Explosion rips through US embassy (Athens)

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,21048495-5001028,00.html

An explosion ripped through the US embassy compound in central Athens today, a police source said.

It was not clear what caused the blast inside the building and there was no immediate word on casualties.

Police cordoned off all roads around the embassy.

Police officials at the scene said that whatever caused the explosion damaged the embassy sign outside the mission but there was little other indication of the extent of damage inside.

I bet it was an accident. Nothing ever happens in Greece. They are quite people.

Or maybe my sarcasm detector isn't warmed-up yet.

Tesha

I think the Greek word for "election" translates in "big fight". Ok, I was being faceteous. But it's loud and noisy. Once for a Socialist rally in Crete, the fascists hired an entire village to start fights.

And never read the history of our complicity in some really horrible political intrigue... See Georgios Papadopoulos at wikipedia:

"In 1946, he received the rank of Captain and, in 1949, during the Greek Civil War, he rose to the rank of Major. (See also: Greek military ranks). He served at the KYP Intelligence Service from 1959 to 1964, after receiving training from the CIA in 1953...

"...Today, Papadopoulos is a symbol of authoritarianism for many Greeks, some of whom characterize him as one of the most despised persons in recent Greek history."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Papadopoulos

It is more important for us to chase our fantasy of spreading democracy :sarcasm:


I hope everybody is ok!!!

Any casualties?

This is called payback.

Reap, Sow, that whole thing.

It has begun indeed.

Impeach, Indict, Incarcerate, 25th Amendment, any means necessary.

This has to end now.

Albania, Bulgaria, Turkey.

the BBC made it sound as if it was a very minor incident.

And said "This is believed to possibly be a terrorist attack..." shit shit and more pointless conservative waste.

question is why? Is it in retaliation for The Speech or the Iran consulate in Iraq or what?

Get ready for more of this thanks to G-Fucks diplomatic efforts.

...which means, obviously, that it was inside the building.

That's bad.

Its War
and so chaos comes to the World

Noone will be untouched

It could be a simple electrical or gas problem for all we know at this point.

I'm not sure where he would have visited; but I'm glad he's not there...

Shame he missed out on Athens.
(Can't get scared off visiting the world - although it is harder to be an American abroad thanks to BushCo. Still - there is always the opportunity to spread good will by apologizing for the BEE and establishing a personal counterpoint to evil and terror. )

and I certainly want to encourage him to travel. I'm just glad he wasn't there at the time. He had planned to be there this week...

It's not likely that there would be many people around in the pre-dawn, so fingers crossed on no casualties.

And it's more likely to turn out to be an electrical or gas related explosion, as opposed to a bomb or anything nefarious, so that bodes well for few if any casualties in conjunction with the pre-dawn time of the incident, too.

If no one is hurt, it's a miracle. But don't forget that Europe is where al Qaeda has its more dangerous affiliates.

There are MSGs, communications officers, security officers and consular officers who are working shifts at the embassy.

God, please let them be safe.

A gas explosion makes more sense. Hopefully that's the case.

I pray no one was seriously hurt

-osx

Just imagine, Bush the uniter would be able to say he brought history's oldest enemies together.

so keep checking it once and a while for more info.

My gawd.

Most likely either a remnant of the 17N or ELS groups or some al-Qaeda cell. This isn't a very al-Qaedish way to do an attack though.

They prefer to go big, real big, and with civilian casualties. They do things that won't be forgotten within a week.

This won't stop Chimpy & Faux News from pinning it on them anyway.

But, I don't know much about them, so I shall defer to those who do. :hi:

They've done actions in other countries, but if they did decide to attack a US embassy, they would definitely pick one closer to home.

I heard that Iran has 50,000 suicide bombers ready to "strike." And, Bush is inspiring them it would appear? I mistook that to mean Hezbollah, perhaps this is something entirely different?

And that claim (which I'm sure is exaggerated by them, but whatever), pretty much proves this wasn't them, since this wasn't a suicide attack.

I heard this on Matthews, and wondered what they were discussing as I came in late. Here's a bit of info:

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2006/04/16/590/23819

using something like a RPG fired from ground level into an upper level.

The embassy in Athens was the target of a rocket-propelled grenade attack on February 15, 1996. That attack caused minor damage.
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/90046/Breaking_Blast_rips_through_U_S_embassy_in_Athens


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6254399.stm
Police said a small rocket-propelled grenade or similar device was fired into the front of the embassy. (now)

ATHENS, Greece (AP)_Greece officials say there are indications that blast at U.S. Embassy in Athens was caused by a rocket.

My only surprise is that they didn't take the whole thing down.

