Earl

The French papers already mentioned that the US authorities are
thinking not bringing
American teams to Athens, too worried about terrorism.

Next, there are some home grown Greek terrorists who might act before.
I would think "Al-Qaeda" would wait for the moment, trying to get the
Americans to the game and then spoil the event with a big hit.

However, Bush is going on Arab TV today and tell them about how
nice we Americans really are. Who knows, perhaps Ben Laden will
agree, smile and make up.

We already have our tickets to Greece and would not change in anycase.
Be brave and travel.

Earl

****

Athens hit by triple bomb blast

Associated Press
Wednesday May 5, 2004


Police investigators search the area behind a police station in Athens
after three bombs exploded. Photograph: Thanassis Stavrakis/AP
*
Three bombs exploded outside a police station in Athens today in a
series of timed blasts, causing serious damage and unnerving Greek
security forces just 100 days before the Olympic Games opens in the
city.

There were no serious injuries reported after the pre-dawn explosions,
which occurred within half an hour of each other, and come ahead of
events to mark the final stretch leading up to the Olympics in August.

An anonymous caller to an Athens newspaper warned of the attacks
several minutes in advance, but provided no motive or claim of
responsibility.

Police believe the bombings at the densely populated Kalithea district
may have been intended to claim victims, despite the tip to the
newspaper.

"This is something very serious," Kalithea Mayor Constantinos Askounis
told the Alpha radio station. "It takes on a different dimension with
the Olympics."

Parts of the nearest building to the blast - which includes several
police agencies - were damaged and windows were shattered in nearby
flats.

Authorities evacuated the station and cordoned off the area. The head
of Greece's anti-terrorist squad was among the high-level personnel
called to the site. Bomb experts conducted a controlled explosion, but
this was on an apparently suspicious package and not a fourth bomb.

The Olympics carry a record security price tag of at least £600m that
includes a planned city-wide network of surveillance cameras and
aerial patrols. The camera system is not yet in full operation.

A Greek delegation, led by the public order minister and the head of
the Greek police, is currently in Washington for talks on efforts to
safeguard the games - the first summer Olympics since the September 11
2001 attacks.

Some European and US officials have expressed worry that construction
delays at Olympic venues could undercut efforts for advance security
testing and other measures.

"We were beginning to hear a lot of concerns about the preparations
and whether we should go," said Senator Gordon Smith, a Republican
from Oregon, who added that he believed a US presence at the games was
important.

In Australia, the nation's Olympic committee secretary general, Bob
Elphinston, said the committee was not contemplating withdrawing its
team from Athens but individual athletes were free to pull out.

"Any bomb that goes off in Athens is worrying," Mr Elphinston said.
"This is now the Olympic city and again whether it's a coincidence
that it's 100 days to the games ... time will tell."

In September, similar timed blasts damaged a judicial complex in
Athens and injured one police officer. Twin bombings, spaced 20
minutes apart, were claimed by a group calling itself Revolutionary
Struggle and were believed to be a protest against crackdowns that
toppled the November 17 terrorist cell.

Greek authorities, who are under intense pressure to safeguard the
Olympics, claimed they crippled the most dangerous domestic terrorism
following the convictions in December of 19 members of that group,
blamed for 23 killings and dozens of other attacks since 1975.
November 17's victims included British defence attache Brigadier
Stephen Saunders, who was shot dead in June 2000, as well as four US
officials and two Turkish diplomats.


Despite the November 17 convictions, smaller groups have continued to
carry out bombings and arson attacks in Athens and other cities, but
most are against cars and commercial targets and rarely cause
injuries.

In April, the US state department's annual report on terrorism said
the "low-level bombings against an array of perceived establishment
and so-called imperialist targets ... underscore the lingering nature
of left-wing terrorism in Greece".

The Foreign Office's advice to UK citizens travelling to Greece says:
"Anarchist groups remain active but their actions are primarily
low-level and directed against the Greek State and institutions and
commercial (and occasionally diplomatic) interests."

Devil

On Wed, 05 May 2004 02:37:38 -0700, Earl wrote:

    > The French papers already mentioned that the US authorities are
    > thinking not bringing
    > American teams to Athens, too worried about terrorism.

