Al Qaeda 'Planning Euro 2008 Attack'

Al Qaeda 'Planning Euro 2008 Attack'

news.sky.com

Al Qaeda is planning to attack the Euro 2008 football championships in Switzerland and Austria in June, Swiss police say.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Not much info, but enough to incite fear in some people I suppose.

What makes me wonder is this phrase...

He said messages had been posted on Islamist websites

Where are these websites that they are monitoring, and why would extremists actually POST their intensions? Doesn't advertising your plans sort of defeat the purpose.

The way I read the news now is any scheduled large events/venues = Terrorists Attacks.

It seems a bit lame that they would even report such a story with no other information than what is provided.

Perfect example of fear mongering... or xcould the threat be real?

news.sky.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

If you were a terrorist looking for a target this year, what would it be?

Olympics? Maybe, but that's a tough state to operate in.

Euro 2008? Yes please.

Its so obvious that I'd be surprised if this wasn't true.

This can't be true. We all know that there's no such thing as Al Qaeda, its just an invention of the US government. And even if there were, they're definitely not terrorists. They're all just peace-loving freedom fighters, afterall. This is all hypothetical, of course, since there is no such thing. But even still, this is just another case of those damn warmongering, fearmongering Swiss oppressing poor, imaginary, peace-loving non-terrorists around the world.

(ducks incoming objects...)

Seriously and all sarcasm aside, it wouldn't surprise me, just as it wouldn't for any major event worldwide. Hopefully there's nothing to it or, at the very least, the security forces in those countries can get a handle on it before anything happens.

If Al Qaeda was only used as a tool to spread fear, then doing it around a football tournament isn't really going to work now, is it? There will be ALWAYS be more fans than tickets at the venue; just look at last night's UEFA cup game and every other major game/tournament in recent years.

If the "terrorists" think the swiss are an easy target, they'd better think again.

Excellent security, good police force - just getting in would be tricky, unless they want to try walking over the alps.

Perhaps the ters are thinking about it - but it would be a lot harder to pull off than the london or madrid bombings.

Ah, the Phantom Menace strikes again!

Fear-mongering and war-time propaganda at it's best folks.

Give the people some nameless, faceless threat who appears everywhere and anywhere, usually coinciding with a lack of public support on the War on Terror or low opinion polls to get the general masses to conform as the powers to be want them to.

Just like those mysterious Osama Tapes always coming out days before Elections and Congressional Hearings and such. I assume Bin Laden and Al-Zahari must get excellent FOX reception in the mountains of Afghanistan, to keep up with American political events so swiftly.

The fact they don't even name a specific source or website for this particular threat should be alluding for everyone to that is a complete farce.

Just another reminder to everyone:
"Hey don't forget, these are dangerous times. Remember to surrender your liberties to us and proudly wear your blindfold so we can protect you from the horrors of the outside world that threaten our poor, oppressed Western civilizations."

[edit on 15/5/08 by The Godfather of Conspira]

Originally posted by budski
If the "terrorists" think the swiss are an easy target, they'd better think again.

Excellent security, good police force - just getting in would be tricky, unless they want to try walking over the alps.

Perhaps the ters are thinking about it - but it would be a lot harder to pull off than the london or madrid bombings.

Ahh but don't forgot that the tourney is split between Switzerland and Austria, so maybe the latter might be their top target of choice. Even then I doubt they would aim for an attack inside one of the stadiums; bringing in what they need would be tough. Perhaps attack(s) on all the people that will be in the cities watching on the big screens?

Originally posted by The Godfather of Conspira
Ah, the Phantom Menace strikes again!

Fear-mongering and war-time propaganda at it's best folks.

Who is this going to scare exactly? The fans won't care, and if any of them do, someone else will step in and buy the tickets instead. The two countries will be packed with people even if they never get to step foot in one of the grounds to see a game, they're still go!

Are you scared? Is there anyone you know that has changed the way they live their lives because of things like this? I certainly don't know of anyone that has stopped living their lives in any way, shape or form through terrorism.

reply to post by budski


Damn right. The Swiss police aren't to be messed with, additionally the Swiss will use their military to help with security as well. There is a reason why I NEVER had to worry walking by myself late at night whilst I lived in Switzerland even in the "bad " parts of town.

