Talk:Jan van Speyk
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One might say that he would be considered a suicide bomber today. Is this a political statement?
- And the sailors who blew apart KM Admiral Graf Spee were also suicide bombers? If Van Speijk had deliberately sailed his ship to port and then blown it up to cause casualties then you might have a suicide bombing. Whether his motivation was to kill Antwerpers or to prevent the capture of his ship is entirely another matter. --61.88.82.133 09:30, 30 November 2005 (UTC)
Yes, the whole idea of putting Van Speijk amongst terrorists is ludicrous. Moreover, there can hardly be any doubt, that he was not at all bent on killing innocent Antwerp civilians. He indeed only wished to prevent the capture by an armed crowd. At that time the Netherlands were at war with revolting Belgium (by the way: one of the "cleanest" war ever fought, in so far any war can be called clean.)I cannot see any indication of terror, as we understand it, in the act of a military commander, who tries to prevent the capture of his ship. Whether he had better done to capitulate in order to save the lives of his men, is quite another matter.
Gigault@planet.nl
[edit] WP:MILHIST Assessment
I feel as though I've heard of van Speyk before. If I have, then he must be quite important, and worth more than this short article here. Expansion would be wonderful. So would references. LordAmeth 14:50, 19 October 2006 (UTC)