Let's just cancel the whole show. :-)


    > However, Bush is going on Arab TV today and tell them about how
    > nice we Americans really are. Who knows, perhaps Ben Laden will
    > agree, smile and make up.

Nice exercise of making a fool of himself. Just showing how clueless the
man is.

Oh well. :-(

Jenn

devil wrote:

    > On Wed, 05 May 2004 02:37:38 -0700, Earl wrote:
    >
    >
    >>The French papers already mentioned that the US authorities are
    >>thinking not bringing
    >>American teams to Athens, too worried about terrorism.
    >
    >
    > Let's just cancel the whole show. :-)

given the extreme incompetence of the Greeks who will not have the
venues ready in time for adequate security to be installed and practiced
[if they do manage to patch them together for the competitions
themselves] it might well be wise to cancel the whole show

they had a long time to make t his work -- and now best case scenerio is
last minute construction with all the obvious security risks that
creates -- and while Americans are probably at greatest risk as targets
- there are plenty of others who ought to be shaking in their trainers
as well
    >
    >
    >
    >>However, Bush is going on Arab TV today and tell them about how
    >>nice we Americans really are. Who knows, perhaps Ben Laden will
    >>agree, smile and make up.
    >
    >
    > Nice exercise of making a fool of himself. Just showing how clueless the
    > man is.
    >
    > Oh well. :-(
    >

yes he is a fool -- but this certainly is pretty much the only thing he
can do -- having created a government in which there is no
accountability, in which people fear to speak up when there is
misbehavior and in which government functions are thoughtlessly farmed
out to the private sector -- and then having failed to manage his
subordinates in Iraq there is nothing to be done but to apologize for
the mess that has resulted

the US has a professional army -- most of those serving and dying are
not boys just out of high school but grown men who have been well
trained -- there is no excuse for the mismanagement that has allowed
these incidents to occur -- and really no excuse for the confusion of
command that results from turning war functions over to contractors

Björn Olsson

Jenn wrote:

    > devil wrote:
    >
    >> On Wed, 05 May 2004 02:37:38 -0700, Earl wrote:
    >>> The French papers already mentioned that the US authorities are
    >>> thinking not bringing
    >>> American teams to Athens, too worried about terrorism.
    >> Let's just cancel the whole show. :-)
    >
    >
    > given the extreme incompetence of the Greeks who will not have the
    > venues ready in time for adequate security to be installed and practiced
    > [if they do manage to patch them together for the competitions
    > themselves] it might well be wise to cancel the whole show
    >
    > they had a long time to make t his work -- and now best case scenerio is
    > last minute construction with all the obvious security risks that
    > creates -- and while Americans are probably at greatest risk as targets
    > - there are plenty of others who ought to be shaking in their trainers
    > as well
    >
    >>
    >>> However, Bush is going on Arab TV today and tell them about how
    >>> nice we Americans really are. Who knows, perhaps Ben Laden will
    >>> agree, smile and make up.
    >> Nice exercise of making a fool of himself. Just showing how clueless the
    >> man is.
    >> Oh well. :-(
    >
    > yes he is a fool -- but this certainly is pretty much the only thing he
    > can do -- having created a government in which there is no
    > accountability, in which people fear to speak up when there is
    > misbehavior and in which government functions are thoughtlessly farmed
    > out to the private sector -- and then having failed to manage his
    > subordinates in Iraq there is nothing to be done but to apologize for
    > the mess that has resulted

How about resigning? That's what people usually do when they've messed
everything up beyond repair.

Björn

Wolfgang Schwanke

Jenn <> wrote in
news:Uv7mc.5533$:

    > devil wrote:

    >> Let's just cancel the whole show. :-)
    >
    > given the extreme incompetence of the Greeks who will not have the
    > venues ready in time for adequate security to be installed and
    > practiced [if they do manage to patch them together for the
    > competitions themselves] it might well be wise to cancel the whole
    > show

That's just what Greece is like. They'll make it work in the end, they
always do. A really convincing reason for cancelling the Olympics is the
fact that it'll drive prices up in Greece, possibly forever. But I'm afraid
it won't convince the Greeks. :)

    > they had a long time to make t his work -- and now best case scenerio
    > is last minute construction with all the obvious security risks that
    > creates --

It'll just confuse the terrorists. They had all their bomb attacks planned
so carefully to hide in functional buildings and to go off on the scheduled
times, only to learn that there's no space to hide bombs in open
construction sites, and that all the sporting events get rescheduled over
and over. It's all tactics!

