BREAKING: 3 to 4 blasts in Instabul

One blast at HSBC HQ, one near the British Consulate which is damaged, and another either in a mall or residential area.

The Stock Exchange in Instabul has as a result stopped trading.

Can't find any link yet, just Sky News TV.

On edit: http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1111970,00.html

Now 5 explosions being reported on TV

...knowing we've made the world such a safe place?

BBC link - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3222608.stm.
Ananova - http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_839967.html
Nothing new at the moment...

Yahoo News

ISTANBUL, Turkey - Four explosions rocked downtown Istanbul on Thursday and the city's stock exchange halted trading, TV news channels reported. Information about casualties was not immediately available.

<snip>

Details were sketchy, but the first explosion reportedly severely damaged a building in an affluent neighborhood. People were seen fleeing the scene in panic, reports said


This is not the start of a good day. What other surprises are in store for the world while W prances around with the Queen today?

alot of damage near HSBC HQ.

We felt the building shaking and looked out of the windows, brown colored smoke was coming from the site.. I am very close to the first bomb site and we heard and saw the second as well..

They were HUGE explosions.. I'm so afraid..

Is there anywhere you can go?

(((hugs))) to you and a prayer for your safety.

stay safe hel. How terrible for you, I can't even imagine :(

be safe.

saying a prayer for you

to leave the area if you can. It sounds like it's a really bad situation. Even if you have to walk, I would try to go somewhere that's not so close to the action and a little safer.

Whatever you do stay safe and good luck.

this is bad bad shit :(

thinking the casualty counts are going to be very high. :(

6 buildings collapsed

Do you have a link?

but they keep repeating it on BBC International.

This may be one of the last open societies in the Middle East. Too bad. No longer. Will have to become a vigilant state like Israel.

everyone.. It is terrible out there, body parts are in the streets, TVs show they say..

Oh I feel like crying. Hundreds of people are wounded, I don't want to think how many dead.

stay safe, hel. Check in when you can and let us know you're still okay.

Glad you're okay - keep your head down! Prayers for you.

keep your eyes open, look all around - including up and down. Hope there is a safer sector that you can move to. We are all praying for you and those with you.

Anyone see the quick cutaway CNN just did? They went from live footage of the carnage in Instanbul then the screen suddenly went black briefly, then they cut to coverage of shrub's wreath laying ceremony or some shit in London.

WTF?

OMG, I can't believe this --

the terrorists want the world to see today. Death and destruction live on TV while W is too busy playing the boy king.

these are the kind of pics that W wanted for today.

This is another LIHOP.

Don't bad people EVER do anything in your book? Aren't there ANY terrorists in your imagination or is * behind every bad act in the world?

Amazing.

and the worst of them have taken control of our government. They are very dangerous and evil people who willing do anything and everything to keep their grasp on power. al Qaeda/CIA/Mossad is just one of the tools in their bag of tricks.

LOL, and I suppose they are all part of the Illuminati?

Come on.

al Qaeda/CIA/Mossad

Islam/Christianity/Judaism

They've all been connected from the beginning of human history, they all share the same father and if these three forces would every wake up to that fact then maybe there will be an end to this insanity. I doubt if there will be an reasonable end otherwise.

edit: added text & sp

All things are connected and you and I are both members of al Qaeda, the Masons and the New York Yankees.

Adam and Eve, the snake and the tree...tree = bush!!!!! MIHOP LIHOP can't you connect the dots sheeple???????? And don't get me started on the Moses - burning bush aspect of it all.

happen with such perfect timing for the shrub administration, one can't help but wonder.

One or two well timed "incidents" are a coincidence, a multitude starts to look like carefully orchestrated neo-con handiwork.

I used to work in the news business. If you read the wires on any given day, bad stuff happens everywhere all the time. The problem we have no is the 24-hour news cycle. It requires news footage to feed it. So exciting stories that have cool pictures get better play than ever before.

Does * hide behind some of this? Of course, I sure I would too were I in his shoes.

is motive. There are a lot of bad things that happen, but no obvious gain to anyone. Then there are things that happen that just play soooo perfectly into the neo-con agenda. Also, the timing and having the means to cause these "accidents" tend to sway me away from the random "unfortunate incident."