I think I know how anti-Nazi Germans might have felt seeing the advance of Soviet troops. The guys coming at you are bad guys. You love your home and your family and you fear for their safety. But at the same time you know full well your nation instigated the war and has no moral grounds to stand on.

http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/070112060438.v8rd5kg1.html

One witness said the blast hit in the courtyard near the embassy's front entrance.

"The explosion sounded in the courtyard, then a fire broke out over the central entrance, where the emblem is situated," a Greek motorist told private Skai radio.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6254399.stm

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=newsOne&storyID=2007-01-12T061747Z_01_L12389479_RTRUKOC_0_US-GREECE-EXPLOSION.xml&WTmodLoc=Home-C1-TopStories-newsOne-2

Let's be grateful. A launched rocket attack would probably have been improvised--perhaps a reaction to the Iranian consular office seizure yesterday, if not the surge...

Hmm, who we going to pin this one on. Begins with an I, ends with an N, no wait, begins with an S, end with an A.

Christ on a stick! When will these sick fucks ever stop?

:crazy:

Giving the Greek RW an excuse to take away some freedoms for which the terrorists hate the Greek.

The RW/corporatists and CIA elements have quite a history in Greece.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Gladio

Greece

The aim of British Prime minister Winston Churchill was to prevent the communist-led EAM resistance movement from taking power after the end of World War II. After the suppression of a pro-EAM uprising in April 1944 among the Greek forces in Egypt, a new and firmly reliable unit was formed, the III Greek Mountain Brigade, which excluded "almost all men with views ranging from moderately conservative to left wing"<26> After liberation in October 1944, EAM controlled most of the country. When it organized a demonstration in Athens on December 3, 1944 against British interference, members of rightist and pro-royalist paramilitary organizations, as well as "British troops and police with machine guns... posited on the rooftops", suddenly shot on the crowd, killing 25 protesters (including a six-year-old boy) and wounding 148.<27> This marked the outbreak of the Dekemvriana, and subsequently led to the Greek Civil War.

When Greece joined NATO in 1952, the country's special forces, the LOK (Lochoi Oreinōn Katadromōn, i.e. "Mountain Raiding Companies") were integrated into the European stay-behind network. The CIA and LOK reconfirmed on March 25, 1955 their mutual cooperation in a secret document signed by US General Trascott for the CIA, and Konstantinos Dovas, chief of staff of the Greek military. In addition to preparing for a Soviet invasion, the CIA instructed LOK to prevent a leftist coup. Former CIA agent Philip Agee, who was sharply criticized in the US for having revealed sensitive information, insisted that "paramilitary groups, directed by CIA officers, operated in the sixties throughout Europe perhaps no activity of the CIA could be as clearly linked to the possibility of internal subversion."<28>

The LOK was involved in the Greek military coup d'Etat on April 20, 1967, which took place one month before the scheduled national elections for which opinion polls predicted an overwhelming victory of the left-leaning Center Union of George and Andreas Papandreou. Under the command of paratrooper Lieutenant Colonel Costas Aslanides, the LOK took control of the Greek Defence Ministry while Brigadier General Sylianos Pattakos gained control over communication centers, the parliament, the royal palace, and according to detailed lists, arrested over 10,000 people. Phillips Talbot, the US ambassador in Athens, disapproved of the military coup which established the "Regime of the Colonels" (1969-1974), complaining that it represented "a rape of democracy" - to which Jack Maury, the CIA chief of station in Athens, answered: "How can you rape a whore?".<14>

Arrested and then exiled in Canada and Sweden, Andreas Papandreou later returned to Greece, where he won the 1981 election for Prime minister, forming the first socialist government of Greece's post-war history. According to his own testimony, he discovered the existence of the secret NATO army, then codenamed "Red Sheepskin", as acting prime minister in 1984 and had given orders to dissolve it.

Following Giulio Andreotti's revelations in 1990, the Greek defence minister confirmed that a branch of the network, known as Operation Sheepskin, operated in his country until 1988.<29> The socialist opposition called for a parliamentary investigation into the secret army and its alleged link to terrorism and the 1967 coup d'état. Public order minister Yannis Vassiliadis declared that there was no need to investigate such "fantasies" as "Sheepskin was one of 50 NATO plans which foresaw that when a country was occupied by an enemy there should be an organised resistance. It foresaw arms caches and officers who would form the nucleus of a guerilla war. In other words, it was a nationally justifiable act."
...

I don't know what's more offensively stupid, the mindless thrusting of conspiracy theory as a first resort, or the distasteful religious slur at the end.

an actual attack on any US holding except, of course, by the US. :eyes: Tell me again how that "perfectly fits the historic record."

