The Null Device

The Brigades of Death

A picture is emerging of the Madrid bombers (most of whom are believed to have killed themselves with a bomb when besieged); and it appears that they gave no clue to being Islamic fundamentalists:
Neighbours who lived near Fakhet, and many of the other suspects, had little reason to think that they were militants with a fundamentalist agenda. Many of them appeared westernised and integrated into the Spanish community, with a liking for football, fashion, drinking and Spanish girlfriends, say Spanish press reports.
Ahmidan is also said to have seemed happily integrated in Spanish society, whose Spanish friends are said to have included women who sported crop tops, tattoos and piercings.

Which is a sobering thought; the "brigades of death" could be among us, not merely keeping quietly to themselves whilst catching your bus or working in your office, but popping Es at your favourite nightclub, barracking for your footy team, and discussing the finer points of your favourite reality-TV show with you over a beer; right up until the end when they cast off the façade of their normal life and kill you and your loved ones.

Either that or the right-wing talk radio jocks are right and people with tattoos, piercings and countercultural leanings are in league with the terrorists.

There are 2 comments on "The Brigades of Death":

Posted by: Al Bizarro http://bizarro.typepad.com Tue Apr 6 00:37:24 2004

I don't know about the people with tattos, piercings and countercultural leanings, but those right-wing shock jocks are undoubtably in league with satan.

Posted by: tony http://www.tamesapien.com/weblog/ Tue Apr 6 13:11:24 2004

It's all about trust isn't it? For instance, in my line of work I visit 58 different Melbourne CBD buildings per fortnight. I know about security procedures in each building (but mostly about the lack of security in most high-rise buildings), camera positions (because I'm a smoker and don't want to get busted smoking cigarettes in underground carparks). My white van and I know enough to cause major havoc in Melbourne, but I would never even *dream* of hurting another human being. You can trust me on that.

As far as I'm concerned, true terrorism breaks down "trust" in a community. And it's not just mad bastards with guns or bombs that destroy the complex system of 'trust' that drives our everyday lives.