The Swiss police have had their share of controversy for their heavy handidness. This is just a way for them to cover their butts at what will be a very strong and strict regime of security at this much touted event.

Originally posted by Grailkeeper
Perfect example of fear mongering... or xcould the threat be real?

Considering that you are dealing with radical Muslim terrorists OF COURSE it could be real. However, I find the target - Switzerland - to be strange.

Not sure about the cost of 'Security' througout the world, but they seem to be applying some resourses for it.

The federal government's security budget for the tournament is said to top £18m.

Seems like a fair chunk of change.

Might the 'threats' be to help ease the cost of the overall security for the games?
You know... makes the pill a little easier to swallow if you have a good reason for it.

[edit on 15-5-2008 by Grailkeeper]

reply to post by FlyersFan


It's thebiggest european sporting event of the year, and one of the biggest in the world.
Here's some info.

I have no doubt that some extremists would want to attack it - have a look at the list of participating nations.

However, I also think that this is one of the smokescreens that are regularly used to try and keep the populace perpetually scared so that the various administrations can do what they want in the name of "security"

My father in law is from Switzerland (born and raised there). We went on our honeymoon to Switzerland. Nice place. I just never thought of it as a terrorist attack target.

France? Yes.
Germany? Yes.
England? Yes.

But Switzerland? I just never think of it like that. The country is very unassuming. They launder money through their banks for terrorists (like Arafat) so between that and the fact that they dont' get involved ... I figured they were low on the target list.

My bad .. I guess.

reply to post by FlyersFan


I was just going to post that.

Why Switzerland? What would they accomplish? It seems directly to the contrary of everything al Qaeda has stated.

Switzerland isn't occupying any Muslim territories or helping their enemies. It's probably one of the most neutral countries.

What's the point?

reply to post by Grailkeeper

Originally posted by Grailkeeper

What makes me wonder is this phrase...

He said messages had been posted on Islamist websites

Where are these websites that they are monitoring, and why would extremists actually POST their intensions? Doesn't advertising your plans sort of defeat the purpose.

Many of them are temporary, and many, if not all, of them are in Arabic. Some are hidden inside seemingly innocent websites.

I occasionally read some of them that are translatable. I swear, it's the same as reading some posts here on ATS.

reply to post by Sublime620

They are co-hosts of the tourney, along with austria - the "terrorists" are probably targetting the competing nations rather than the hosts

* Group A
* Czech Republic
* Portugal
* Switzerland
* Turkey



* Group B
* Austria
* Croatia
* Germany
* Poland



* Group C
* France
* Italy
* Netherlands
* Romania



* Group D
* Greece
* Russia
* Spain
* Sweden

It may also be worth remembering turkeys involvement in iraq etc - they are also one of the tourneys competitors.

Wasn't there something in the news a while ago about 'AQ' having a problem with the Swiss?

Not sure of what it was, probably even a thread on it.

That aside, I don't think they are targeting the Swiss so much as all that are involved.

Perfect Recipe for Terrorism... Lots of people in one place - and lots of media coverage (to tell you what they were told to tell you.:lol

Originally posted by Sublime620
What's the point?

To show that no where is safe.

You bomb England, Germany or France and it's terrible. But not surprising. Launch an attack in a country which has never done you any harm and it gets all the more real for people.

That is, of course, if the threat is real anyway. Large inconsistent attacks aren't as scary as small but regular ones in my opinion. It's the reason I don't believe this terrorism business.

If they hated us so much, why not attack us all the time?

reply to post by budski


Right, right. I guess that does make some sense. It's still a little backwards considering they claim they don't attack "innocents" and I'm sure plenty of "non-offending" countries would be there.

Wouldn't be the first time, though.

Originally posted by Sublime620
It's still a little backwards considering they claim they don't attack "innocents" ...

Terrorists always attack innocents. If all they did was attack military targets then they wouldn't be 'terrorists' .. they'd be called something else ... something with a more miltiary sounding name ... I dunno' .... paramilitants or some such thing.

edited to add - that didn't sound right. I didn't mean that all they did was attack civilians ... but what I mean is that at SOME POINT they end up attacking civilians and non-military targets. Not all the time .. but eventually.







[edit on 5/15/2008 by FlyersFan]