Some ARE just "bad things" and some are just way too convenient for those in power.

He can turn around and say - "SEE? They hate us for our freedoms! They hate us for our freedoms!" And most everybody'll buy it.

I seriously doubt he and his had any part in this, but they sure as hell aren't above using it to manipulate people and exploit their fears. This is just not good - ANY way you look at it. Starting, of course, with the victims of this!

one right now, or do you disagree with that statement?

I have to admit that I think Bush is evil. I think there is shadow government... I believe he let 9/11 happen.

But I just wanted to give this perspective that gave me some hope.

I was sitting in a lobby of a hotel outside Tyler, TX on business and this older gentleman came in to speak to the cashiers. He was in his cowboy boots and ten gallon hat right in the weird side of the bible belt, Bush loving, part of Texas. He commented about Micheal Jackson saying that they needed to leave the poor guy alone and that the politicians were distracting us from the real news of what was happening in this country.

He didn't come out and say he disliked Bush, but the rest of his statements implied that he saw a need for distrust of the people we currently had in our government.

The lobby clerk said she never watched the news and started talking about her daughter who was a highschool cheerleader. It's interesting to observe the sharp contrasts in people now days.

A few minutes later, (I was watching CNN in the lobby)when the Bush statue got pulled down, he smiled and chuckled a little. When the CNN voice started talking about the visit Bush and Blair made to the unknown soldier's tomb, the gentleman blasted the inference that they were like Churchill and Eisenhower. As CNN covered the terrorist bombings in Turkey he told everyone about how it was like a global vietnam, fighting charlie in the whole middle east.

I don't think the continued terrorist bombings are doing anything good in the way of media coverage. But they are showing the world things have started to spiral out of control. People are taking notice from all walks of life.

My meditation for today was: "Dont get so mired in the conspiracy that you cant see that there is a way out of it. :)"

ummmm...no wait... Bring 'em on?.....errrr Mission Accomplished??? ...pound the podium with a boot...hunt 'em down????

I'm so confused - what's the latest spin on this?

Baghdad Bush - quick to take credit, but ducks responsibility -- or How to make a bad situation worse

When it comes to fighting the war against terror and protecting our homeland, the President is right, his critics are wrong and Americans are safer and the world is freer because of his policies!
- Ed Gillespie

http://www.rnc.org/Newsroom/Speeches/gillespie031023.htm

Not to dismiss the suffering of those direcly involved. And to our DU'er at the scene, my heart goes out to you.

This is going to get Bush off the hook today.

London will be filled with protestors, they will not be shown.

Bush and Blair will use this incident to dismiss the protestors as idiots in the face of such "barbarism"

No attempt will me made to explain why this is happening now. It's happening now because Bush and Blair started a war on "terror" that cannot and will not be won using munition as the key strategy.

Fuck it.

If Bush & the poodle had have concentrated on dismantling Al Queda instead of CREATING more terrorists in Iraq this may never have happened.

If these bombings had never occured, the corporate media would have found another excuse to ignore the real world, and Bush would have found another excuse to bash the terrorists.

It's hard to say exactly how people in general - Americans and more intelligent people in other nations - will respond to these latest terrorist attacks. Will they be frightened into the arms of nationalism, or will they say, "This is what happens when George Bush is asleep at the wheel?!"

If they choose nationalism, then what can we do about it? I'll NEVER stop speaking the truth about that b*stard.

I was in Italy during the period of mourning for their nineteen killed in Iraq, and the state funeral -- there was outpouring of national feeling, and grief, but no visible outrage at the reason their soldiers and police were in Iraq in the first place. Some commentators did say they thought a national discussion of involvement in Iraq would reopen afterward --

English teacher on. Said the area has a few embassies and a large, new shopping mall. Also, the US Embassy has just recently relocated to a safer area. Sounds a lot like an area of town here in HCMC. I can only imagine what it's like there for everyone.

is working so well. Has anyone noticed that terror attacks have increased to the point where they are almost a daily occurrence? Of course most Americans won't care because the attacks aren't happening here.

The administration has actually been using overseas attacks as a talking point for several weeks now. Paraphrasing: "Iraq was justified because now all the terrorists have moved into the M.E. and isn't it better to have them attacking people there than on American soil?"

