Monday, June 5, 2017

Lessons from the London attacks


I noted four elements in the torrent of news reports following the terror attacks in London last Saturday night.

First, Frank Gaffney warns that this is an escalation in more than just extremism.

“My view is that we are no longer facing random acts of terrorism,” says Frank Gaffney, a terror expert who is president of the Washington-based Center for Security Policy. “We have reached a tipping point. This is now an insurgency.”

Gaffney, who has warned of the dangers of Islamic extremism for years, thinks this latest spate of attacks is the natural evolution of years of recruitment among British Muslims by terror cells like ISIS, the Muslim Brotherhood and Al Qaeda.

“The Muslim terrorist population in Britain and Europe no longer feels constrained to live by stealth,” Gaffney says. “They have built an infrastructure, they have put it in place, and now they are moving up to the next level.”

Gaffney calls the new phenomenon “Sharia Supremacism.” And he warns that the United States is on the same trajectory.

There's more at the link.  For all that the left wing likes to describe him as a conspiracy theorist (and some of his earlier pronouncements have been too much for me to swallow), this time, I think he's right.

Next, the Metropolitan Police had some advice for Britons under attack - and, in an unarmed society, I guess it's all they could do.

The Met have tweeted a warning to Londoners to get to a place of safety.
The graphic read: 'You must:

  • Run - to a place of safety. This is a better option that to surrender or negotiate. If there's nowhere to go, then ...
  • Hide - Turn your phone to silent and turn off vibrate. Barricade yourself in if you can.
  • Tell - the police by calling 999 when it is safe to do so

Again, more at the link.

For the life of me, I can't imagine how cowering in fear will ever solve the problem.  Very fortunately, I live in a country, and a part of that country, where I don't have to cower.  In this part of the world, terrorists would live a short and 'interesting' life the moment they tried everything, because a lot of people (including yours truly) are usually armed.  There's only one way to stop a terrorist, and I'm grateful that I'm in a position to do so if I have to.  Sure, I may not succeed - but at least I won't have to die cowering in terror, because I don't have the means to defend myself, my loved ones, and my fellow citizens!  What's more, some of those same fellow citizens will avenge me within seconds.

Not content with disarming her people, the British Prime Minister is doubling down on the 'nanny state' by seeking new restrictions on their freedom of speech.

“We cannot allow this ideology the safe space it needs to breed,” May said.

“Yet that is precisely what the Internet and the big companies that provide Internet-based services provide,” May continued. “We need to work with allied democratic governments to reach international agreements that regulate cyberspace to prevent the spread of extremist and terrorism planning.”

More at the link.

If you could limit such restrictions to those who are terrorists or criminals, fine:  but you can't.  Inevitably, they'll affect all of us - and they'll be administered at the whim of bureaucrats and technocrats, who'll exercise unelected, unfettered control.  Free speech is dangerous - but it's also necessary.  Any restriction on it can be - and, historically, usually has been - used to silence opposition or independence as well.  Just watch what happens when the powers that be decide to redefine the meaning of 'terrorism' or 'pornography' or 'incitement' to cover whatever it is that they're trying to shut down.  Once the gateposts have been erected, Big Brother will expand and/or move them at will, and our freedom of speech will be permanently impaired.  Sorry, Mrs. May.  Freedom of speech is more important than the threat du jour.

Finally, it appears that the mainstream media are at it again.

Below is a video of the behind-the-scenes work CNN did to stage the photo-op with Muslims holding up signs that read, ‘ISIS WILL LOSE’.

. . .

The original post came from Mark Antro, a Londoner who captured the video:

. . .

Antro also notes that white police officers walked out of the scene and were replaced with Asian officers.

More at the link, including links to the videos concerned.

Fake news, indeed!  It's yet another pointed reminder to trust nothing that comes through the mainstream media, even if it's on multiple outlets, unless and until you've been able to confirm it through more trustworthy sources.  Many, perhaps most, mainstream journalists and news editors are part of the problem, and have lost most, if not all, of their credibility.

