U.S. embassy in Greece hit by rocket

[kaiser soze]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070112/ts_nm/greece_explosion_dc_12

ATHENS (Reuters) - Suspected leftist guerrillas fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the U.S. embassy in Athens on Friday in the boldest attack staged by leftwing militants in years. The blast shattered windows and woke up nearby residents in the central Athens area at 5:58 AM (0358 GMT) but no one was hurt, police said.

Thank god nobody was hurt, but one must question if this was a response to the U.S. raid on the Iranian consulate in Iraq.

[Otis Driftwood]

Don't think so. Greece is one of the few countries in Europe with serious and violent left-wing terrorists remaining (as opposed to the 70s when they were practically everywhere).
P.S. Please don't nuke Greece!

[Echewta]

6:00 a.m. to shoot a rocket? Nobody was in the building?

Strange.

Sounds like it was done by the local guy who fixes windows.

[drizl]

why would they do this? why this time in the morning? sounds wierd and fishy

[Otis Driftwood]

They probably couldn't do it earlier cause they were too drunk, lol!

[Echewta]

They were on their way home, LOL

[FunkyHiFi]

This sucks. I always liked learning about ancient Greece because so many cool things happened there at that time (philosophy, science/technology related things, etc) and especially all the stories of the honor/courage/respect demonstrated by most of their militaries, including Sparta of course.

Can anyone provide a Cliff Notes version of why Greece is so unstable these days?

btw: I did find this on a Greek-American site I had bookmarked for completely different reasons: "RESIGN: THE RIGHT THING TO DO FOR PRESIDENT BUSH" (http://www.hellenicnews.com/readnews.html?newsid=6150&lang=US)
So, instead of “sacrificing” finally Donald Rumsfeld and shifting people around, (one should feel sorry for poor John Negroponte, who was supposed to be the Director of National Intelligence to the end this term, but now will have to serve under Dr. Rice ) in an attempt to obfuscate the situation further and avoid his responsibility, President Bush should do the right thing, that is, first apologize to the American people and our allies, and then resign as President. It may not be easy, but it is the manly and right thing to do.I wonder if a commentator here would use the word "manly" in such an article? I do not think anything is wrong with using that word - I'm just pointing out the differences in cultures (wrestling, a sport I am heavily into [college & high school], pretty much started there so it is no surprise that particular word might be used).

************************************************** *
hope this doesn't seem to out of place, but a movie is coming out this March about a famous battle where 300 Spartans voluntarily sacrificed themselves fighting off *tens of thousands* of their enemy to help save the rest of Greece. Its called "300" (http://300themovie.warnerbros.com/index.html) and is done by the same people who did Sin City. A great historical fiction book I've read about this battle where Spartans are shown as a people with hearts/emotion & not just soldiers, is Gates Of Fire (http://www.amazon.com/Gates-Fire-Novel-Battle-Thermopylae/dp/0553580531/sr=1-1/qid=1159066286/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-6055974-9572652?ie=UTF8&s=books) by Stephen Pressfield.

[Otis Driftwood]

Yeah, 300 is gonna rawk. Just watched the trailer. Miller should have influenced Daredevil a bit more, too, cause it turned out shitty...

[Pres Zount]

It looks like they did the same kind of terrorism that ETA does, the kind where you make sure nobody is inside the building you are blowing up. Just because nobody was killed doesn't mean that they failed.

[FunkyHiFi]

I had to look through the Internet all by myself ::sniff:: for my cliff notes. ;) I found this - it seems to be unbiased:

Modern Greek Society, Economy and Polity: GREECE IN A NUTSHELL (http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/world/greececor3.htm)

I thought it was interesting that according to the article, nearly 97% of the people in Greece share the same race, national identity (not quite sure what this means though), religion and language. No other country in Europe shares this distinction.

btw: when the author says he doesn't want any of his article reposted anywhere else AND the article is on a school of law's website, Im going to do what he asks! :o

[Miho]

Greece has had some minor trouble in the past with rogue groups. Still kindof surprising to hear about this.