U.K. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw made a brief statement re. the Istanbul bombings, and took a few questions. His reply to the question concerning a connection between bombings and Bush/Blair visit began with the statement that 9/11 was planned while Bill Clinton was President -- bombings were part of global terror that made war in Iraq necessary, etc. Will try to find text of statement --

It would appear that the terrorists and the governments are on the same side. They are going to thrust all the people in the middle into the blender whilst they slap themselves on the back.

War on Iraq - Terror

Massive cognitive dissonance.

Clinton's penis blew up Istanbul! I know it's true 'cos Rush told me so.

When all else fails, blame Bill. What a bunch of crap.

He is such a little twit. He needs a retirement.

Between the Poodle and this guy it is not hard to see why the Brits are pissed at their government.

Get POODLE boy a flea collar and get rid of this Parasite.

"When President Bush took office in January 2001, the White House was told that Predator drones had recently spotted Osama bin Laden as many as three times and officials were urged to arm the unmanned planes with missiles to kill the al Qaeda leader.

But the administration failed to get drones back into the Afghan skies until after the Sept. 11 attacks later that year, current and former U.S. officials say."
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/world/2020/predator030624.html


Guess that was all Clinton's fault too you Chimpy loving arse!

is he a torrie? this guy is managing to blame clinton for the attacks of september 11th today, why is he doing this when iraq is the main problem and britans involment brought on the attacks.

and they've created a nightmare that may never go away.

gone stark raving mad.

for the safety of all there.

We have GOT to get that lunatic out of the White House!

http://www.thisislondon.com/news/articles/7772871?source=Reuters

Mr Straw was asked if the attack would affect President Bush's visit to London.

He replied: "Of course this will be a major subject of discussion between Prime Minister Blair and President Bush. It will feature at their press conference at 12.15pm.

"We have been alive to potential threats from terrorists for many years in this country and we take every step we can to deal with it."

Mr Straw said he "disagreed profoundly," with the assertion by one reporter that the war in Iraq had done nothing to lessen the threat of attacks.

"What people have got to remember is that September 11 happened in 2001 and not in 2003. It was planned under the Presidency of Bill Clinton, even if it was
executed under the Presidency of George W Bush.

"And there were scores and scores of the most serious terrorist outrages before it was necessary to take military action in Iraq and afterwards."

Is Straw vying for raving looney of the year?

TURKEY ferchrissakes! They're in NATO, and going for full EU membership. This time the British consulate and a US bank. What's next-- Paris?

This is getting serious, and that asshole talks about Clinton?

CNN's got a Turkish TV feed that now says 15 dead and 320 injured. Rest assured that will go up.

UK media saying todays attacks justify the war on Iraq etc etc, and that Bush and his dog has been vindicated. I expect a surge in support of B&B.

I blame both of them for this and other attacks for a number of reasons.

1) Division of resources from a real threat i.e. Osama bin Laden to a percieved threat in Iraq

2) The creation of chaos in Iraq which attracted terrorists to exploit the power vacuum in Iraq

3) The creation of new terrorists in Iraq by trigger happy troops killing indiscriminatley

Sadly, I think we're in the minority who see things that way. We're losing the "war on terror", and the spiral of violence actually aids Bush and PNAC's plans. What a terrible day for peace.

for this terrible bloody news! This first question that comes to my mind is 'why did it happen and lets investigate the roots of why it's happening'. Not just shouting 'terrorist' as drunken belligerent fools like Bush, Hoover Institute - Heritage Inst., PNAC... Whores do.

Jewish targets last time. Has anyone yet figured out who is doing this and why?

with claims of responsibility, but the police are not releasing who they said they were.

As for the synagogue bombings, they have done DNA tests on the suicide bombers remains and identified them as 2 Turkish men who were members of a small Turkish militant group. The media is calling them 'Al Qaeda'.

edited for spelling and accuracy.

I might believe anything these days. Arabs win nothing in bombing a friendly muslim country. But Turkey was reluctant to first dedicate passage for US troops to Iraq and then commit troops to Iraq peace-keeping mission. Could it be that Israelis or Americans are trying to influence Turkey to finally submit to their demands and send troops to Iraq and be generally more obedient than it is right now?
This is my wild guess, but it seems that most terror these days come from some intelligence agencies and not some mythical "terra - ists".

