Shooting at German airport

"It appears the gunman was on the bus when he began shooting. German police have arrested a 21-year-old suspect from Kosovo.

Kosovo Interior Minister Bajram Rexhepi said the German police have identified the suspect as Arif Uka, a Kosovo citizen from the northern town of Mitrovica, according to the Associated Press.

"This is a devastating and a tragic event," Rexhepi said. "We are trying to find out was this something that was organized or what was the nature of the attack.""

Source.

I don't think this case will end up making sense to be honest, Barkey. It just may have been a random shooting. Sorry about your loss.

The thing about making witty signature lines is that it first needs to actually be witty.

The nature of the killings may be less benign, but it's still a tragic loss none the less.

But servicemen being killed in this manner is not rare. In fact, it happens pretty often to local soldiers and law enforcers in Iraq, Afghanistan, and more recently Pakistan in arguably more brutal ways. Of course those guys aren't Westerners or Americans, so Western media predictably sweep those news under the rug.

edited 2nd Mar '11 11:18:46 AM by MalagasyParrot

But, Afghanistan or Iraq are not part of the western world and that makes a big difference. And, you know, the US isn't fighting a war there.

edited 2nd Mar '11 11:19:00 AM by myrdschaem

That's the point. Some non-Western countries may go to hell in a handbasket, but if it's news that doesn't matter to your average Western audience, it's not worth talking about.

Problem is, I'm a non-Westerner, and these Western-bias news sources are exported to my country. Some balanced coverage would be more relevant to me, and I'm not settling for my local government-control, propaganda-laced media either.

edited 2nd Mar '11 11:26:01 AM by MalagasyParrot

I pretty sure I get reports of killed US soldiers in the conflicts even if I don't live in the US.
The difference is that in Afghanistan/Iraq/Country which has a significant part of a population that feels utterly wronged by the current American foreign policy given the political situation it's not a surprise. This does not include Germany in the moment last time I checked.

Yeah, of the list of countries I'd expect to be pissed at US servicemen, Germany ain't exactly up there.

Question: Are US Soldiers allowed to carry firearms in certain airports like this one? And under what circumstances?

The thing about making witty signature lines is that it first needs to actually be witty.

@Malagasy Parrot: It's not just a Western-centric bias - this is getting focus because of the unlikeliness of it. Germany is a wealthy, stable country with strict gun-control laws, not the sort of place you'd expect to regularly host random killings of foreign servicemen in their airports. News stories don't just focus on what is local and what is spectacular, but also on what is weird. Rarity has a value all of its own.

Also, my condolences, Barkey.

What's precedent ever done for us?

According to the Dutch newssite NOS, the killer was indeed a 21-year-old male from Kosovo, and is said to have had a fight with one or more military figures in front of the bus. Minutes later, he entered the bus himself and opened fire.

Seems to me like some sort of rage-kill, rather then an organized terrorist attack. Did the USA did anything to the people of Kosovo in recent history?

Well, all other things I can say on this is that I find it a huge waste of human life, and I hope that the killer will be awarded with a long stay at the German state hotel.

Did the USA did anything to the people of Kosovo in recent history?

This, for a start. Technically, NATO were on their side, but bombing campaigns are known for being less than discriminate.

What's precedent ever done for us?

^

Yeah, we spearheaded the UN Peacekeeping efforts in Bosnia/Kosovo/Czechoslovakia some years back. Most troops who were there for that have been in the military around 13-14 years.

We're allowed to carry firearms on any NATO/UN controlled airport for the efforts of protecting our planes. In practice, troops who are deploying have their weapons, but no ammunition. This is because the weapons are assigned to them and come from their home station, and are expected to come right on back when they finish the deployment, not for the purpose of defending themselves.

Germany has a rather strong left extremist movement. They don't really like ANY military, we were warned (during my time in the German military) that wearing an uniform during our trip home might be dangerous - though it depends on the area (Bavaria is rather "right wing" - so they said we should be fine). That you are from the USA just doubles the hate. They largely overlap with the group actively protesting against Neonazis - take that as you will. I never heard of an incident were a member of such a group used a firearm though.