Jeremy Henderson

On Wed, 05 May 2004 03:37:38 -0700, Earl wrote:

    > However, Bush is going on Arab TV today and tell them about how
    > nice we Americans really are. Who knows, perhaps Ben Laden will
    > agree, smile and make up.

Yes, maybe that will happen. Maybe all the listeners will think "What a
nice man, never mind that he helps Ariel Sharon kill our brothers and
steal their land. Let's trust him - I'm sure that the torture and
humiliation are just isolated incidents and not indicative of racism,
sadism and sexual perversion operating at every level of the US military"

You never know.

J;

Jeremy Henderson

On Wed, 05 May 2004 19:29:04 +0200, Wolfgang Schwanke wrote:

    > That's just what Greece is like. They'll make it work in the end, they
    > always do.

Absolutely - I read a quotation recently from someone saying that the
preparations are like a sirtaki - starting slowly and getting faster and
faster.

J;

Capitalist Pig

We Americans will do whatever it takes to insure our safety; that's why we
are happy with George Bush as President. If you Europeans think you can
peacefully co-exist with a Muslim population, you're dreaming. The Muslims
don't care how many Jews you shipped off to the death camps in W.W.II.
Muslims hate you and they will slit your throat while you sleep. Have a nice
day.

Capitalist Pig


"Earl" <> wrote in message
news:...
    > The French papers already mentioned that the US authorities are
    > thinking not bringing
    > American teams to Athens, too worried about terrorism.
    > Next, there are some home grown Greek terrorists who might act before.
    > I would think "Al-Qaeda" would wait for the moment, trying to get the
    > Americans to the game and then spoil the event with a big hit.
    > However, Bush is going on Arab TV today and tell them about how
    > nice we Americans really are. Who knows, perhaps Ben Laden will
    > agree, smile and make up.
    > We already have our tickets to Greece and would not change in anycase.
    > Be brave and travel.
    > Earl
    > ****
    > Athens hit by triple bomb blast
    > Associated Press
    > Wednesday May 5, 2004
    > Police investigators search the area behind a police station in Athens
    > after three bombs exploded. Photograph: Thanassis Stavrakis/AP
    > Three bombs exploded outside a police station in Athens today in a
    > series of timed blasts, causing serious damage and unnerving Greek
    > security forces just 100 days before the Olympic Games opens in the
    > city.
    > There were no serious injuries reported after the pre-dawn explosions,
    > which occurred within half an hour of each other, and come ahead of
    > events to mark the final stretch leading up to the Olympics in August.
    > An anonymous caller to an Athens newspaper warned of the attacks
    > several minutes in advance, but provided no motive or claim of
    > responsibility.
    > Police believe the bombings at the densely populated Kalithea district
    > may have been intended to claim victims, despite the tip to the
    > newspaper.
    > "This is something very serious," Kalithea Mayor Constantinos Askounis
    > told the Alpha radio station. "It takes on a different dimension with
    > the Olympics."
    > Parts of the nearest building to the blast - which includes several
    > police agencies - were damaged and windows were shattered in nearby
    > flats.
    > Authorities evacuated the station and cordoned off the area. The head
    > of Greece's anti-terrorist squad was among the high-level personnel
    > called to the site. Bomb experts conducted a controlled explosion, but
    > this was on an apparently suspicious package and not a fourth bomb.
    > The Olympics carry a record security price tag of at least £600m that
    > includes a planned city-wide network of surveillance cameras and
    > aerial patrols. The camera system is not yet in full operation.
    > A Greek delegation, led by the public order minister and the head of
    > the Greek police, is currently in Washington for talks on efforts to
    > safeguard the games - the first summer Olympics since the September 11
    > 2001 attacks.
    > Some European and US officials have expressed worry that construction
    > delays at Olympic venues could undercut efforts for advance security
    > testing and other measures.
    > "We were beginning to hear a lot of concerns about the preparations
    > and whether we should go," said Senator Gordon Smith, a Republican
    > from Oregon, who added that he believed a US presence at the games was
    > important.
    > In Australia, the nation's Olympic committee secretary general, Bob
    > Elphinston, said the committee was not contemplating withdrawing its
    > team from Athens but individual athletes were free to pull out.
    > "Any bomb that goes off in Athens is worrying," Mr Elphinston said.
    > "This is now the Olympic city and again whether it's a coincidence
    > that it's 100 days to the games ... time will tell."
    > In September, similar timed blasts damaged a judicial complex in
    > Athens and injured one police officer. Twin bombings, spaced 20
    > minutes apart, were claimed by a group calling itself Revolutionary
    > Struggle and were believed to be a protest against crackdowns that
    > toppled the November 17 terrorist cell.
    > Greek authorities, who are under intense pressure to safeguard the
    > Olympics, claimed they crippled the most dangerous domestic terrorism
    > following the convictions in December of 19 members of that group,
    > blamed for 23 killings and dozens of other attacks since 1975.
    > November 17's victims included British defence attache Brigadier
    > Stephen Saunders, who was shot dead in June 2000, as well as four US
    > officials and two Turkish diplomats.
    > Despite the November 17 convictions, smaller groups have continued to
    > carry out bombings and arson attacks in Athens and other cities, but
    > most are against cars and commercial targets and rarely cause
    > injuries.
    > In April, the US state department's annual report on terrorism said
    > the "low-level bombings against an array of perceived establishment
    > and so-called imperialist targets ... underscore the lingering nature
    > of left-wing terrorism in Greece".
    > The Foreign Office's advice to UK citizens travelling to Greece says:
    > "Anarchist groups remain active but their actions are primarily
    > low-level and directed against the Greek State and institutions and
    > commercial (and occasionally diplomatic) interests."

