David Ignatius at the Washington Post talks about the technicalities of the attack on Mumbai, and admits it would be hard to stop a similar attack elsewhere.
Many years ago - about 30 - I knew a retired combat colonel who remarked that terrorists wouldn't be able to kill innocent citizens if the citizens were armed to fight back. That was many years before the advent of the suicide bombers, and he might have modified his statement a bit, but if you think about it, the fact that whenever a Palestinian terrorist uses a method that doesn't kill him immediately some bystander does it for him does rather make the point.
Not everybody needs to walk around armed to the teeth. But yes, in cities with a reasonable random sprinkling of armed and trained fighters among the citizens, Mumbai-like attacks will be far less lethal. Sorry, but that's the truth.
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FROM CAROL HERMAN
UTube has an interesting clip; taken by an Indian fella, with his cell phone. And, it shows what preceeded the capture of the "famous terrorist" with a face. Since a Reuter's photographer, using a telephoto lens; captured this image BEFORE two ordinary citizens came forward ...
Here's the story.
It seems a few policemen tried to arrest this terrorist, and he killed three of them. THIS is what angered "the mob." And, two Indian fellas stepped over to the KILLER, and began beating him with sticks. He went down. And, this really brought more men forward, hitting this bastard on the head. And, kicking him in the testicles.
What's most interesting, though, is that the cell phone video ALSO captured the sound. And, guess what you hear? POLICE WHISTLES. As if the policeman was trying to approach by BLOWING HIS WHISTLE, so that the mob would give him room to get in. And, arrest the killer.
What did it take for a few men, in the crowd to respond this way?
Since, at first, the Indians waiting in the train station were counting on the police. And, here, the 3 policemen get shot.
BINGO.
A cultural shift right before your eyeballs. While another man, with nothing more than a cell phone that could capture video images ... held his cell phone up. And, photographed the entire disturbance.
So what does this prove? You don't need to be armed to be dangerous.
But you do need a cultural shift. (In the past? Indians, as soon as they got their freedom, chose Gandhi. WHich means flower throwing became customized.) Here, too, the Pakistani'a "learned" that the Indians get intimidated if you threaten them.
NO MORE.
Cultures shift when the needs arise. (Extremists, however, need not apply).
I've just finished a most interesting book, Malcolm Gladwell's OUTLIERS. It's his new one. Previously he had written the TIPPING POINT, and BLINK. (In Blink he describes ideas you have on the fly ... those gut reactions ... being just as good as long time studies.)
And, in OUTLIERS, he points out CONDITIONS that are necessary for success. Has nothing to do with the genes you inherit.
Of course, in India, now, the police are roiling. 3 of their top commanders were killed by the terrorists. And, a few ministers, who were the politicians in charge; have at least "offered" to resign.
In other words? Up ahead, you bet that Hindus, and Buddists, will be discussing terrorism. And, the needs the terrorists have in choosing "places to perform" that give them really good headlines. This brought them. But it also showed them as FAILURES. How so? They were sent out to kill "at least 5000." And, all they got were about 300 innocent people. WHich means their failure rate sets at 95%.
They also can't repeat this trick. And, Pakistan? Well, they've been seeing the "proof" coming out. And, now, India is demanding that Pakistan turn over about 20 terrorists, who are hiding ... within the ISI? Or with their help?
I also think Arik Sharon said it best. He says when there's gunfire, it's NORMAL to act cowardly. (Patton also said this, too!) So you have to train your troops to RUN INTO GUNFIRE.
Arik did this by expending enormous sums on live rounds; and exposing the drafted IDF soldiers to LEARN the necessary behaviors. Which, believe it or not, (per Sharon and Patton), your enemy is JUST AS AFRAID.
Now, your advantage at running in is that you're in control of where you shoot. And, it's unlikely (unless its hidden sniper fire), for nazis, enemies, high-on-dope terrorists, to be all that accurate. And, that's your advantage. You can be accurate! When you've rehearsed at the firing range; you can kill.
Now, all the terrorists want is publicity.
So, again, a man with a cell phone ... just reacting by holding it high enough to capture what was going on ... when a few men got angry enough (at the killing of cops), to run in punching. Kicking. And, also PICKING UP STICKS.
So, you hear the whistle. That's how the cops in India are taught to react. I'll bet the expectations now are a lot "less Gandhi." And, a lot more firing range exposures; where those who can't shoot straight have no careers. (You need to motivate people, people.)
By the way, "30 years ago" ... or whenever the terrorism started in Israel, it was busses that blew up.
Please go and notice how much more dangerous your crazy drivers are; than anything that brings the terrorists the media spotlights they crave. Need a better explanation? You've won more battles than you've lost.
Now do something with the kids of extremists, who have no jobs. And, no skills. And, who cannot get their minds off their misbehaviors.
For Israeli police, this is their new training ground. Such a pity.
AGAIN, FROM CAROL HERMAN
My son practices WING CHUN. One of the Kung-Fu Martial Arts. (One of many. There are about 50 different types out there.)
My son is not involved in "black belts," or any belts, as a matter of fact.
My son practices his art in street clothes. He also helps teach this course at UC San Diego.
And, from what I've learned, WING CHUN was a beautiful female, about to be married to a brute. When a wonderful "elder" decided to teach her ways to protect herself.
After 9/11, I remember telling my son that many Americans were "learning how" to defend themselves on aircraft; so that they wouldn't sit in their seats. Terrified to react to the terrorists. He told me, for instance; he could rise and start tossing the overhead baggage onto the floor.
He said he could roll up a magazine and aim it at a terrorists eyeballs. He could do this, too, with a full container of soda. That what people didn't know, was that they can fight terror, with movements of their own.
When I see him "practice," what he does with his arms looks very slow motion. Again, nothing that would rouse suspicion that he can flip ya on your arse faster than a terrorist can "back up to shoot."
But he practices a lot! He draws many friends who also practice this, as ADULTS. (As a kid? He wasn't at all interested in martial arts.)
In Mumbai, the one terrorist that got caught, (I'm repeating this) ... was CAUGHT BY THE CROWD. How many? At first two men. (And, since the terrorist needed medical treatment for a hand injury, I'll extrapolate that among the first things these two guys did ... was to get to his hand holding the gun.)
No, the terrorist, having just killed 3 policemen, didn't expect the crowd of Indians in the train station to do more than cower in fear. SURPRISE!
And, by the time you hear (if you've watched the UTube clip) the cops coming ... all you really hear is that they are repeated blowing their whistles. While about ten men, some with sticks, have made sure the terrorist is laying their prone on the ground. Perhaps protecting this face with his hands? Or the other choice? His testicles.
I don't think you have to worry in Israel, either. Given how the terrorists with bulldozers got stopped by a lone individual, who hops off his motor scooter; borrows a gun from the crowd. And, lunges up on the cab's step. SHOOTING.
Terrorists need to be killed instantly. And, on an instant, you're in safe surroundings if you know people can react, and not just cower.
Not only that, but the usual "suicide bomber" no longer gets days of play in the media. (Or you'd know that Pakistan is now having a time of it with exploding terrorists hardly making a dent in the global news cycle.)
Not so Mumbai! This will be talked about among many Indians for some time to come. And, the old "Gandhi the gonif" faker ... will no longer be how people in crowds react. Of course, the catalist is ANGER. And, it struck in the terrorized tourists who were minding their own businesses, waiting to board trains. Or meet family coming to visit.
All that is unknown? How much money did the preparations cost? And, how effective "as a miliatary" operation was it? The Indian government isn't backing down. And, thank goodness they're no longer throwing flowers.
You mean you didn't know India is now on full alert?
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