The whole point of false-flag ops is to make it look as though it is an attack by an external enemy.


Start with "Gladio"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Gladio
(never mind wiki, mind the sources that the article references)


and mind the BBC:
"Gladio" (1992)
(3 parts)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7596207486200017796&q=gladio

The Cold War is over. The Greek military can take care their own security. No one will be calling for the U.S. to come in and "help" them. And why would they pin the attack on leftists, anyways? This attack helps no side.

Different name, different 'enemy', same scheme.

Leftists tend to oppose the war on terror, and are thus not "with us" - according to Bush, and he and his neocon gang call the shots these days.

squashing Greek leftists (especially a group that was already discredited as a terrorist organization in the '90s) is an integral policy for PNAC's plan of world domination.

Yes, and I'm sure that PNAC is also raring to go mess with Shining Path, the Aryan Nations, the Japanese Red Army, Kahane Chai, and all the other washed-up insignificant terrorist factions of yesteryear...

Those who are not "with us."

It's been pretty well established that RW extremists aren't nearly as interesting to this admin as Left-wingers are.

for their fucking sorry ass life. Not hard to figure out jocko!!

nt

That's just... wow.

There was a similar one in 1996. Greece has quite a few local radical groups.

Sounds like no one was even hurt. Good thing there at least.

They're apparently called "Revolution Action" or something like that (I was channel surfing) and they're a leftist group that apparently haven't done much before.

Now, maybe I'm being cynical here (or more cynical than usual anyway) but this strikes me as a false flag op. If a terrorist group demands something, most normal people instinctively shift in the opposite direction. If a terrorist group demands a leftward shift in policy, then people are instinctively going to shift to the right (and let's not even get into the "appeasing terrorists" stuff). So the people with most to gain from this kind of action are right-wing groups, it's just a question of who.

(or still)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Gladio#Greece

I know about Gladio, but it's pretty stupid to blame EVERY terrorist act in Greece on them. This knee-jerk tinfoil tendency on DU is the main reason why this site has such a poor reputation outside of it.

than they were made out to be. Because at the time it was not public knowledge that RW stay-behind groups were doing terrorist attacks and blaming it on the Left.

Any attack anonymously claimed by a Leftist group is exceedingly suspect to be yet another false-flag op.

Also if you know about Gladio it provides no basis to conclude that Greek (or any) Communist 'radical' groups "never existed" - which is why i do not claim such. Your concluding that i do claim such is meaningless.

But my point more is that it's rather silly to jump to conclusions and blame the attack on Gladio, especially since Gladio is more-or-less defunct and has been ever since the Cold War ended in a country that has several of these attacks every year.

Any attack anonymously claimed by a Leftist group is exceedingly suspect to be yet another false-flag op.

So that includes every single such attack listed here? http://tkb.org/IncidentRegionModule.jsp?countryid=GR&pagemode=incident&startDate=01/01/1968&endDate=01/12/2007®ionid=3&filter=0&detail=0&setFilter=1&suiInt=0&domInt=0&info=Greece&info1=3

Note that the vast majority of those are relatively recent.

Politically radical, yes. But what does that have to do with propensity for meaningless terrorist violence?

The fact of the matter is that this could have been done by a real never-before-heard-of "leftist" group or it could have been false flag (amateur or professional, btw) or it could have even been a lone nutcase.

Reasonable people will examine all possibilities. So what's with your knee jerk "blame the commies" thing?

What's it supposed to do, get the Greek authorities to call for the U.S. to come and occupy and protect them? To give the U.S. an opportunity to wage war in the <i>Balkans</i>? This isn't a frightening attack, no one was hurt, maybe some security will be tightened around the embassy but that's about it. There's no rhyme or reason to falsify an attack and blame it on <i>Greek neo-communists</i>, of all terrorists.

Such attacks are very common in Greece, mostly by discontent former members of old communist groups like 17N and ELS, who were in fact pro-Soviet communists with a propensity for meaningless terrorist violence. 10 years ago there was a similar attack on the embassy by 17N, so there's definitely a precedent. Plus attacks by never-before-heard of leftist "groups" are very common in Greece, it's just that these attacks are most likely the same people under different names or a lone nutcase using such a name. See the link I gave above: http://tkb.org/IncidentRegionModule.jsp?countryid=GR&pagemode=incident&startDate=01/01/1968&endDate=01/12/2007®ionid=3&filter=0&detail=0&setFilter=1&suiInt=0&domInt=0&info=Greece&info1=3

Also take a look at all the "groups" that have carried out attacks in Greece before: http://tkb.org/Category.jsp?catID=293

As for why I doubt it's a false-flag operation, well first of all it'd be a pretty damn lousy one. Drunk frat boys with lighters have done more damage than this attack. Second of all, what's the point? What does the US have to gain from blaming some small unknown commie group in Greece?

which a clandestine RW/fascist intel network does for - in the name of fighting communism, to the benefit of a very wealthy and influential few who get more wealthy and influential at the expense of many others. Which is why they don't want an uprising of those many others, which doesn't really have anything to do with Stalinism (after all, there never actually was any communism in the USSR, nor in China for that matter).

