Criers Separatist Movement
4. "It's Christmas!" to simulate an attack by Noddy Holder
I guess they went with the most realistic option in the end. They couldn't go with the Hi Di Hi option obviously, cos most bystanders would simply stand by a return with "Ho Di Ho", rather than legging it in the opposite direction, which is of course the complete opposite of the desired effect. Bet they wished they'd hired Noddy Holder now.
1. "Allahu Ackbar!" to simulate an attack by Islamist terrorists
2. "Hi Di Hi!" to simulate an attack by Maplins Fundamentalists
3. "Oh Yay! Oy Yay! Oh Yay!" to simulate an attack by the Branch Davidian Town Criers Separatist Movement
4. "It's Christmas!" to simulate an attack by Noddy Holder
I guess they went with the most realistic option in the end. They couldn't go with the Hi Di Hi option obviously, cos most bystanders would simply stand by a return with "Ho Di Ho", rather than legging it in the opposite direction, which is of course the complete opposite of the desired effect. Bet they wished they'd hired Noddy Holder now.
well yeah in Northern Ireland
but in the rest of the UK/mainland the threat from the Real IRA/New IRA/I-cant-believe it's not the IRA.... probably isn't as serious at that from a random Islamist wanting to try an mass shooting or stabbing
sure they seem to have been feuding with some crime families in Dublin recently but really they're basically just a bunch of gangsters these days
You can hardly say they're all mentally ill when there's 10's of thousands of them controlling a large part of Syria and Iraq
Yes, but that wasn't quite my point.
The inference that the police should apologise to the Muslim community in general implies that the inference to be drawn from suggesting a terorist attack is likely to be from an IRF, an Islamic Radical Fundamentalist, for lack of a better term, is to suggest that as the IRFs are terrorists, so are the broad Muslim community.
In fact, from what I can make of the ethos of these IRFs, Muslims represent the biggest proportion, by far, of the victims of IRFs, who seem to believe that anyone who doesn't subscribe to their radical agenda, including other Muslims, deserve to die. It's just that western media doesn't really cover that.
I'm not Muslim, so it's not for me to say what will or won't offend, but I think I'd be more offended by the notion I deserved an apology for this, because implicit in that is that the notion the terrorists somehow represented me.
As far as I can tell, all IRF's represent is their radical beliefs, not Islam as believed in by the vast majority.
Perhaps the biggest single offence in all this is that there is some conflation between terrorists that profess to be Muslims, and Muslims generally. Suppose I'm a Spurs fan and three Spurs fans have a brawl and smash up a pub? Am I supposed to somehow feel responsible? Terrorists who profess to be Islamic only represent IRF terrorists, not Muslims.