Peter

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Might be time to smuggle arms to the Brits. It could be called Arms for Saxons.

R

Paul, Dammit! said...

I bet you could start the arms export for Britain from Boston. There's still got to be some of the infrastructure that was used to get weapons to Ireland until the peace.

Until the majority of the British police and at least some of the general population is armed with more than rape whistles and good running shoes, what is the incentive for terrorists to stop?

Zeke OF Confettii said...

If only the terrorizers were Catholic, the anguished​ English would know how to deal with them. 😙

Anonymous said...

And this is the country that survived the Blitz ?

Anonymous said...

That Britain vanished quite some time ago.

JackCrow

Jonathan H said...

In Britain and parts of Europe, yes, an insurgency is DEFINITELY underway - in the US, no. It is interesting to see how few acts of terror have succeeded in the US compared to in Europe over the last few years. It would be interesting to delve more deeply into the differences. I'm sure one of them is the much smaller Muslim community in the US and the greater difficulty of travel between 'interesting' parts of the world and the US. Additionally, compared to Europe, more American Muslims are integrated into US society, with productive jobs and other ways that they have become part of, and benefited from, US society.
Anyone else have thoughts on the subject?

Old NFO said...

Sadly, the Britain of old is no more... Although it DOES appear that at least a couple of folks DID attempt to fight back with chairs and bottles...

rognuald said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Uncle Lar said...

Truthfully, at the time of the action does it really matter whether the person(s) bent on mass murder are inspired by jihad or because Ug the mud god told them so?
What matters in the moment is that every such incident has ended when the perpetrators are met with armed force, whether by law enforcement or by armed citizens.
Here in most of the US we still have that ability, no thanks to our liberal gun banning betters.
Britain has surrendered that ability not just for their citizens, but for 90% of their cops as well.
Until that changes such attacks will not end, and the body counts will continue to rise.
And not to belittle motive for the long haul, eventually Islam must experience a reformation or the rest of the world will be forced to take extreme action against it.

Unknown said...

It does matter, in that there is no institutional support for murder in the name of Ug.

I'm afraid that the Reformation of Islam is the problem.
Al-Wahab and the rest were very interested in getting back to the words of their false prophet and the recollections of his followers.
They largely succeeded.
It isn't the Sufis that feel the obligation to conquer the world for their dark and hungry god.

TheOtherSean said...

While I would agree that there does not seem to be an Islamic insurgency here in the US, I would argue that we've been witnessing behavior at least bordering upon insurgency, perpetrated by the Left against the Trump administration and all who oppose Progressive policies.

Anonymous said...

They are still in the 'building the support network' and 'increasing the reservoir population' here in the US. Have no doubt that their goal is still the same as the last 1000 years, everyone under islam.

Once they have the numbers, the safe houses, the bank accounts, the network of mosques and homes of sympathizers, they will increase their attacks.

Don't forget, they're already attacking.

Orlando
San Bernadino
Oregon
Garland TX
at least 2 foiled 1999 plots
9-11-02

and that's just off the top of my head.

They are coming, they are here.

nick

JohninMd.(HELP?!??) said...

After the van stopped running over folks, the three knifers jumped out to do their thing, stabbing everyone possible. One of their first victims was an un-armed Constable. One baton against three knife-wielding fanatics. What if he'd had a sidearm? Enland is dead. All that's left is the "UK".... The hum you hear in the distance is Churchill spinning in his grave...

Will said...

Keep in mind that English police carry concealed, when armed with a handgun. Who and when depends on time and location, and other concerns. Tightly restricted, and mostly disliked by them. It gets turned in at end of shift, and every round must be accounted for. They're not well trained, either. (These are not the officers that man the Gun Cars, with carbines and such.)
An officer who shoots someone will be ostracized by his fellow Bobbies. It's entirely possible that they might not resort to the use of it while under attack, and this would never be mentioned to the public.

Nate Winchester said...

I would love to see Peter debate this guy.