The Cold War is over. Thank you for playing. There's no reason for BushCo to pursue some strategy in control over Europe, where most of the people hates American military presence there, and the native forces are capable of stopping communist rebels anyways.

Different name, same scheme.

The people are mostly anti-America foreign policy, and suspicious of our dealings with the Turks, a <i>Muslim</i> country. To think that the U.S. has anything to gain there by contriving this weak attack is simply ludicrous.

Corporatists have something to gain wherever there are is any opposition to corporatism.

In this case it's obviously not about Greece as a whole but about those elements in Greece that oppose US imperialism.

designed to discredit DU. <i>Agent provocateur</i>.

"Corporatists have something to gain wherever there is any opposition to corporatism."

and/or

"In this case it's obviously not about Greece as a whole but about those elements in Greece that oppose US imperialism."

How could any of those statements discredit DU?

n/t

Different name, same scheme.

n/t

Don't you agree?

If it was a bomb, that would explain why it exploded at a time when no one would be in the offices (hopefully). But if it wasn't a bomb, it could just be some jerkoffs claiming responsibility for the sake of attention.

Apparently it was a rocket fired from the street below although that doesn't really change the theory much. It happened at about six AM local time so if they just wanted the publicity for political benefit (ala my theory), that would be the time to do it.

with a rocket fired from street level. It is possible if the toilet has a window facing the street. Alternatively it was bomb planted in advance and the rocket launcher is planted evidence.

on edit:
it now seems the rocket was fired from a building across the street
"This was a rocket attack launched from a building across the street." - Reuters

and the IRA wants Ulster to remain a part of the UK.

or that there are fake 'doppelgangers' of the original non-violent organizations, or at least those are infiltrated and instigated to perform violent attacks.

The point is to make an essentially non-violent resistance group look bad so that they'll lose popular support.

That's news to me. Not to mention that there are all sorts of groups outside of Ireland, hell pubs in the U.S. for heaven's sake, that tacitly supported the IRA back in the day. And if the ETA really didn't perform violent attacks, why didn't their leadership denounce it? Spain's a free country.

there are 'doppelgangers' of the original organizations

OR

the original organizations are infiltrated and instigated to perform violent attacks.


And yes it would be news to most people because obviously those behind these false-flag ops have a strong interest (and the means) to cover it up.
Ie in Belgium even the minister of defense at the time did not know about stay-behind groups within the Belgian military and intel agency. Similarly in the Netherlands, where a minister resigned over revelations of Gladio ("Gladius") activities in the Netherlands.
The whole point of it is to make it look as though resistance groups really are that extremist and violent. It would not work if we'd know they are only made to look that way.

see "Gladio" (BBC, 1992)
(3 parts)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7596207486200017796&q=gladio

The IRA is fake? That's news to all the Irishmen who supported/were killed by the IRA. That's like saying Operation: Desert Storm never happened.

they never committed any terrorist attacks.

If the attacks have been done by infiltrators of the IRA, or by a group that claims to be the IRA but isn't, then to what extend is it the IRA that has done those attacks?
All it takes is one anonymous phone call.

but it is a matter of historical record that the IRA was infiltrated by British intelligence and it's not much of a stretch to suppose that some IRA actions would have been directed for propoganda use.

Besides, it's just a theory.

Greece used to have two very large such groups called something like Revolutionary Organization of 17 November and ELS which is the acronym for the Greek words for Revolutionary Peoples' Struggle. Both groups are now defunct, but members are still around and discontent, and every now and then there'll be a pipe bombing or arson blamed on some "group" with a long pretentious name similar to that, that is the first time that "group" is ever heard of and usually the last. Just look at the listing here: http://tkb.org/Category.jsp?catID=293

Though it was a weak argument to begin with considering the Madrid and London bombings amongst other examples. But you know, allies don't count...and maybe this one won't count if it isn't al-Qaida. The spin could be endless. Still it goes to show you what happens when you stick a big kick me sign on your own back.

remember what Bush said: "You're either with us or your with the terrorists".

but when we attack someone else's embassy or consulate it's a justifiable act in the 'war on terra'.

