Guess who's in the Madrid airport...ME. this sucks

[bstuff1979]

I really would like to kick the crap out of whatever seperatist millitant Islamic group did this. It's going to mess with my head for years to come. I watched the entire thing go down right before my eyes, less than 1/4mile away outside of the terminal window this morning. Here's pics and a small movie at this link:
http://homepage.mac.com/wbennettberry/PhotoAlbum4.html

[sanantoniosooner]

wow dude.

Can you do a plaid background on those pics? ;)

Stay safe man.

[Jerk]

At least YOU have some excitement.

When will spring get here? We need a tornado or something.

[LoyalFan]

Yeah, another case of appeasement failing the appeasers.
The cowardly Spanish pull their troops out of the war on terrorism after the train bombing..."Pleeeeeeze, Meester Eeslameec Fundamentaleest Terroreest. Don' joo hurt us no mas! PLEEEEEEZE?"
Yeah, lotta good that did.
Don't the estoopeed eedeeots realize that the raghead bastadges don't just want Spain outta the war...THEY WANT SPAIN!
Those peeps haven't been anything more than a third-rate sham since we kicked their A55es in that splendid little affair involving Admiral Dewey, Admiral Sampson, and one REAL man named Teddy (that RoughRider guy.)
They'd best wake up and institute the most vicious and Draconian measures they can muster before it's toooooooooo late.
Wussies!

LF
Hardcore Dude

[bstuff1979]

At least YOU have some excitement.

When will spring get here? We need a tornado or something.

From what I've seen from news (via a slow internet feed in the terminal) they haven't quite captured the pure terror that this thing threw on anyone close to the airport. Nobody knew what was going on and we were very much expecting second blasts, al-quiada folks dressed as security herding outside only to blow us all up and so on. To be fair, while it didn't kill hundreds it did give us the impression that it did/would at the time and it was a MASSIVE blast. My little bro just got out of West Point and is an expert on explosives and structural engineering. He's certain that it was one truck with around 100lbs of explosives. The Madrid airport officials (and I can't be too hard on them, it was a terrorist attack and all) didn't know or tell us jack crap of what was going on. This is how bad it was, MY MOTHER BROKE THE STORY TO THE WESTERN PRESS. Way to be on the ball, Spain. http://www.newsok.com, it's under "oklahoman wittnesses madrid blast". We just finished watching what looked like half the airport blow up and they were doing things like closing the duty free store and telling me that I probably wouldn't get internet access. So, to sum it up, I would give out a blank check right now to be sitting on my couch in OKC watching Sienfeld re-runs. Sorry for the lengthy rant, but I really need to vent.

[Jerk]

I'm reading it right now, John Berry

[sanantoniosooner]

I'm reading it right now, John Berry
cut/paste?

[Jerk]

An Oklahoman was eyewitness to a bombing this morning at the airport in Madrid, Spain.


An explosion rocked a parking lot at the airport, and The Associated Press reported at least three people were injured.

Lisa Berry of Oklahoma City called The Oklahoman's newsroom about 2:40 a.m. to report the bombing. Word came from Berry even before the incident was reported by the news services or TV networks. Caught in the confusion, Berry was desperate for information, so she called the newsroom from her cell phone.

While she was describing the chaos in the airport, a cable news channel being monitored in the newsroom broke in to report the bombing. Information was relayed to her as it was reported on television.

Berry said although the TV news reports indicated there had been one bomb and it did feel like one blast, she saw two separate large plumes of smoke.

Berry's son, John, who is in the military, said the bomb or bombs were vehicle-borne, possibly Berry's son, John, who is in the military, said the bomb or bombs were vehicle-borne, possibly 100 pounds apiece. He said the incident occurred at 9:12 a.m., Madrid time.

"It rattled the whole building," Lisa Berry said.

She and her son were among those evacuated from the terminal. John Berry reached the area near where the explosion occurred and said people were rushing through security to get away from it.

Lisa Berry described the situation via phone as guards directed her and other passengers first to one secure area, then another. When Berry called back to the newsroom later for an update, she said passengers eventually had been moved to the tarmac.

While on the tarmac, she said via phone that the airport had been swept for explosives and that staff members had been let back inside. However, it appeared a group of people were rushing back out of the terminal building as she spoke.

John Berry said security guards were having a hard time with the situation because they lacked radios to communicate.

The Associated Press reported there was a warning call to authorities in the Basque region before the explosion. Cable TV news networks also reported that the call came about an hour before the blast and appeared linked to Basque separatists.

