http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-40007886 Reports coming in on the various news outlets of a powerful explosion around the Box Office area. GMP on Twitter confirming numerous fatalities. Ariana Grande concert; many young fans.
19 dead. 50 additional injuries. Police treating as a terrorist attack until proven otherwise. Secondary device found and a controlled explosion being carried out.
Absolutely gutting to hear about the attack last night! What gets me more than anything is the fact that some utterly cowardly, scum of the Earth, oxygen thieving dickhead has decided to go to a concert and blow himself and others up, all in the name of some stupid twisted and frankly evil ideology. I couldn't give a rats arse what label they put on the tin, it's pure evil. What has the bomber or anyone else subscribing to that ideology achieved? It won't change anything apart from strengthening the resolve of those who wish to do battle with them, ideologically and militarily. People won't give in to terrorism, they never have and they never will, when will the terrorists realise that???
It's also pretty disgusting that our western coalition levelled a school earlier in the week - http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...nsoura-human-rights-observatory-a7642781.html - Which is probably what this attack is a direct response to. If you want these atrocities to stop you have to take an objective approach, rather than support a escalating cycle of retaliation.
I doubt that the Manchester attack was anything other than some lone nut job taking advantage of a mass gathering to inflict as much harm as they could. Sounds to me like you are making excuses for the nut job.
As ever you have to try an notice the difference between civilians being killed there because the coalition hit the wrong target and civilians being killed in Manchester because the terrorists wanted to kill civilians. Do you oppose support being given to the Kurds and others fighting IS in Syria? Why?
Without a good post invasion plan that a significant part of the locals support it would just end up as another Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq...
Gotta be look at the situation now, and sensible actions in the current situation. Boots on the ground other that the special forces and training deployments isn't sensible or necessary. What is needed is full support for theose forces that are attempting to defeat IS/Daesh. This acutaly doesn't particularly include the Syrian government or Russia who seem concerned to attack almost any other opposition group as having Daesh in Raqqa allows them to paint everyone else as terrorists. The tricky bit is dealing with Turkey which is more concerned about beating up the Kurds and their government is increasingly paranoid and authoritarian. The defeat of Daesh won't solve the problem but it will weaken them a lot as there won't be a place to go to join them, as there was is Raqqa and they can't really sell it as being such a great idea when they are left hiding in a cave. We still have to fight the radicals here and that is difficult and may take a generation or so.