Abortive Brussels attack could have been much worse the headline at Reuters reports. Copy that (literally). “A suitcase bomb packed with nails and gas bottles could have caused heavy casualties, Belgium’s prime minister said on Wednesday, a day after a soldier shot dead a Moroccan national attempting an attack on Brussels’ Central Station.” In his own words . . .
“We have avoided an attack that could have been a great deal worse,” Charles Michel told reporters after a national security council meeting following Tuesday evening’s incident, in which no one else was hurt . . .
He then ran back up to the concourse where commuters had been milling around and rushed toward a soldier shouting “Allahu akbar” – God is greatest, in Arabic. The soldier, part of a routine patrol, shot him several times. Bomb disposal experts checked the body and found he was not carrying more explosives.
It should be pointed out that identifying and “neutralizing” a bomber before he detonates explosives is an extremely difficult not-to-say-entirely-likely task. But — it’s not beyond the realm of possibility. As the Belgian police proved.
Carry on. Oh, and I don’t know if I’d queue-up at an underground station in the immediate aftermath of a terrorist attack. But that’s just me.
Belgian Police Shoot Bomber Before He Could Trigger Massive Explosion: Defensive Gun Use of the Day
Here let me fix that for you:
London Police Run Away as Bomber Triggers Massive Explosion: Should Have Been …..
Uh, yeah, except no.
The last London attack, the Police most certainly ran towards the three terrorists who had already been reported as wearing bomb belts (which admittedly turned out to be fakes, in the end). The previous London attack likewise. In both cases even unarmed Police officers ran towards the threat: in the Westminster attack one of these officers lost his life, and in the London Bridge attack one was seriously injured. In the Manchester bombing, LEOs and emergency services ran toward the aftermath of the bombing without knowing if there might be other attackers out there intending to target first responders (a common tactic in many parts of the world).
By all means criticise the British legal system, if that’s your thing. I agree with many on here that it is far from perfect.
But don’t (inaccurately) take the piss out of men and women who routinely move toward the threat to protect others.
Obviously, the Belgian soldier’s operational philosophy was “Kill them first and let God and the investigators sort out the details.” Worked this time.
Good to know that the Belgian patrol (of which above soldier was a part) was armed with live ammo – in case. How many times have similar patrols been only for show and had no ammo?
Sadly in much of Europe, they don’t have a choice but to take public transportation. The cities are ancient with narrow streets that don’t support much in the way of traffic. Fuel is expensive, and the private ownership of cars is discouraged by high taxes and inspection requirements. The average European is screwed. His country is importing these nuts by the tens of thousands. They have disarmed him, and they are forcing him into contact with these madmen through onerous requirements for owning private cars.
Ummm, more like importing in the millions. I have said before that progressivism is a death cult. This just proves the point where progressives are inviting into their home countries a much more aggressive, violent and prolific culture that will either blow up or cut the heads off of individual native Europeans, and/or out breed them by an order of magnitude of reproductive prowess.
“Sadly in much of Europe, they don’t have a choice but to take public transportation. The cities are ancient with narrow streets that don’t support much in the way of traffic. Fuel is expensive, and the private ownership of cars is discouraged by high taxes and inspection requirements.”
LOL, I suppose that’s one way to look at it. As much as I love cars, I’m afraid you’ve got it you’ve got it all backward here. Let me fix it for you:
“Because of the traditional layouts of many European cities it is possible to walk nearly everywhere, and because of the narrow streets there is little vehicle traffic, making the walking truly pleasant and the cities beautiful. For destinations that are beyond walking distance there is convenient, affordable and efficient public transportation. As a result, many Europeans are freed from the massive expense and hassle of car ownership and their cities are so marvelous that millions of people come from around the world to visit them.”
Where would you rather visit: Toledo, Spain or Toledo, Ohio?
If my choice is between Toledo, Ohio and Cleveland, Ohio — the infamous “Mistake on the Lake” — I’ll take Toledo, Ohio. (Vomits slightly in mouth.)
Been to Europe, overrated and no safer than Baltimore.
I’ll choose Toledo, OH and keep my human right of self defense, thanks.
NonLinear9,
Are you in Sweden? If you love being dependent on your government so much, you should be.
I’ve been to Spain and other European countries. I was paid to go to those countries in the first place, and you could not pay me to go back. I’ll take Toledo any day, thanks. If I ever have the desire to be surrounded by weird people while not having any rights to defend myself against them, I’ll visit southern California or New York City.