Thomas Peel

Björn Olsson schrieb:
    >
    > Jenn wrote:
    >
    > > devil wrote:
    > >
    > >> On Wed, 05 May 2004 02:37:38 -0700, Earl wrote:
    > >>
    > >>
    > >>> The French papers already mentioned that the US authorities are
    > >>> thinking not bringing
    > >>> American teams to Athens, too worried about terrorism.
    > >>
    > >>
    > >>
    > >> Let's just cancel the whole show. :-)
    > >
    > >
    > > given the extreme incompetence of the Greeks who will not have the
    > > venues ready in time for adequate security to be installed and practiced
    > > [if they do manage to patch them together for the competitions
    > > themselves] it might well be wise to cancel the whole show
    > >
    > > they had a long time to make t his work -- and now best case scenerio is
    > > last minute construction with all the obvious security risks that
    > > creates -- and while Americans are probably at greatest risk as targets
    > > - there are plenty of others who ought to be shaking in their trainers
    > > as well
    > >
    > >>
    > >>
    > >>
    > >>> However, Bush is going on Arab TV today and tell them about how
    > >>> nice we Americans really are. Who knows, perhaps Ben Laden will
    > >>> agree, smile and make up.
    > >>
    > >>
    > >>
    > >> Nice exercise of making a fool of himself. Just showing how clueless the
    > >> man is.
    > >>
    > >> Oh well. :-(
    > >>
    > >
    > > yes he is a fool -- but this certainly is pretty much the only thing he
    > > can do -- having created a government in which there is no
    > > accountability, in which people fear to speak up when there is
    > > misbehavior and in which government functions are thoughtlessly farmed
    > > out to the private sector -- and then having failed to manage his
    > > subordinates in Iraq there is nothing to be done but to apologize for
    > > the mess that has resulted
    >
    > How about resigning? That's what people usually do when they've messed
    > everything up beyond repair.
    >
    > Björn

Bush resign? He'll get somebody else to resign- Rumsfield is the #1
possibility.

Jeremy Henderson

On Wed, 05 May 2004 21:17:03 +0200, Thomas Peel wrote:

    > Bush resign? He'll get somebody else to resign- Rumsfield is the #1
    > possibility.

No-one will resign - their level of depravity is such that they don't even
understand what they did that's wrong - they're like children who know
they're being punished but can't understand what for.

J;