Don't always believe what some government wackos tell you to believe in. And I have to admit, terror has really increased since Bushco gang started to escalate situation in the Middle East.

All terrorism is state sponsored. This seemingly incongruous act of terrorism arrives right on cue for the photo op in London and will be the basis for attempting to move NATO combat forces into Iraq.

What interest could Islamic nations have in bombing another?

Today we will get more ridiculous comparisons of the idiot leader to Churchill. It is so obviously staged.

I imagine a great photo op opportunity from the Shrub. Speaking up like a leader with cojones from Buckingham palace about terrorists and how they should all be handled with the might of few selected countries.
And Blair will be there, smiling as usual and repeating from his parrot cage: "You heard him, you heard him, he is da man!"
The question arises, why in the name of the Queen, Blair wasn't that straight-forward about terrorism when IRA bombed Ulster and Belfast? He could bomb Ireland just like he did Iraq.

the British is odd timing wise, I suspect as others have said, this will work to get the British protestors off B & B's backs.

War by way of deception, these are tricks we used in Vietnam and we know where that got us.

On edit, it does seem odd that the US embassy moved recently. Who knew what, when?

I expect it will sound like this:

Bush: TERRA TERRA TERRA TERRA 9/11 9/11 9/11 FREEDOM FREEDOM

Blair: What Bush said, except with a British accent.

this should be one heck of a press conference for him. His handlers have not had the luxury of taking hours to sober him up and prep on what to say. He'll probably just smirk and make a few inane comments and let Tony do most of the talking.

n/t

No sign of press conference yet.

.

Blair: I express my condolences... some of the victims will be British, many will be Turkish... no holding back, no compromise in attacking this menace... backwards terrorists in Iraq will be destroyed...

Blair: only one response rational... counter hate with tolerance and freedom ... unshakeable unity of purpose...

now talking about other stuff: WTO, AIDS, climate change... wha??

Bush: express deep sympathy for loss of life in Turkey... naure of terrorist evident... they hate freedom... cruelty is part of their strategy... they hope to intimidate, demoralize... unite to defeat evil blah blah blah

... mentioned afghanistan -- how about that...

the "war on terror" is lost, infact it never stood a chance because you can't ever defeat terrorism in a FREE nation. The French in Algeria and the Brits in N.I proved that.

Bush and Blair have made the situation worse, instead of using police and criminal investigation they chose military force on a nation that posed NO TERRORIST THREAT.

Bush and Blair are literally killing us.

how Osama always stages a spectacular event just when W needs one?

They knew this was going to happen. W is too well prepared. This just gave him the perfect backdrop for today. We can't have pics of British protesters on the tellie all day and MJ just wasn't enough of a distraction.

and now the questions:

1. agenda on iraq -- want to bring troops home next year, but there is no security-- how?

chimp: we'll match security needs... relying with commanders on ground... we could have less, same, more numbers...

poodle: we stay until job gets done... yap yap yap

chimp: iraqis being trained... willing to work for their own freedom

bunnypants getting a little snippy: iraq didn't fall apart after invasion, no starvation, not many refugees...

yapper: terrorists prepared to shed blood anywhere, they're BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD BADBADBADBADBAD (paraphrased)
yapper: if we don't win this struggle, everyone will suffer...

QUESTION: treatment of Gitmo belies all your talk of justice and honor... Brits in captivity... will you (poodle) ask for their release?

poopoo: will be resolved soon... justice will be done.

chimpo: Gitmos being treated in humane fashion


blaaaaarhhhhh

OK nothing more about Turkey... i'm going to check out now

Ah yes, suppress and control the poor and the mass in the name of democracy so the rich can enjoy freedom.

German Spiegel online reports that HSCB seems to be a "wrong" target for islamic fundamentalist bombing, since the bank is even promoting banking programs in accordance to islamic shariah.

A link to the bank's islamic finance program: http://www.amanahfinance.hsbc.com/amanah/hsbcaf.nsf/Pages/GroupStrength

I suppose they knew the last 2 car bombs would kill a majority of muslim instead of jew.

