Posted on 05/02/2013 11:21:22 AM PDT by Bill Russell
As the fallout from the Boston bombing continues, Americans are coming to terms with the realities of the terrorist threats we are facing in our country. Part of this is adopting a prepared mindset to meet the threats where they occur.
The Chechens are here. So are Muslims from Dagestan, Albania, and Bosnia. Much has been made in the press about the more Caucasian look of the Tsarnaev brothers. But what sets the radicalized segments of these ethnic groups apart from their Middle Eastern counterparts, is not so much the racial aspects of their ethnicities, but the way they fight. While most are more than willing to fight to the death to avoid capture, and will kill you in a heartbeat, they are not so willing to die easily. They don’t like to waste their hard earned Jihadi talents by blowing themselves up in the middle of a random crowd. They prefer to inflict maximum harm on the “Kafirs” (infidels) and to live to do it again and again. They work very hard to ensure they live to kill more on another day.
Most American Soldiers who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan recognize the Chechen Jihadis as the most dangerous fighters of all the enemies we faced there. They were the toughest, most disciplined, and brutal. One only has to do an internet search for and watch the video of the execution of an unknown Russian soldier, or look at the pictures of the Beslan School massacre to come face to face with the reality of how profanely brutal they can be. [1]
There is much discussion about how the United States should deal with the dynamics of the “new” terrorism threat the Boston Marathon bombing heralds. While there is a key role for the federal, state, and local law enforcement, as well as the intelligence communities to play, the reality is they cannot be everywhere at once.
I will never forget the feeling of vulnerability I had for the thousands upon thousands of people stuck in the forty mile long parking lot that had been I-95/ I-395, as I rode my motorcycle up the break-down lane on my way back into the Pentagon in the early morning hours of September 12, 2001. I had visions of multiple shooters conducting armed attacks against the many unarmed commuters who were stationary targets in their vehicles on that morning and the week that followed. My fear was based on the attack just 20 miles away and nine years earlier by Pakistani Muslim, Mir Qazi, at Langley, Virginia. Mr Qazi murdered two and wounded three other CIA employees as they sat in their cars at a traffic light .
Since 9/11, we have seen the attacks against tourists in Mumbai, school children in Beslan, apartment dwellers in Moscow, train passengers in Spain, commuters in London, car bomb attacks in Mexico near the US border, and one Muslim Army Doctor who turned on his fellow Soldiers at Ft Hood.
The Boston Marathon bombing occurred at time and place where there were many police agencies and emergency medical personnel present. They quickly secured the scene and treated the wounded after the attack. It was the brave and well executed efforts of those personnel which ensured everyone who made it to the hospital alive, survived - an unprecedented emergency medical accomplishment.
But the attack also demonstrated that law enforcement cannot fully reduce all vulnerabilities to terrorism at large public venues. The bombing was only a “simple” attack with several bombs. What if it had been a complex attack followed up by shooters or successfully synchronized secondary devices timed to go off in the immediate vicinity as the first responders rushed to aid the wounded?
In other venues, imagine if Adam Landza or James Holmes had been accompanied by additional Jihadis when they shot up their school and movie theater.
In spite of the great efforts on the part of non-politically appointed career law enforcement and intelligence officials, our federal and local efforts to protect the American people from harm are limited. They are greatly hampered and undercut by the corruption, incompetence, and political "divide and conquer" mentality of the Obama Administration – an Administration more concerned with the sexuality of a professional basketball player and the “radicalism” of the TEA Party, than with the protection of our borders and citizens from the very real Islamist threats.
It is not a question of “if?” but “when?” the next attack will occur. It will be at a time and place where any number of vulnerabilities exist, and quite likely without a significant armed police presence and a multitude of emergency medical personnel on hand.
As Americans, we need to be prepared to defend ourselves, our loved ones, and our neighbors from attacks. There is no substitute for the response time of an armed, concealed carrying citizen to shooting incidents. One armed citizen can make all the difference in the world, as Charl van Wyk did with a .38 revolver when he put a stop to an attack by four terrorists armed with grenades and automatic weapons in the 1993 St James Church massacre in South Africa. If you cannot carry concealed, the availability of a securely stored rifle, handgun, or shotgun, accessible in 30 to 90 seconds from a vehicle or office, is infinitely better than no weapons at all.
We also need to be prepared to perform first aid until the arrival of trained medical personnel. Even the most ardent pacifists can be convinced to be prepared to save a life by clearing an airway, stopping arterial bleeding with a pressure bandage or tourniquet, and stabilizing the c-spine following an attack.
America, we do not need to be paranoid. We need to be aware and prepared. Any high-visibility public event can be a target of terrorists. We need to meet this reality head-on.
[1] http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=belsan+school+massacre&qpvt=belsan+school+massacre&FORM=IGRE#view=detail&id=7C159DA1880B1E3C5553EF737D73DBA612B09E7E&selectedIndex=69, May, 2, 2013 11:02 AM.
