GUWonder

Indeed. And what happened in Greece to an African-American male a few days ago is unfortunately part of a trend in Europe where Americans of perceived non-European ethnicity are at greater risk from politically-motivated violence -- terrorism of sort -- than other Americans. A few years back the US State Department had even issued notices to Americans about this kind of situation in Greece in particular.

Going to crowded places popular with tourists involves a set of risks, but the risk profiles aren't all the same as going to less crowded places not popular with tourists; and the risks of some incidents at different types of places vary even within a place by a variety of factors. But overall, the EU/Schengen area -- Greece included -- is a safe (even safer) place compared to the US.

WilcoRoger

Drunk fight in Greece = "terrorism of sort" ?? Oh, come on, not everything is a nail, even if one has only a hammer.

CX HK

It's terrorizing to the victim, although it may not be an act of mass-terrorism.

GUWonder

Being subjected to a racist attack by people with a political axe to grind is terrorism of a sort. While people with racist inclinations may disagree with racist attacks being categorized as terrorism of sort, there is frequently a political violence element to racist attacks in Europe. Also, the US involvement of US military force in Serbia in the 1990s and of the US military having a significant representation of African-Americans then too has been a factor in some attacks against African-Americans in parts of Europe.

Multi-fatality element to violence isn't a requirement for an act of violence to be categorized as terrorism. Terrorist attacks have taken place even when some such attacks may have resulted in no fatalities. Cases in point on US planes: shoe bomber attack and underwear bomber attack.

KLouis

We should not jump to conclusions on the motives of a crime based on the little we read in newspapers. True, Serbians may hold a grudge against Americans because of the war, but perhaps the stupid and sick reaction to somebody wanting to take a selfie with the girlfriend of somebody, especially when all people involved were intoxicated (and, some of them, perhaps drugged) may "simply" be based on stupidity and a sick mind.

The fact that the victim was a black American leads one to having thoughts of a racist attack; let's not forget that ~7% of the Greeks did vote for a fascistoid and neonazi party at the last elections. But jumping to conclusions from thousands of kilometers away based on what TV stations said and newspapers wrote is certainly not based on logic. Finally, granted that a person attacked by a mob the way this happened leads to the victim being terrorized. But we all understand what one means by terrorism. If we want to change the meaning of words, fine with me, but then we should think of the fact that the US would have 10 times more terrorist attacks as Europe (considering the "novel" meaning of the word).

leungy18

It's unfortunate that attacks by far-right individuals are often underreported, or even not considered as terrorism. In the U.S., at least, most violent incidents post-9/11 involving an extremist attacker stem from white supremacists, according to this congressional report prepared by the GAO. And this report from the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point.

Your chances of perishing in a terror attack on U.S. or European soil is incredibly low, regardless of motive. A few high-profile incidents doesn't change the math.

AlicorporateUK

I strongly doubt the thug acted like he did because of the war, the NATO bombing of Belgrade and the likes, I'd actually be surprised if his knowledge of history went that far.

G

WilcoRoger

So a fatal drunken bar fight - if the victim is black - automatically classifies as "racist terrorism". Interesting, though not surprising conclusion.

WilcoRoger

There were no US boots on Serbian soil and it's a bit far fetched (to say the least) that the skin color of the USAF pilots would be seen from the ground up - the US involvement having been an air war.

Also it's quite entertaining to think that the thugs would have ANY idea of the so called "racial" makeup of the US armed forces and furthermore would chose their victim accordingly.

But as said - if you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

GUWonder

The thug? He was set on by multiple people, like a pack of wolves on a deer. Even when he was unconscious they were still taking their turns pounding him and kicking his limp body. It's very typical of racist wolf pack attacks, no less so when alcohol is around.

GUWonder

We had US boots on the ground defending people against Serbian extremist forces, including in land claimed/disputed by Serbia. I've got my friends and others who were on the ground in KFOR and otherwise who have been subjected to racist taunts and worse from those with an axe to grind against US involvement on the ground and in the air in the region or otherwise.

Do you really believe that Americans to be perceived of European ethnicity are just as likely to be attacked by racist terrorists in Europe as Americans of non-European ethnic backgrounds? If only such belief were to hold up to the reality that is encountered.

The USG had even previously informed our Embassy-assigned and other military staff in Greece about the possibility of dealing with racist attacks and even racist authorities in Greece. Sad reality is that racist terrorism has become more of a risk in Europe than it was at the turn of the century.

WilcoRoger

Again these words - and about a bar fight went wrong. *SIGH and SHRUG*

KFOR was a peace keeping force, formed after the cessation of hositlities

GUWonder

A bar fight may be a racist terrorist attack. It wouldn't be the first time.

There were hostilities in the area even after Kosovo Force got its official launch. And IFOR contributed to KFOR. The presence of forces claiming to operate under a part of the UN charter doesn't magically wipe out all hostilities from taking place. IFOR, SFOR, KFOR, whatever, none of those wiped away all hostile elements.

KLouis

i will not argue more about your idea of this having been a racial attack and, thus, terrorism. I simply wonder about your statement of "racist authorities in Greece", and a single example of that would be welcome.

GUWonder

Encounters with racist police was part of the information the USG was parting with. It's not like the Greek police effectively administered tests to identify and weed out all Golden Dawn members and sympathizers in the Greek police force.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.the...-police-claims

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/ne...-greek-police/

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-19976841

http://news.radiobubble.gr/2012/06/d...eally.html?m=1