Because HSBC is a bank that does a lot of business in the Muslim world. It contributes a lot to economies, which in turn prop up governments. When you remember that Al Qaeda intends to overthrow most every government in the world, but especially secular states in the Middle East, you see that intimidating investors is the way to go. If this means that Western corporations will be less willing to do business in the region, then the economy will suffer. And if the economy suffers, then the government will be weaker, and fundamentalist forces will be comparitively stronger. And Qaeda objectives will be reached. Look at the targets: the center of the financial district, a foreign consulate at the center of the tourist district, and a major shopping center. These were well designed to cripple Turkey economically.

Spiegel online quotes a journalist/witness who is at the scene. He says that due to massive devastation of buildings the number of victims may be much more than the 25 already counted.

http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,274862,00.html (German only)

What's next? Hope they don't target tourism resorts, my parents spend their holidays close to Antalya ...

sounds like the chimp is trying to convince turkey to join in.


"But I also made it clear to (Vladimir Putin) that it's important to think beyond the old days of when we had the concept that if we blew each other up, the world would be safe." -George W. Bush, May 1, 2001

What a WEAK "president"

The US just turned down a Turkish offer of help after they realized it would cause chaos in Iraq.

If you were desperately searching for a conspiracy theory to subscribe to, maybe you could have had a case if this had happened just as the Turkish parliament was debating helping us, on the eve of the Iraq invasion. But no such attacks ocurred.

and now Turkey is realizing you don't say no to AWOL's Mafia of Death.

http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/ad/Uturkey-iraq.RsZC_DN7.html

"Turkey: No troops will be sent to Iraq
Friday, 07-Nov-2003 1:13PM Story from United Press International
Copyright 2003 by United Press International (via ClariNet)

ANKARA, Turkey, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- The Turkish government officially announced Friday it has decided not to send any peacekeeping troops to Iraq, as the United States had requested.

The BBC said the decision came in the wake of fierce public opposition in Turkey, as well as opposition from the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council.

The Turkish parliament last month approved a deployment plan after the United States, a fellow NATO member, requested more foreign troops.

The Turkish foreign ministry said Turkey would still play a key role in Iraq's post-war reconstruction,.

The BBC said Turkish troop deployment was firmly opposed by the Iraqi Governing Council on the grounds that Turkey, as a neighboring country, could not be trusted."

http://www.intelmessages.org/Messages/National_Security/wwwboard/messages_03/5900.html

"Posted by (64.91.156.34) on Monday, October 20th, 2003 at 18:18:32 GMT

From the UPI article linked to below:

Kurds applaud Turkey‘s no to Iraq troops

ANKARA, Turkey, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- Iraqi Kurds Monday welcomed Turkey‘s decision not to dispatch troops to Iraq as long as such a move was opposed by the Iraqi people.

The representatives of Iraq‘s two main Kurdish parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Massud Barzani and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan of Jalal Talabani in Ankara applauded the Turkish decision as a wise move.

PUK official Bahrouz Kakali told UPI Ankara‘s hesitation to dispatch troops to Iraq "was encouraging and indicated a Turkish acknowledgement of Iraqi fears, especially among Kurds."

He said the deployment of Turkish troops was opposed by all factions of the Iraqi people, and not only the Kurdish community.

KDP official Safin Dazeh said "the Turkish decision will pave the ground for better friendship and cooperation between the two neighboring countries."

Turkish Prime Minister Tayeb Erdogan declared Saturday his government has given up on the idea of dispatching troops to Iraq as long as they were not welcome in the Arab country."

Not Enough Mobuto? Want More?

http://www.agonist.org/archives/010393.html

"October 29, 2003

Turkey To US: No Troops

Turkey gives up on Iraq deployment

Turkey's President Ahmad Necdet Sezer considers the controversial issue of deploying Turkish troops in neighbouring Iraq as "closed.""

http://www.startribune.com/stories/1762/4199291.html

"Turks reverse course: No troops to Iraq
Associated Press

Published November 7, 2003
TURK08
ANKARA, Turkey -- Turkey and the United States scrapped plans to send Turkish troops to Iraq, a setback for U.S. policy after Washington failed to break resistance to the deployment from Iraq's governing council.