News that the attack might be linked to a regional conflict came as a relief to Lisa Berry. She initially feared the bombing was the first in a wave of attacks to retaliate for the execution of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

Even if her airline began offering flights later in the day, Berry said, "I'm not sure I want to fly today."

She said she was in the Madrid airport to catch a flight to Pisa after spending Christmas in Seville.

She was eager to let friends in Oklahoma City know she was OK

[sanantoniosooner]

crap. That "basque separatist" thing hits home a little.

Our foreign exchange student was from that region and his dad was somewhat supportive of their cause. I doubt he would condone bombing. But that young student was infatuated with the concept of "revolution".

[soonerboomer93]

good to know you're ok

[Sooner_Bob]

Wow.

[SoonerRedHead]

I really would like to kick the crap out of whatever seperatist millitant Islamic group did this. It's going to mess with my head for years to come. I watched the entire thing go down right before my eyes, less than 1/4mile away outside of the terminal window this morning. Here's pics and a small movie at this link:
http://homepage.mac.com/wbennettberry/PhotoAlbum4.html


Thank the good Lord you are safe! This is c@rp. I read about it from AA. Some of my fellow flight attendants were dragged back into the terminal for safety before they went for their shortlayover hotel. They were outside waiting to get on the bus.

All terrorists need the Sadam necktie.

[MamaMia]

Check in when you get to US soil, so we'll know you got home okay.
Take care.

[olevetonahill]

Gonna add Yall to the " Prayers needed " list
Luck to Yall

[bstuff1979]

runnin' on battery fumes w/ the laptop. the oklahoman has been wonderful with keeping the fam up to date, so let them know it's appreciated. we're about to board our flight out (finally) to Pisa Italy. sched. for 10:05am, taking off at 10:30pm but we're safe. side note, this airport is an architectural masterpiece. inside is beautiful. hope to give updates tommorow morning (euro-time morning, may be 3am Switzer standard time)

[bstuff1979]

and we're in pisa. check newsok.com for stuff, they emailed me and said they're putting things together for sunday and monday. once again, they saved us some major stress while waiting on a very very crowded tarmac with the thoughts of a suicide bomber in the back of our heads.

[Rogue]

Glad to know you're safe bstuff and thanks for the update.

[SicEmBaylor]

crap. That "basque separatist" thing hits home a little.

Our foreign exchange student was from that region and his dad was somewhat supportive of their cause. I doubt he would condone bombing. But that young student was infatuated with the concept of "revolution".

I don't know that every European under the age of 30 is a communist, but every single one of them that come over here for an international studies program seems to be.

My aunt used to have a Norwegian exchange student and she was a committed communist and member of Amnesty to boot. She weighed about 600lbs and would complain about how fat and lazy Americans are.

I had to drive her up to the school one day and she seems someone on a bicycle and says, "oh how surprising it is to see an American riding a bike instead of driving!" I said, "well you're always welcome to get out and walk the rest of the way."

Ugh, I used to go 50 rounds with that fat b****.

[OklahomaTuba]

Wow, glad you made it to Pisa safe and sounds.

[Vaevictis]

FWIW, you guys realize that the ETA -- you know, the guys that appear to be responsible for this -- ain't an Islamic group right?

The ETA is a Basque separatist group -- they want an independent Basque nation in the mountain area on the France/Spain border. The Basque region has its own cultural identity separate from the rest of Spain, and its own language.

Just so you know guys, there are terrorist groups out there that aren't Islamic in nature. It's just that the Islamic groups get all the press because they're the ones that bomb *us*.

[SoonerRedHead]

I would imagine, that anyone posting on this board knows the difference between The Basque Separatists ETA, and Islamic terrorists. To say that Islamic groups get press only because they bomb *us* is disengenuos. They are equal opportunity murderers.

Islamic groups kill each other and people in Israel, Jews around the world, Madrid & London subways, Italian ships, Australia, the Philippines, Indonesia, etc. Where was that big bombing of a night club? Papua?

[bstuff1979]

I would imagine, that anyone posting on this board knows the difference between The Basque Separatists ETA, and Islamic terrorists. To say that Islamic groups get press only because they bomb *us* is disengenuos. They are equal opportunity murderers.