Fuel isn’t expensive. Fuel is onerously taxed to MAKE it expensive.
Ah no…this does not qualify as DGU of the day. Just “elites” doing their job in disarmed Europe. Maybe even a long-lost French speaking relative. But I’m happy he met allah 🙂
Ah no…this does not qualify as DGU of the day. Just “elites” doing their job in disarmed Europe. Maybe even a long-lost French speaking relative. But I’m happy he met allah 🙂
It’s funny how Aloha Snackbar has come to mean “Shoot me before I do something stupid”.
Nice.
It’s nice that terrorism comes with an audible warning.
Clearly, the officer was using his “little grey cells.”
Was the soldiers name, perchance, Hurcule?
I believe you mean ‘Hercule,’ Inspector, but no matter… It is pleasure at any time to meet a fellow devotee of the deductive arts. ;{D
It would appear that his bomb simply malfunctioned, rather than that he was shot before he could trigger it.
Which is fine. There are two basic ways a bombmaker can screw up. This way produces less collateral damage, and usually affords greater opportunities for intelligence gathering. But I confess, the other way bombmakers screw up has a certain poetic justice to it.
So, really more of a “Should Have Double-Checked the Detonator” of the day, then…
…because there’s been a minimum of one of these suicide attacks nearly every single day of Ramadan this year
and just think of all the virgins spared!
Give that soldier a pat on the back and everyone else a swift kick in the ass to keep up the good work.
Oh, Lord! Can’t you just see the liberal progressive socialistic commie Democrats demanding to know what about the bomber’s rights???? If it happened here, the bomber would have had the full protections of the Constitution the Dems despise.
I hope they drilled him with some quality FN Herstal products! I saw lots of SCARs in the photos from British coverage(which I haven”t seen in American news coverage).
Yea, because they are too SCARy.
Lame, Swilson…lame.
Was surprised to see military and police types with I presume FN SCAR’s. And evidently they know how to use them and use them swiftly and efficiently if not with “extreme prejudice”.
If the past week or so is any indication, expect this sort of thing to become the norm. Low-level cannon fodder and wannabes devising primitive, yet effective, ways of spreading terror. And even though no one was injured this time, the terrorist was successful in spreading terror, everyone in the vicinity of the underground station, and now the rest of us, have been reminded (as though we needed it) that we are susceptible to this style of attack, or worse, anytime, anywhere. We can never “feel” truly safe (total safety being an illusion). Liberals and Dems who are so concerned with “feelz” should think about that. No amount of gun control will ever change that.
Well said.
It’s also an excellent argument for training terms of medical capability.
People get heated about TQ stories and other related posts but the truth is that shit is of equal if not more value than carrying.
The time frame to stop a terrorist is small, the time frame to help the injured survive long enough to get to proper trauma care is much, much longer and therefore more likely something you’ll actually be able to do.
No, you can’t just walk around decked out like a combat medic or a Corpsman but you can fill your head with some of the applicable knowledge which does three things for you. First, it encourages you to have equipment maybe not right at hand but somewhere where you could get to it given some time (your car perhaps depending on your life situation). Secondly, that knowledge gives you a significantly enhanced ability to improvise if you can’t get what you need. You know what works and what doesn’t so you know how to make something that will work. Third, that knowledge breeds confidence. Confidence is the enemy of panic and panic fucking kills.
How people choose to live is a personal decision but part of hardening society against this kind of tomfuckery is to have the population prepared to respond when the shit gets real. That’s why we carry guns and have fire extinguishers, right? So why not apply that thought process to the aftermath of a DGU/terrorist attack/car accident?
It would be kinda nice if we had a society where more people were willing to take time out of their life to prepare to help others in their moment of need. It would also make us not just logistically more resilient but mentally more resilient as well.
“He then ran back up to the concourse where commuters had been milling around and rushed toward a soldier shouting “Allahu akbar” – God is greatest, in Arabic. The soldier, part of a routine patrol, shot him several times…”
Good thing the guy actually had a bomb or that soldier would be a heap of liberal trouble.
According to what I’ve read, the Israelis first figured out that “overloading a bombers nervous system” with numerous rapid bullet impacts prevented the bombers from detonating their bombs. The terrorists countered with “dead man switches”. Fortunately, the Belgian bomber wasn’t up to speed.
It’s amazing to me that the EU is browbeating and threatening all member-states to accept more jihadists, and Brussels is the de facto capital of the EU, and yet the crazy muzzies are intent on blowing Brussels off the face of the Earth.
The EU is the jihad’s best friend.