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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To be feeling unusually unsettled after seeing the news

48 replies

SamuelWestsMistress · 22/02/2013 05:57

Last night I saw the news regarding the failed terrorism plot. Hearing the details of what these people had planned really did turn my blood cold.

AIBU to feel so unusually disturbed by this? I am by no means a paranoid worrier about these things usually, but I can't help but think that it's only a matter of time before something horrific happens. These men who have been arrested can't be the only ones in the UK who were motivated enough to plan extremist attacks on such a scale?

OP posts:

PessaryPam · 22/02/2013 06:00

No you are not being paranoid but take comfort from the odds that you will be caught up in any atrocity, which will be very, very small.

anonymosity · 22/02/2013 06:14

Its important that we know about the foiled attempts at terrorism. There are many more of those, than the successful kind and that puts it into perspective.

phoenixrose314 · 22/02/2013 06:15

Unfortunately this is the world we live in. I deliberately avoid watching the news for two reasons - one, because I am a naturally anxious person and I can get quite worked up over certain news items, and two, because somebody out there chooses what version of the "truth" we get, which news items get priority and which get hidden completely, and I feel very strongly that I can make up my own mind about those things.

Try not to worry... as Pessary said, the chances of these things affecting you are very, very small. Focus on what is actual and real around you and have faith that the world will someday become a better place! :)

Original poster

SamuelWestsMistress · 22/02/2013 07:58

It's worrying when we have news like this and then also the whole horsemeat thing. What would have stopped some kind of sinister poison plot?

I'm not a hippy tree hugging type, but why the fuck can't people live in peace? Why is it that the exciting world we think exists when we are 5 years old seems to be a miserable hateful place of doom and death? There's too much hate and unfairness. All stemmed from greedy power hungry evil people.

I've had 2 hours sleep, can you tell?

OP posts:

PessaryPam · 22/02/2013 08:14

It is quite horrific that we share this space with people who want us dead for ideological reasons. Hell would freeze over before I signed up to their religion so they are not doing a good job of spreading the 'word' are they? Hope they stay in jail for the rest of their lives.

bangersmashandbeans · 22/02/2013 08:17

You'd worry even more if you thought about what tiny proportion of foiled attempts hit the news in comparison to how many we don't hear about.

ophelia275 · 22/02/2013 09:22

YANBU. Thankfully they were caught.

I just think it is sad that the only thing these young "men" were interested in was death and destruction. What kind of mentality do you have to have where you just want to kill and maim people just because they are women or aren't the same religion as you. Scary and sad.

Original poster

SamuelWestsMistress · 22/02/2013 11:15

Banger, I know! I bet there's a terrifying amount of information we don't know about. Ignorance is definitely bliss.

I know all extremists act the way they do because they believe that what they are doing is right. I hate the way it's hidden behind religion too.

OP posts:

givemeaclue · 22/02/2013 12:57

If it helps, apparently they were so closely monitored by mi5 etc that they "couldn't sneeze without mi5 knowing about it". Luckily they seem to have been rather incompetent at being terrorists.

Good to know there things can be stopped

HeySoulSister · 22/02/2013 13:00

Ignorance is bliss yes.... Except I used to work for the police and find it more terrifying now as I know a bit more to add to what we are told in the news!

GrowSomeCress · 22/02/2013 13:02

I find it slightly comforting at the same time to see the level of surveillance that MI5 had over them - managed to get a bug in their car, in the houses and photograph them everywhere.

Impressive work

But yes it is terrifying

Latara · 22/02/2013 13:10

I try to put the terrorist threat in this perspective:

In 1941 my Nan was cycling round Salford as a 15 yr old during air raids to deliver messages to various ARP posts.
Some of her colleagues were killed - blown to bits - as were her neighbours.
The probability of death or serious injury was very high yet she kept delivering messages AND went to work in a shop each day.

Compared to that we have very low odds of being killed or affected by any terrorist atrocity.

CoffeeandDunkingBiscuits · 22/02/2013 13:41

Ya nbu.

Does anyone have a link, as I can't seem to find anything about it on bbc?

SonOfAradia · 22/02/2013 13:45

The most terrifying thing about them is those hideous beards!

nailak · 22/02/2013 14:04

pam I dont think they were interested in spreading the word somehow. I am not sure how a whole religion with many different groups within it can be represented in your mind by a group twisted people, and this over rides the millions of others who are not twisted in this way.

Ophelia I also don't think it is about killing people just because they are a different religion from you. Look at the 7/7 bombings. Have you ever been to Aldgate? It is full of Muslims. You can hear the adhaan from the mosques. Muslims died in 7/7, they killed indiscriminately, they didn't care who they killed. They wanted to make a point. What point I am not sure. But the idea that everyone who lives in the west is a legitimate target, does not mean muslims living in the west are not legitimate targets. White, black, Muslim, Atheism, that ideology sees us all as supporting a system which is at war with Islam, by virtue of living here. Which of course does not make any sense as they themselves live here as do their families, but I bet they wouldn't go and blow up their own family under the guise of them being a legitimate target. Totally missed the concept of love for your brother what you love for yourself.

Fairydogmother · 22/02/2013 14:09

Try living in Northern Ireland where we live under - a domestic terrorist threat all the time never mind the threat there is from global terrorism.

TunipTheVegedude · 22/02/2013 14:16

I like Latara's post about WW2.

Yes there is terrorism, but there is an amazingly small amount of random violence in our society compared to what there was, say, 500 years ago.
There also isn't the state-sanctioned violence against its own people there has been in the past.

And that's even without comparing us to other countries where these things happen right now. We are amazingly lucky in comparison.

nailak · 22/02/2013 15:06

But it is disturbing the OP is NBU, it is disturbing that anyone could think of harming innocents. It is disturbing people can laugh and joke about the loss of life like it is a small thing.

treaclesoda · 22/02/2013 15:09

I live in Northern Ireland and grew up here. When I was little it all went over my head a bit and I didn't have the knowledge to know that I had good reason to be afraid sometimes. As an adult I find these things much more frightening. My heart still pounds when I'm walking past parked cars in case they blow up.

BigAudioDynamite · 22/02/2013 15:13

Have you seen '4 Lions' OP? You should watch it, it will cheer you up!

BigAudioDynamite · 22/02/2013 15:16

The biggest perpetrator of terror, throughout history has got to be America... ?

Or possibly one of the colonisinf nations?

BegoniaBampot · 22/02/2013 15:22

Think it must be hard for many Asian Muslims in the UK. Many have family and friends in countries they have links to where we have troops and many civilians have been killed and wounded. Not surprised many feel anger, conflicted and torn as to where their loyalties lie and young men tend to be very passionate about politics and what they see as an attack on the Muslim world by the west who seem to be able to act as they please.

GrowSomeCress · 22/02/2013 15:23

BigAudioDynamite but that's not the threat to us currently.

BigAudioDynamite · 22/02/2013 15:25

No, its not. It is just a bit of context

99.99999999% of Muslims are no threat to 'us' either btw

BigAudioDynamite · 22/02/2013 15:26

And very good points by begonia....its very much double standards

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