According to the German media an uncle of the shooter said that he was a believing muslim. I don't think that this has anything to do with the intervention in Kosovo or the German left extremists.

Pour y voir clair, il suffit souvent de changer la direction de son regard www.xkcd.com/386/

Hey Barkey,

I'm really, really sorry to hear about that, man. I've been travelling yesterday, so that's my first opportunity to say something - sorry 'bout the delay. Shit like that is not supposed to happen here. Or anywhere else, for that matter.

Right now, it seems that the shooter was an islamistic extremist. Connections to organized groups are suspected, but not proven yet. According to the police sources, his gun jammed, so he fled the scene but was arrested shortly afterwards.

About the angry Germans - yeah, we got some of these, but there's actually not that many of them, they're just loud and highly visible, like all idiots everywhere in the world. Personally, I'll be damned if I ever let an US soldier be attacked on my country's soil while I'm around.

Again, I'm sorry, man. We got the fucker, and we'll find his friends, if he has any, but I know that's not a real comfort. If I hear anything new, I'll let you know.

Sincerely yours, Matthias

Update: The following pretty much sums up everything known for now:

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,748769,00.html

edited 3rd Mar '11 1:03:47 PM by kurushio

Leave out the spaces or it doesn't work.

edited 3rd Mar '11 12:04:45 PM by myrdschaem

The parser always adds spaces after commas, links or not. Just backspace them in the address bar.

Damn, man that's... You know I don't really know what to say except for fuck that shooter with a burning magnesium stick and may his misbegotten ass rot in the bad part of Hela's Hall.

Wait, how would his corpse rot in Helheim? Isn't everything supposed to be frozen there?

A link to another news article about the attack: here.

"It also quoted neighbours as saying they were shocked and that they never suspected he was an extremist. He did not have a beard or wear traditional clothing, one neighbour told Spiegel."

So apparently all it takes to not be suspected as an extremist is to not fit the stereotypical appearance of an extremist? Head Desk

Rejection of orthodox/very hard traditional clothing rituals etc. is normally seen as a semi-acceptance of western culture (in Germany). The neighbours might still be morons though.
Some German newssources report that he just started having contacts to radicals.

This is bad. Really, really bad. Not only due to the dead soldiers (my condolence) but because the background of the killer. According to the police, the shooter was an extremist who after watching a video which showed supposedly some American soldiers who raped a girl to death in Afghanistan, decided to kill as many American soldiers as possible. The problem is, apparently there were not warn signals, he was not a member of a secret terror group which could have raised suspicion, like the 2007 bomb plot in Germany. This sort of culprit are extremely dangerous because they are very difficult to detect.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_bomb_plot_in_Germany

edited 3rd Mar '11 3:24:52 PM by Zarastro

Lady Momus: I meant rot as in languish in misery, not as in decay.

Hmph, I've never heard of any videos like that getting spread around.

Since we can disclose names now, RIP Sr A Nick "Al" Alden. You were just about to put Staff on too..

edited 4th Mar '11 1:14:08 AM by Barkey

R.I.P.

The (female) neighbour in question is a muslim herself, it's part of a longer statement that she didn't percieve him as overly religious. And yeah, it is actually easier not to be suspected by blending in.

@Barkey: I can't (and am not overly eager to do so) find a link to it, but the video in question is part of the Iranian propaganda toolbox, it got published by an Iranian newspapers' website in mid-january. It's a fake, as far as it is known.

Wow, so I guess you could sort of say that Iran is responsible for driving this man to extremism and killing my friend.

Can we just get it over with and glass them now? How about now? Please?!

(Honestly that problem will probably take care of itself within the decade, but it'd be some selfish satisfaction.)

edited 4th Mar '11 3:37:24 AM by Barkey