Islamic groups kill each other and people in Israel, Jews around the world, Madrid & London subways, Italian ships, Australia, the Philippines, Indonesia, etc. Where was that big bombing of a night club? Papua?

and that's exatcly why we were so excited to get through to editors at the oklahoman and at msnbc [you'd be shocked how quickly they patch you through from the bottom to the very top of the ladder]. with the iraq stuff going on, the hanging, and so on and so forth...we were just a little worried that it was an islamist group. eta was throwing a temper tantrum that will scar me and the rest of the family for life. any islamist group would have just bypassed the temper tantrum and killed as many people as possible. hearing from them that it was likely eta and not alquiada was a very very good thing. even sitting on a tarmac with thousands for four hours [the ap report that the airport was back up and running full speed within the hour is a complete and total fabrication on the part of the spaniards. total nonsense, it was partially controlled chaos for six to seven hours] it was like a ten ton weight had been lifted.

[Okieflyer]

You know If I were the Spainish, I would kick all of those conservatives out of office and put the liberals in charge!...


...oh wait they already did that.


I think what the world needs right now is a big swift kick in the butt. We should have an attitude of kill them (terrorist) at all costs. That's the only way this kind of stuff will ever end.

Where is John Wayne when you need him!

[Vaevictis]

I would imagine, that anyone posting on this board knows the difference between The Basque Separatists ETA, and Islamic terrorists.

Then you'd be wrong. Anyone who did know the difference wouldn't automatically assume that a bombing in Spain was automatically done by Islamists and go off on a rant about them.


To say that Islamic groups get press only because they bomb *us* is disengenuos.

Actually, it's not. The ETA has been a going concern for nearly 50 years. How often do you see them get play on the airwaves? They're not as active, true, but you also don't see the media hanging over their every word like they do with Al Qaeda leaders.

Hell, before 9/11, how much play did the Islamists get on the airwaves? Again, not nearly as much... only when they bombed someone or hijacked an airplane pretty much. Now, if Bin Laden utters a word, it's on the news.

Al Qaeda and company get more press here because they're targetting us.

[Okieflyer]

Al Qaeda and company get more press here because they're targetting us.

Precisely!

There ARE many terrorist organizations. But the level of fanaticism is no where close to the Muslims.

This is also how they have already won. They have everybody so jumpy that it IS assumed it's islamics.

[SoonerRedHead]

vaevictus, when Madrid trains were bombed who were the first suspects?? Islams? Arabs? Moslems?

Nope that would be Basque Separatist ETA. Who have been around for over 50 years, I think. They used to make headlines all the time but of late have been making treaties. That movement under different names has been around even for longer.

There was another group who used to bomb England all the time, remember? Who blew Lord Montbatten's yacht? Back then did we assume it was Islamic terrorists?? Nope then we knew it was the IRA. Just like the ETA was first assumed to have blown up the Madrid trains.

Because, of what I think is pretty good reason, now our minds first go to Arab terrorists. I'll accept it wasn't this time, and pray the ETA hasn't linked themselves the evilness of the Islamic terrorist.

I think the people on this board can figure out & accept it was another terrorist group this time. However until the Islamic terrorists are annihilated, and any so called peace loving Moslems denounce terrorism, I figure they will be first choice for carrying out terrorist attacks.

[SoonerRedHead]

and that's exatcly why we were so excited to get through to editors at the oklahoman and at msnbc [you'd be shocked how quickly they patch you through from the bottom to the very top of the ladder]. with the iraq stuff going on, the hanging, and so on and so forth...we were just a little worried that it was an islamist group. eta was throwing a temper tantrum that will scar me and the rest of the family for life. any islamist group would have just bypassed the temper tantrum and killed as many people as possible. hearing from them that it was likely eta and not alquiada was a very very good thing. even sitting on a tarmac with thousands for four hours [the ap report that the airport was back up and running full speed within the hour is a complete and total fabrication on the part of the spaniards. total nonsense, it was partially controlled chaos for six to seven hours] it was like a ten ton weight had been lifted.

PTL, that you are safe, and your ordeal is over for now. Will you get be back in the states soon? I can't imagine what you are going through. I have however many many hours sitting on a tarmac. :( :eek: :confused: :(

[sanantoniosooner]

FWIW, you guys realize that the ETA -- you know, the guys that appear to be responsible for this -- ain't an Islamic group right?

The ETA is a Basque separatist group -- they want an independent Basque nation in the mountain area on the France/Spain border. The Basque region has its own cultural identity separate from the rest of Spain, and its own language.

Just so you know guys, there are terrorist groups out there that aren't Islamic in nature. It's just that the Islamic groups get all the press because they're the ones that bomb *us*.
yes. My student was basque.

I enjoys hours upon hours of discussion about the topic.

He was a big fan of Che also.