Taliban attacks school; 145 dead

[Cataclysm]

But on Tuesday, the Taliban took their war on education to a ruthless new low, with a concerted assault on a crowded school in Peshawar that killed 145 people, most of them uniformed schoolchildren, in the deadliest single attack in the group’s history.

During an eight-hour rampage at the Army Public School and Degree College, a team of nine Taliban gunmen stormed through the corridors and assembly hall, firing at random and throwing grenades. Some children were lined up and slaughtered with shots to the head. Others were gunned down as they cowered under their desks, or forced to watch their teachers being riddled with bullets.

Their parents crowded around the school gates, listening to the explosions and gunfire as Pakistani commandos stormed the building, praying their children would survive.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/17/world/asia/taliban-attack-pakistani-school.html?_r=0

[Tolpuddle Martyr]

Evil.

[Ultimate Paragon]

This is monstrous!

[Dakota Bob]

What can be said but the obvious? this is beyond horrifying.

[lord gibbon]

You know, I can't help but wonder if the Taliban shot themselves in the foot here. Pakistan is a rather religious place, and I think it's safe to say that some of the parents might have supported, or at least thought they supported, the Taliban. I'd hazard a guess that they've just made a whole lot more enemies.

[SpaceProg]

Times like this, I wish we could magically remove all the innocents from the area and just turn that pit into one giant crater of melted glass.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again.   There is evil (no relativistic junk involved, just pure evil) in the world, and what those bastards did is a perfect example of it.

[guizonde]

this seems appropriate for the thread.

[R. U. Sirius]

[guizonde]

cnn went on to fearmonger? really? just because it's on the other side of the world doesn't mean it doesn't hit as hard everywhere. this is a goddamn tragedy, you self-centered sorry excuse for a news channel.

[Ultimate Paragon]

cnn went on to fearmonger? really? just because it's on the other side of the world doesn't mean it doesn't hit as hard everywhere. this is a goddamn tragedy, you self-centered sorry excuse for a news channel.

I'm not surprised.  Appalled, but not surprised.  Remember their coverage of Steubenville?

[guizonde]

cnn went on to fearmonger? really? just because it's on the other side of the world doesn't mean it doesn't hit as hard everywhere. this is a goddamn tragedy, you self-centered sorry excuse for a news channel.

I'm not surprised.  Appalled, but not surprised.  Remember their coverage of Steubenville?

no i don't, since i'm not living in the usa and i don't have a tv. was it as bad?

[Askold]

...I thought about linking those tweets but was afraid it would distract from the real issue here. Much like CNN already did.

Attacking civilians is always a cowardly act but targeting children really is a special kind of evil. I just hope that Pakistan will find those responsible for  the massacre and makes sure they can never harm anyone again. (I also hope that the Taliban will lose their support over this, but that might be wishful thinking.)

[Ultimate Paragon]

cnn went on to fearmonger? really? just because it's on the other side of the world doesn't mean it doesn't hit as hard everywhere. this is a goddamn tragedy, you self-centered sorry excuse for a news channel.

I'm not surprised.  Appalled, but not surprised.  Remember their coverage of Steubenville?

no i don't, since i'm not living in the usa and i don't have a tv. was it as bad?

Bad?  It was downright loathsome!

[Meshakhad]

I got nothing here. Shooting defenseless schoolchildren in the head one by one? How do these people live with themselves?

[R. U. Sirius]

I got nothing here. Shooting defenseless schoolchildren in the head one by one? How do these people live with themselves?

At risk of sounding like I'm excusing them, I've heard of a field of study that takes the relationship between diet and behavior and applies those findings on a mass scale. Lack of zinc has been linked to aggression and lack of empathy, and the typical diet historically afforded by the resources of the Middle East ends up yielding a diet markedly below average in zinc.

Not an excuse but something to think about; maybe improving nutrition in the region can be part of the solution to stopping the violence.