FunkyHiFi -

The majority of Greeks are Greek by ethnicity and language, however there are a minority of people known as Vlachs or Aromanians. (which I am) Their identity is shrouded for the most part, as Greeks dislike them for some reason. I suppose it has to do with this notion that Vlachs are "dirty mountain people", according to them. They seem to think they are uneducated. It's insulting to me. That is why Greeks don't tend to leave a good impression on me every time I visit my family there.

Those are just childish insults. The real reason they don't like Vlachs are because they do not want them to have their own cultural identity within Greece. Nor do they want them to display their culture and language openly. I can't speak for each and every Greek, but I have come across many who mock Vlachs.

So anyhow, most younger Vlach people have integrated themselves within Greek society. Many were Greek-born, but are fully Vlach in the blood.

[FunkyHiFi]

Mio: thank you for writing.

Here in Houston we have a yearly Greek festival (http://www.greekfestival.org/) and I plan on going this year. (y) And they have it in the Museum District, and besides museums there are also many music clubs, music stores, coffee houses, restaurants for just about any food you can think of, art stores......in other words there is much more here than just bar-b-que, pick up trucks and Cadillacs with bullhorns bolted to their grills. ;)

[Pres Zount]

Do you enjoy greek food?!

[FunkyHiFi]

Do you enjoy greek food?!Well, the only Greek food I've ever eaten was baklava (very good stuff btw). I've had shish kebabs lots of times but don't think that is 100% Greek. For several years I've been wanting to check out some Greek restaurants here, but am pretty low on $$$. :( I did find and buy an LP (http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j272/Matman174/miscellaneous/greekmusicedinboro2.jpg)* of traditional Greek music (album is from the late 60s) though a couple months ago. :)

* the guy with Braveheart face paint in the background was a wrestler for Edinboro University in Pennsylvania.

[Pres Zount]

U.S. embassy in Greece hit by rocket. Yeah, I don't mind souvlaki.

[ms.peachy]

They do this kinda stuff fairly regularly in Greece though, don't they? Some ultralefty group tries to blow something up, does a crappy job of it, then everyone goes back to the cafe and smokes cigarettes and drinks a load of really strong coffee. It's like, a monthly event or something, innit?

[Miho]

I don't know about all that, but in Greece, there are more cafes on any given street that you could ever want to see in your whole life. Frape (sic) is like water to Greeks. I would have that a lot there, while in a bigger city. (When I stay with my mom's family, I'm at a remote mountain village, and Kostaria, the big city nearby, is some ways away)

It was cool going on the cyber cafe, because you could be using the internet, and they'd send you a Frape or what have you, as you're on the PC. They charge you a bit to use the PC, though. Not a whole lot of money.

Yeah, anyway, like you were saying, those political extremist groups, anarchy groups if you will, stir up some trouble once in awhile. Mostly done in Athens.

FunkyHiFi -

I bought a lot of Greek hip-hop during my last trip to Greece, and some albums by Nikos Kourkoulis, one of my favorite male Greek singers.

[Pres Zount]

They do this kinda stuff fairly regularly in Greece though, don't they? Some ultralefty group tries to blow something up, does a crappy job of it, then everyone goes back to the cafe and smokes cigarettes and drinks a load of really strong coffee. It's like, a monthly event or something, innit?
You say "crappy job" as if you were hoping someone was killed... As I said, I gather that these guys made sure nobody was in the building at the time, hence the early attack.

don't think I am on their side, but is damaging property really a heinous crime? Say, if they caught the people responsible and they got ten years - would that be deserved?

[ms.peachy]

You say "crappy job" as if you were hoping someone was killed... As I said, I gather that these guys made sure nobody was in the building at the time, hence the early attack.

don't think I am on their side, but is damaging property really a heinous crime? Say, if they caught the people responsible and they got ten years - would that be deserved?
Oh come now, don't take me all serious-like when I am being blatantly flippant. It harshes my mellow, man.

[Pres Zount]

no, I wasn't really.