The loss of innocence was hardly a shock
Hey, you blood-thirsty demons peace-loving folk! Sorry that I'm gonna occupy ya'll with such un-funny stuff particularly today (it's Friday, duh!) But this is considered big news here:
http://news.yahoo.com/israel-blames-iran-bulgaria-bus-bomb-kills-6-003630828.html
So that's what happened the other day here, something unprecedented for my tiny peaceful nation. A bomb attack at the Burgas airport. Apparently, a suicide bomber blew up a tourist bus. He was targeting several buses full of Israeli tourists who had just landed at the airport.
There were 5 Israelis dead + the local bus driver + the bomber himself. The kamikaze bomber (most probably Hamas, prompted by Iran) found a loose link in the security and managed to blow up one of the buses which was full of Israeli tourists who were headed from the Burgas airport, right to the Hrizantema hotel in Sunny Beach (which is just opposite the street from where our main hotel is, and our office!) I wasn't in Sunny Beach at the time, though. I'm currently in Plovdiv, 350 km away.
No other people were harmed. But the scene was a mess, body parts and blood spilled all over the cars nearby. The response from the medics and the rest of the services was remarkable, but the harm had already been done anyway. There's been some investigation, a bit of blame game and all the stuff we could expect in such situations. I expect there'll be some security tightening in the next days, and maybe less tourists in the next months. We'll see.
There's already video footage of the suspect: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/19/world/europe/bulgaria-israel-blast/index.html
Netanyahu is now blaming Iran, and promising to strike back at them. We may be heading into interesting times... This could be the drop that spilled the cup, and the final excuse for Israel to take some drastic measures against Iran. Unilateral measures, even.
As for our cute little country, I think it was a matter of time to lose our innocence, Norway-style. And stopped being "an oasis of peace" (words of Israeli foreign minister Lieberman). But what's hardly a shock for me is exactly how cynical Bulgarians have become, to a point where they didn't seem to care that much about the families of the dead, but rather their first reactions were, "Please, tourists, don't be scared, and please don't stop coming to our seaside! Please keep investing here! We need you! Everything will be all right, we promise!" And indeed, it took us less than 24 hours to return to life as usual, as if nothing had ever happened. No mourning, no ranting, no panic, no paranoia; sure, lots of political bickering as always, but all in all, a "Meh" sort of approach to the event. One of the biggest terror acts in BG since the communist church bomb plot in 1925.
Yeah. It's all business as usual now... If Armageddon happens, or the Cylons invade Earth, I doubt we'd even notice. Or if we do, we'd probably ask, "But, but, do they pay in cash or with credit card?"
http://news.yahoo.com/israel-blames-iran-bulgaria-bus-bomb-kills-6-003630828.html
So that's what happened the other day here, something unprecedented for my tiny peaceful nation. A bomb attack at the Burgas airport. Apparently, a suicide bomber blew up a tourist bus. He was targeting several buses full of Israeli tourists who had just landed at the airport.
There were 5 Israelis dead + the local bus driver + the bomber himself. The kamikaze bomber (most probably Hamas, prompted by Iran) found a loose link in the security and managed to blow up one of the buses which was full of Israeli tourists who were headed from the Burgas airport, right to the Hrizantema hotel in Sunny Beach (which is just opposite the street from where our main hotel is, and our office!) I wasn't in Sunny Beach at the time, though. I'm currently in Plovdiv, 350 km away.
No other people were harmed. But the scene was a mess, body parts and blood spilled all over the cars nearby. The response from the medics and the rest of the services was remarkable, but the harm had already been done anyway. There's been some investigation, a bit of blame game and all the stuff we could expect in such situations. I expect there'll be some security tightening in the next days, and maybe less tourists in the next months. We'll see.
There's already video footage of the suspect: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/19/world/europe/bulgaria-israel-blast/index.html
Netanyahu is now blaming Iran, and promising to strike back at them. We may be heading into interesting times... This could be the drop that spilled the cup, and the final excuse for Israel to take some drastic measures against Iran. Unilateral measures, even.
As for our cute little country, I think it was a matter of time to lose our innocence, Norway-style. And stopped being "an oasis of peace" (words of Israeli foreign minister Lieberman). But what's hardly a shock for me is exactly how cynical Bulgarians have become, to a point where they didn't seem to care that much about the families of the dead, but rather their first reactions were, "Please, tourists, don't be scared, and please don't stop coming to our seaside! Please keep investing here! We need you! Everything will be all right, we promise!" And indeed, it took us less than 24 hours to return to life as usual, as if nothing had ever happened. No mourning, no ranting, no panic, no paranoia; sure, lots of political bickering as always, but all in all, a "Meh" sort of approach to the event. One of the biggest terror acts in BG since the communist church bomb plot in 1925.
Yeah. It's all business as usual now... If Armageddon happens, or the Cylons invade Earth, I doubt we'd even notice. Or if we do, we'd probably ask, "But, but, do they pay in cash or with credit card?"