Friday's announcement deprived the United States of a much-needed foreign force to contain an increasingly violent insurgency in Iraq. The Bush administration has been pressing Turkey for months to send what would be the first major Muslim contingent of peacekeepers."

http://www.28news.com/stories/2003/11/031105callups.shtml

"More U.S. call-ups likely as Turks indicate no troops for Iraq
an Associated Press report 11/05/03

WASHINGTON - Turkey's reluctance to send troops to Iraq without clear support from U.S.-installed Iraqi leaders could deal a major blow to U.S. efforts to attract other countries' help against an increasingly deadly resistance.

Tuesday's statements by Turkey's ambassador explaining the decision to stay out made clear that Pentagon officials, lacking any fresh infusion of allied troops, will have to send thousands more U.S. reservists to Iraq early next year.

Bush administration officials had hoped a U.N. Security Council resolution approved last month would persuade reluctant allies to send more forces to help in Iraq. No additional countries have contributed forces since. "

The US pressured the Turks into agreeing to send peacekeepers. Then we talked to the Iraqis about it. They went apeshit. So the US changed its mind and said thank you but no thank you, your help is more trouble than its worth. So the Turks had to rescind the offer, much to their embarrasment.

Nobody at this point takes Turkish involvement seriously.

Don't be stupid.

want it.. they didn't want it, so Turkey said "NO". The U.S. didn't turn Turkey down.. Turkey turned the US down. nice try.

Now the Turks are paying for saying "no" to the dumbass chimp.

what a WEAK "president"!

before the invasion when they wouldn't let the US launch forces for the northern front from their soil or to send equipment and supplies through their country. Then we had to scramble around and get another carrier into the region in order to make up the difference. I bet Bu$hCo has been waiting to get their revenge ever since.

Today's attack puts the Turks in their place, sends a strong message to Tony or any other Brit who might have been having any doubts about where they stand on this thing and buries the stories about today's massive protest in London below the fold line, if not off the front page entirely in a lot of places. Osama always saves the day just when W is the deepest do-do it seems. Only this time, people are starting to realize who is really behind these terrorist attacks and who always benefits the most.

I hate not to be civil, but your theory is monumentally stupid.

If the Administration wanted to punish Turkey, they could destroy it overnight by pushing for stricter IMF loan policies or by refusing to help prop up the lira. The economy would be ruined instantly.

But no, the Bush Administration doesn't want to do that. Instead they get the CIA, a branch of the government notoriously hostile to their aims, to go blow up a bunch of Brits. Does that make any sense to you?

This is just yet another unfortunate case of conspiracy theories being generated faster than brainwaves.

Two British buildings (a bank hq and a consulate) got bombed, in a country that's right next to Iraq.

It might be a locally-organized 'solidarity bombing', or perhaps it was some of the jihadi's who've been vacationing in the region taking a short side trip to Istanbul.

I've been expecting Turkey to blame it on the Kurds, actually.

First I want to say my heart and thoughts are with the victims and their families. I can't begin to imagine the hell they're going through.

I was just over at dailykos.com and he was discussing the ridiculous "flypaper theory"...the one where sick neocons argue that the violence in Iraq is a good thing because all the evil doers are going to Iraq instead of America or elsewhere. Well, events like what just happened in Instanbul directly contridicts that theory. And yet they still use the terrorist events that happen elsewhere as a reason to continue sending our young to Iraq. I'm starting to wonder if the neocons even have a clear goal anymore...or if they ever really did.

for Turkey. Turkey did not agree to go to war, so they brought the war to us.

"Thanks to Tony the poodle, the people of Britain are now also prime targets for terrorist reprisals in response to the new Crusades started by Bush and Blair. The most interesting aspect of the Turkish attack, and the real indication that the gloves are off, is the fact that one of the targets was the Turkish headquarters of the HSBC bank. HSBC is based in London, and is the world's second largest bank. It won't take many more attacks like this to make it the world's smallest. You can bet that somebody in the British Powers That Be has already made it abundantly clear to Blair that he can risk the lives of as many British subjects as he likes with his pitiful humping of Bush's leg, but he absolutely cannot start to risk British capital."

http://xymphora.blogspot.com/2003_11_01_xymphora_archive.html#106940304771236991