You're not supposed to remember that ...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6254399.stm

Attackers have fired a rocket at the US embassy compound in the centre of the Greek capital, Athens.
The rocket, fired from street level into the front of the embassy, caused minor damage to the building but no-one was injured.

The US envoy condemned the "very serious attack", as fire engines and police cordoned off the area.

Police say they are investigating claims that a left-wing radical group was behind the attack.

i bet those embassy workers are wishing that bush would just shut the fuck up.

Left-wing groups

The US embassy is one of the most fortified and tightly guarded buildings in the region and is frequently the target of protests in a country brimming with potent anti-Americanism, says the BBC's Malcolm Brabant in Athens.

In February 1996, it suffered minor damage when unknown attackers - thought to be leftist radicals - fired a rocket at it.

In the past, the far-left November 17 group - now disbanded and whose leaders were jailed in 2003 - attacked Greek, US and other foreign targets, killing more than 20 people.

Revolutionary Struggle - a group which emerged after November 17 disintegrated - is regarded by security experts as Greece's most active terrorist group, our correspondent says.

It has broadly the same left-wing, anarchic anti-capitalist agenda as November 17 and vigorously opposes America's intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the economic and social policies of the current conservative Greek government. ....

doesn't it.

What kind of paper is the Daily Telegraph?

In the UK, it is sometimes called "the house organ of the Conservative Party" or, more commonly, the "Daily Torygraph".

It's suffered enough damage over the ages.

Yes, I made that quote up. But dollars-to-donuts I'll
bet you someone says it before the day is out.

Tesha

Blast at U.S. embassy called 'terrorism'
Enlarge Photo AFPAP - 1 hour, 44 minutes ago
ATHENS, Greece - The U.S. Embassy in Athens came under fire early Friday from a rocket that exploded inside the modern glass-front building but caused no casualties in an attack police suspect was the work of Greek leftists.

Slideshow: U.S. embassy attacked in Greece
Video: 'Serious Attack' on U.S. Embassy ABC News
Full Coverage: Athens Embassy Attack

http://news.yahoo.com/

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16587785/ Oh the humanity! It looks like somebody threw a rock through the window.

Welcome to DU!:hi:

with our little visiting party on Iran's offices in Erbil. Anyone think that is the message?

from street level.

The small anti-tank missile narrowly missed the large blue-and-white U.S. seal on the embassy's facade and pierced the building above the front entrance shortly before 6 a.m. It damaged a bathroom on the third floor near the ambassador's office and shattered windows in nearby buildings.

"There were no injuries and very minimal damage," U.S. Ambassador Charles Ries told reporters outside the embassy.

-SNIP
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070112/ap_on_re_eu/greece_us_embassy

> The small anti-tank missile narrowly missed the large blue-and-white
> U.S. seal on the embassy's facade ...

They're using RPGs to hunt seals now!
Thank God they missed!!

:silly:

:rofl:

You made me spew!!! LOL :spray:

It should be a regional enemy of the terrarists that still looks "similar".

Apparently there's a lot of anti-American sentiment in Greece because we are quite supportive of Turkey on issues such as Cyprus.

during Russia's invasion of Berlin during WWII, they would use abandoned panzerfausts left behind by the hitler youth to blow holes in walls during house to house fighting so as not to leave them exposed in street battles.

A great book called, "the battle of Berlin" describes exactly how to do it. LOL

Don't want to be to close to get shrapnel wounds or to far away to not blow a hole through the wall or in the worst case, have it bounce off and explode someplace else.

connected with Al Queda thanks to Bushco's propaganda. That fact will continue to be a problem. Dollars to doughnuts the people responsible for the attack are Greek anti-fascists or communists, not Islamics.

We attacked one of their embassies the other day. And now one of ours mysteriously explodes.

Hmm.

we haven't been attacked on his watch, unless he finds a way to ignore this like he did Anthrax and the likes.

"I'd like to claim credit for the projectile that broke your window." ...

"No, I'd rather not tell you my name or anything about my organization. However, we wear Birkenstocks, we met up for Howard Dean in 2004 and Cindy Sheehan is our hero." ...

"Hmm, so it landed harmlessly in your toilet? Well, Mama told me the revolution would be a struggle!" ...

"No problem. Gladio to help."

The Russian and the Iranian embassies in Iraq, and the US embassy in Greece. 6 hostages were taken in the Iranian embassy by US forces. Of course, the Bush Admin is now calling the Iranian embassy a "liason office" and its 5 hostages -- "detainees". Once again, Bush has sewn the seeds of a deeper and widening conflict. He is poking a stick in the eyes of the world.
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