The organization of the Dakar rally has cancelled the rally because some idiots are planning terrorist attacks. Instead of doing a partial rally, or a couple of stages around Lissabon, the complete rally is cancelled. I really think this is unacceptable for all riders, sponsors and TV stations depending on this rally.
All the time and money people have put into making it to Dakar is wasted. Next year it will be harder to get sponsors for the rally, because the sponsors will not risk investing large amounts of money in a rally which “may or may not” start. All those private riders which loaned money from the bank will have a hard time returning next year.
Although not nearly as bad as for the competitors, this means a lousy start of 2008 for me and a lot of Dakar fans eagerly waiting the start of the rally, which was scheduled tommorow.
I am hugely dissapointed in hearing this. I am a huge fan of motorsport, and have been looking forward to this event for months. It is such a great pitty that a handfull of idiotic fanatics can ruin such a great event. These terrorists are making life very difficult for the whole world by their infantile actions. They have lost the plot completely, where their initial aim might have been to invite sympathy for their cause and religion, they have managed to create more animosity and hatred to muslims in general. I think that they are a bunch of cowards and idiots.
I think you are right in that the terrorists have lost the plot. This way, not only will they create more hate between religions, but also stop the cashflow to all the countries the Dakar rally was planned to ride through.
Local gasstations in those countries have probably stockpiled fuel, which they now aren’t going to sell. The money they used to buy the fuel will not buy them food. Now what? Probably the Dakar get’s blamed for this too. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
Although I understand the descision, there’s also a controversy in that the global idea is never to talk to terrorists holding people hostage. By doing this, it makes holding people hostage less interesting to terrorists, because they will be ignored. That’s why it doesn’t happen so much, and only in the case of really, really dumb terrorists. I wonder if this technique should also apply to this situation, where terrorists are ignored (but not by the police ofcourse), and the rally continues.
The other thing I don’t understand is that terrorists never make a clear point. You see in the news that people are murdered, or blow themselves up, but there’s never a clear message. Usually lots of unrecognizable shouting and screaming, and if you get anything at all, it usually “XYZ must die” or some other crappy nonsense.
Blaming others is the easiest, even if that means blowing yourselves up. It’s the “living to help others” part that’s the real test.