I’m not worried about Moslem terrorists. I’m worried about the cops.
The whole problem is that this bunch of terrorists is actually thought to be a RELIGION. Americans look upon religions as just a bunch of irrelevant silly superstitions, and not anything dangerous.
In reality, this “religion” is a death cult that plans the overthrow of democrat governments and installing a totalitarian regime in their place.
It is exactly like the nazi party. No difference. Not a religion. A violent ideology of hate and murder. The nazi party deserves to be investigated and its followers locked up or expelled. Same for the death cult.
Sadly (pathetically, actually), 95% of it will be meaningless to >50% of the population unless someone reads it to them and explains all the big words.
Step one is to kick the Muslim in the White House back to Kenya where that peace of excrement can then be eaten by dung beetles and - for the first time in his (or more properly, its) life, it can be productive.
We can then get back to business of improving our country.
Do a search on “The Perfect Day theory”: the threat of massive, coordinated attacks against our schools and school buses, by Lt. Col. Joe Ruffini, a counterterrorism expert.
Not only Chechens, but the Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad operatives who have joined forces with the Mexican drug cartels. Terror attacks similar to those in Boston, along with roadside IEDs are very likely going to be a fact of life in America. We could’ve forestalled this with a stronger border control policy and better vetting of immigrants, but ... we can’t offend muslims now, can we?
Brave new world, folks.
Unfortunately, that's not in the cards. The Repubs in Congress won't initiate impeachment action, and the Senate sure as hell won't vote for his removal from office. So we're stuck with that turd until he decides to detach himself.
*
I did a job for a Muslim from Albania. Pretty nice guy. I’m thinking he would have been a good Christian if only the Byzantine Empire would have remained strong.
Most of the Muslims I have known have been very good people. Most are people who simply worship the God of Abraham in their daily prayers and listen to quiet voice of conscience, or natural law, which we (Christians & Jews -—and most world’s religions) all hear when we pray (you know, that one that tells us to “do unto other...”). Most of the radicals I have seen are poorly educated, but then delve into the tenets of the Koran and Sura when they find themselves seeking God as they try to deal with some issue governing a tragedy or their purpose in life. When they do this, it appears they pick up on the religious justifications for the hatred and revenge they desire and then act upon it..... I am not an Islamic scholar by any means, but there is plenty of justification in those two books for the most carnal and violent expressions of human desires. When “Christians” commit atrocities “in the name of God,” it is in direct contradiction to any Christian teaching. This I believe is where we truly hit the clash of cultures.
Thanks, Will Do!
Hi Scott,
You are correct on the Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad connections.....I skipped over them in a semi-successful attempt at brevity;-)
Were the 19 hijackers of 9-11 poorly educated? Bin Laden? The Tsarnaev brothers? The left would like people to believe that poverty and ignorance motivates these murderers, but history shows that many of the most dedicated have college degrees.
Amberdawn,
The 9/11 high jackers and the Tsarnaev brothers were largely the exceptions to the rule and represent the “cream of the crop” as far as bombers go on education. The eight “pilots” of 9/11 had to have some English capability and the most basic of flying skills making them the top 1/10th of the top 1% in terms of education of suicide bombers. Most of the 9/11 high jackers were “muscle” in the cabins and some were reported to speak only broken English. There is speculation that many of the “muscle” guys did know they were on suicide missions.
Most suicide bombers in the Middle East are typically recruited from among the poorest and least educated of their populations. The reason they are such great candidates for “martyrdom” is they have little in their futures to look forward to in terms of career or education. They are recruited/ manipulated with the basest of motivations(life in paradise with 72 virgins). Plus there are/were huge payoffs (@ $25K) to their families from Iran and or Saddam for doing suicide bomb missions against Israel or US forces in the Middle East.
Often times, what passes for education in the Middle East is little more than learning to read just well enough to read the Koran. The Koran is often treated as the only book of knowledge worth reading, therefore no other subject is necessary for intensive study. Students are often passed along from grade to grade with top marks as they would loose face if they were failed. Going to college generally depends on family ties and money, and less on true academic performance. This creates a rub for many of them when they enter colleges in the US and Europe, encounter true Academic rigor, and fail. — They “lose face” and it is easier to take offense at the discrimination from the infidels than to face the facts of failure or poor performance. I recall one of the profiles of Mohammed Atta touched on his disaffection with German society when he was studying in Hamburg.
The Tsarnaev brothers were not particularly well educated. The older brother had quit college, and the younger was apparently on the path flunking out. Although they were bombers, they were not suicide bombers.
The leaders in the organizations like Bin Laden, and his deputy Al-Zawahiri (an Egyptian Medical Doctor), typically had at least some college education and some foreign language capabilities. But they were not suicide bombers. This make since from a cold and calculating organizational perspective. Why waste the better educated people who could make bombs and provide organizational leadership, when there are so many illiterate and uneducated to use for suicide fodder?
Hope this answers your questions.
Thanks for commenting.
V/R
Bill
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