Explosion US Embassy: Athens

[Five-O]

Drudge Linked to this......

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070112/ts_nm/greece_explosion_dc_4

[hoepoe]

Putting on my silver lined hat now, i wonder if it's "payback" for the raid and arrest of the Iranian diplomats on Wed?

Hoepoe

[hoot72]

Fortress europe has been breached yet again....I hope this means tighter security in and out of greece..the bastards must still be in athens....

[tk27]

The leftist group Revolutionary Struggle is claiming responsibility.

[Airbornelawyer]

Fortress europe has been breached yet again....I hope this means tighter security in and out of greece..the bastards must still be in athens....
Between 1968 and 2007, there have been over 200 terrorist attacks on U.S. targets in Greece. In the overwhelming majority of incidents where the perpetrators of the attacks are known, the attackers were Greek communist and anarchist terrorist groups. So, I'd say, yeah, the bastards are likely still in Athens, since they were likely born in Athens.

The main groups have been the Revolutionary Organization 17 November (Επαναστατική Οργάνωση 17 Νοέμβρη), Revolutionary Struggle (Επαναστατικός Αγώνας), Revolutionary People's Struggle (Επαναστατικός Λαϊκός Αγώνας), New Revolutionary People's Struggle (Νέος Επαναστατικός Λαϊκός Αγώνας), and Revolutionary Nuclei (Επαναστατικοί Πυρήνες), plus any number of one-off groups with names running from the Anarchist Collective to the Chaotic Attack Front to the Fires of Hell to the Group for Social Resistance to the State Mechanism to the Revolutionary Subversive Faction-Commando Unibomber.

Of course, "Greek airport security" is an oxymoron, so even if there weren't homegrown terrorists at work, I wouldn't bank on tighter security in and out of Greece. TWA Flight 847, the plane that was hijacked by a Hizbullah front group in 1985, who killed Navy diver Robert Stethem, was hijacked from Athens.

EgyptAir Flight 648, hijacked in 1985 by Abu Nidal and stormed by Egyptian commandos with great loss of life (Eric Haney contends that Egyptian politics broke up a relatively good unit that the US had originally trained), also originated in Athens.

And the 1976 hijacking of Air France Flight 139 by PFLP and German terrorists which culminated in the raid on Entebbe also began in Athens.

[Peregrino]

AL - Thanks for digging up the references. The knee-jerk reaction is to blame the Islamists and they're probably not guilty this time. Greece has it's own reactionaries and a troubled, turbulent history that includes violent anti-American activities (usually) perpetrated by the socialist/communist lunatic fringe. I got to spend some time over there in the early 80's shortly after the Hellenikon murders/bombings. I was still young/naive enough then to wonder why people hated us. (Now I don't care.) Some things never change. Peregrino

[hoot72]

AL - Thanks for digging up the references. The knee-jerk reaction is to blame the Islamists and they're probably not guilty this time. Greece has it's own reactionaries and a troubled, turbulent history that includes violent anti-American activities (usually) perpetrated by the socialist/communist lunatic fringe. I got to spend some time over there in the early 80's shortly after the Hellenikon murders/bombings. I was still young/naive enough then to wonder why people hated us. (Now I don't care.) Some things never change. Peregrino

Its a pity we also have to worry about these buffons...thanks for the headsup AL...much appreciated