Shots fired in Munich mall - possibly several dead and injured

[Lettow77]

Suicide bomber is a 27-year-old Syrian who had been treated at a psychiatric hospital for trying to commit suicide twice
The man's asylum request had been denied a year ago, but he had a temporary permit to stay
Police say they cannot yet confirm that the man intended to kill others with him

We can be relieved to know this wasn't islamic terrorism, but just the individual suicide of a troubled man who happened to be syrian which also happened to wound others by happenstance.

[Zanza]

The attack in Ansbach is actual terrorism. Suicide bomber trying to enter a big congregation of people at a concert. We can be lucky that he was denied entry. Terrorist is a 27 year old Syrian who entered Germany as a refugee, was denied asylum but not deported. It's not yet clear where he got the bomb from.

The attack in Reutlingen was personal. The perpetrator there knew the victim and the person that ran him over with a car was also not a random person but another aquaintance. The victim  was Polish, the driver Turkish and the perpetrator Syrian. They all worked at the same kebab place. The perpetrator could still have been motivated by his Muslim view of women though.

[Admiral Yi]

T'would be interesting to know the grounds on which he was denied asylum.

[Richard Hakluyt]

All the recent attacks have been committed by what one could politely call "troubled" individuals. Those individuals have also all had Middle Eastern ancestry.

I'm wondering about the importance of cultural fashion in these attacks.

To stereotype a little; if one lives in NYC and has problems it is off to the psychologist, a troubled Englishman will drink a lot.........and so on. The existence of ISIS and Islamist terrorism in general permits a different mode of expression for troubled muslims. I think one can see the attraction, "I'm not the problem, the problem is the diseased West".

The recent attacks have a very different feel to previous operations involving traditional terrorist cells. In a way they are far more dangerous, if it becomes somehow legitimate for a troubled muslim to take out his angst on society at large then we can expect a big increase in attacks.

[Tamas]

All the recent attacks have been committed by what one could politely call "troubled" individuals. Those individuals have also all had Middle Eastern ancestry.

I'm wondering about the importance of cultural fashion in these attacks.

To stereotype a little; if one lives in NYC and has problems it is off to the psychologist, a troubled Englishman will drink a lot.........and so on. The existence of ISIS and Islamist terrorism in general permits a different mode of expression for troubled muslims. I think one can see the attraction, "I'm not the problem, the problem is the diseased West".

The recent attacks have a very different feel to previous operations involving traditional terrorist cells. In a way they are far more dangerous, if it becomes somehow legitimate for a troubled muslim to take out his angst on society at large then we can expect a big increase in attacks.

[celedhring]

I was wondering the other day why attacks seem to be focusing in France and Germany. Yes, I'm aware they have very large muslim communities and in some cases with deep integration issues. But for example NE Spain is a hotbed of Salafism, and even though we have dismantled several cells throughout the years, we haven't had an attack in a decade (touch wood). And as seen in Nice, it's sadly really easy to perpetrate an attack if you don't care about getting away.

[Malicious Intent]

T'would be interesting to know the grounds on which he was denied asylum.

It's very rare for Syrians to be denied, so I guess there were serious doubts about his real nationality. Young men from northern Africa often claim to be Syrian, to have a better chance of getting Asylum.

[Zanza]

I was wondering the other day why attacks seem to be focusing in France and Germany. Yes, I'm aware they have very large muslim communities and in some cases with deep integration issues. But for example NE Spain is a hotbed of Salafism, and even though we have dismantled several cells throughout the years, we haven't had an attack in a decade (touch wood). And as seen in Nice, it's sadly really easy to perpetrate an attack if you don't care about getting away.

Germany didn't really have any successful Islamist terror attacks in the last decade. There were a few cells that the police found and some attempts that failed, but nothing similar to the attacks in France or Belgium or what happened in Madrid and London a decade ago.

[garbon]

So I'm going to Frankfurt next week for work and I am planning to spend weekend in Cologne. I'm thinking of not telling my family members that so that they don't fear for my safety in Germany (like they did when several checked in to see if I was in Munich).

[alfred russel]

The attack in Reutlingen was personal. The perpetrator there knew the victim and the person that ran him over with a car was also not a random person but another aquaintance. The victim  was Polish, the driver Turkish and the perpetrator Syrian. They all worked at the same kebab place. The perpetrator could still have been motivated by his Muslim view of women though.

Nothing good comes from those kebab places.

[Zanza]

They make kebab which is pretty good. Also Börek, Dürüm, Lahmacun, and Pide.

[Josquius]

All the recent attacks have been committed by what one could politely call "troubled" individuals. Those individuals have also all had Middle Eastern ancestry.

I'm wondering about the importance of cultural fashion in these attacks.

To stereotype a little; if one lives in NYC and has problems it is off to the psychologist, a troubled Englishman will drink a lot.........and so on. The existence of ISIS and Islamist terrorism in general permits a different mode of expression for troubled muslims. I think one can see the attraction, "I'm not the problem, the problem is the diseased West".

The recent attacks have a very different feel to previous operations involving traditional terrorist cells. In a way they are far more dangerous, if it becomes somehow legitimate for a troubled muslim to take out his angst on society at large then we can expect a big increase in attacks.

With these kind of crazy guy killers I would tend towards the theory that 24 hour news is heavily to blame. They figure if they're going to go out they might as well go with a bang, show the world that they are capable of something and all that.

[garbon]

All the recent attacks have been committed by what one could politely call "troubled" individuals. Those individuals have also all had Middle Eastern ancestry.

I'm wondering about the importance of cultural fashion in these attacks.

To stereotype a little; if one lives in NYC and has problems it is off to the psychologist, a troubled Englishman will drink a lot.........and so on. The existence of ISIS and Islamist terrorism in general permits a different mode of expression for troubled muslims. I think one can see the attraction, "I'm not the problem, the problem is the diseased West".

The recent attacks have a very different feel to previous operations involving traditional terrorist cells. In a way they are far more dangerous, if it becomes somehow legitimate for a troubled muslim to take out his angst on society at large then we can expect a big increase in attacks.

With these kind of crazy guy killers I would tend towards the theory that 24 hour news is heavily to blame. They figure if they're going to go out they might as well go with a bang, show the world that they are capable of something and all that.

On the other hand, with a 24 hour news cycle, it is pretty quick that we forget details about most of these killers.

[Valmy]

Yeah that is true. They just keep rolling by with mind numbing regularity. We usually only care enough to categorize the perps as what sort of crazy asshole they are. The days of carefully studying and obsessing about each freak-show seems to be at an end as this becomes the new normal.

[alfred russel]

They make kebab which is pretty good. Also Börek, Dürüm, Lahmacun, and Pide.

When you are hammered at 2 in the morning, agreed. Otherwise...