CREDIT: AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici.
Everything is going to hell in a handbasket. A young man, very upset about events in Aleppo and Syria, has murdered the Russian ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov. There’s just no end to the bad news, just more of it.
Shades of Franz Ferdinand.
Young people should be upset about Russia, and Turkey, and events in Syria. Political leaders should be being shot for what they are doing.
That guy just shot someone who probably doesn’t have much hand in the decisions that are being made, though. That’s the problem with shooting political leaders: it’s so damn hard to get the right ones. They protect themselves (for exactly that reason) So that fellow just killed the wrong person, because he’s upset that the wrong people are being killed. Too bad he couldn’t have shot Putin, Erdogan, Obama, or Assad -- those are the people who made the decisions that are killing people in Aleppo.
According to this story, the young man was a Turkish cop. The only word on him right now is “he’s been neutralized” and no one is saying what that means. I expect he’s dead.
I expect he’s dead.
Dead, or wishes he was.
The Ambassador may not have been a major decision-maker, but he certainly was a symbol of those who are. So I don’t think he shot the wrong person, just the one he would get close enough to for sending a message.
Oh well, if you want more bad news, Germany finally got its first terrorist attack. Apparently a Polish truck driver was murdered, his truck taken and then driven into a crowd at a Berlin christmas market. It’s the kind of thing you can never prevent.
Giliell @ 6
The only thing that would come near to stopping that kind of thing would be vehicles that refuse to run over people (or run at all if the sensors are disabled). Even that won’t be nowhere near perfect.
Giliell, #6
CNN has decided to go with the headline “SUSPECT IS A REFUGEE”
Yes, good job. THAT is the focus here. Refugee is the new Muslim. They can’t write “SUSPECT IS A MUSLIM” so let’s code it instead.
It’S apparently even true, from Pakistan. And? Most refugees ain’t terrorists, most terrorists ain’t refugees.
Update this minute: Police no longer sure they got the right guy. Looks like they grabbed the first muslim looking guy they could find.
And of course, Bill Maher had to jump on this by pointing out that he yelled “Alahu Akbar”. I listened to the audio, and it’s pretty hard to actually make out what’s being said, but it does sound like he shouts that at one point.
Of course, lots of white mass murderers shout similar things about god/jesus, and we barely notice.
Crimson, #11
And most importantly: Saying “Allahu Akbar” doesn’t necessarily align you with a terrorist camp. It just means you’re Muslim. Some Muslims say that when undertaking an important task or a risky or dangerous task. Armies from some Muslim countries would say it too. It’s even said as part of the annual animal sacrifice for Eid al-Adha.
Of course, I’m not saying the killer can’t be part of any terrorist group, just that too many ignorant people like Maher think Allahu Akbar is just said by terrorists.