Kenya mall attack continues
Despite promises yesterday to end the stand off by the Kenyan government, the Westgate Mall in Nairobi is still being held by al-Shabbab terrorists. The casualty toll has stabilized, according to Fox News at 68 dead and about 175 wounded. Sixty three are still missing.
The source tells Fox News that the U.S. intelligence community believes the attack is a “hot” and “major event” because it is outside the normal scope of al-Shabaab and the alleged “multi- national character” of the attackers.
New York Rep. Peter King, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said on ABC’s “This Week” that al-Shabab is “one of the only Al Qaeda affiliates which actually has actively recruited here in the United States.”
CNN wonders if the same thing could happen here in the US;
It would not take too much sophistication to try a similar attack here, the official who spoke to Pamela Brown said.
“The worst case scenario is a bunch of these kids coming back, buying weapons in the United States some place like Minneapolis or Chicago and going after one of our malls here,” Bob Baer, CNN’s national security analyst, said Sunday. “They are indefensible especially with a well-trained group. There’s nothing you can do about it. And I guarantee you that the FBI is going to be on it today.”
In the past few years, federal prosecutors say they have thwarted two planned attacks on malls, each of which would have been carried out by single attacker….
Tom Clancy, who predicted the use of commercial aircraft as terrorist weapons years before 9-11, also wrote about a fictional attack on several malls throughout the country a couple of years back. I went looking for Kenyan gun laws to see if gun control could be a solution to preventing terrorist attacks here, but apparently, the Kenyan government requires registration and requires that a potential owner provide the government with an excuse to own a gun, like personal protection. They have to renew their registration every year. Those scary black guns that the media calls “assault rifles” are forbidden in Kenya. The government also restricts the number of guns and the amount of ammunition a licensed gun owner can have.
So, unsurprisingly, Kenyan laws are much more restrictive than our own laws here in the US, basically, the Kenyan government has legislated that their citizenry become targets for people who don’t pay attention to their laws.
The House Committee on Homeland Security reported in 2011 that an estimated 40 Americans have joined Al-Shabaab in the last few years, including 24 from Minneapolis.
And so, federal law enforcement are working with the Somali-American community in Minneapolis to try to prevent other Al-Shabaab recruits from returning to the United States and committing similar acts
Yeah, well, they really don’t have to return if they never left, do they?
Category: Terror War
I will say this about some of the leaders in the “Somali community”, here in Minneapolis; they have worked with local, state, and federal officials to try and curb recruitment of young men joining the terrorists, but the “moderates” throughout the muslim community here haven’t been as cooperative as some would hope. A lot of them still have an “us against them” mentality with us infidels.
Al Shabab, I’d be surprised if they were just limited to the Mnneapolis area. There is a huge influx of Somali “refugees” in Lowell, Ma. as well… I was up there recently and while it never feels safe in that shithole, it took on a whole new feeling of 3rd world hell the last time I was there recently.
@2: It’s not just Minnesota (I guess one of the other terrorists is from KC, Missouri), but, of the 40 fighters, from the US, according to the FBI, in Al-Shabbab, 24 are from Minnesota.
Comrades in Arms:
I consider the Armed Forces Retirement Home in Washington, D.C., and the Armed Forces Retirement Home in Gulfport, Mississippi, to be ideal targets, as they are both high profile and ridiculously soft.
Everybody’s favorite great grandparents, almost all of whom are bona fide war heroes and heroines, reside here, and officially, no firearms are permitted, with even the Security personnel forbidden to be armed, even though firearms are LEGAL in Mississippi, with many residents (myself included) holding Mississippi Firearms Permits.
In the most likely scenario, I’m guessing the Islamic suicide squad(s) would take over the crowded mess hall during the noon meal, and invite the local news media in for a live, coast to coast television broadcast as they torture everyone’s beloved great grandparent(s), who are being forced on their knees, weeping pitifully, to beg for their lives.
Yes, I’ve reported my concerns to the executive staff, but their response was to send in a team of psychiatrists from Walter Reed Army Medical Center to examine ME!
I reckon that might have been partly because I make no secret of my personal opinion that EVERYONE here should be armed.
I also upset the executive staff when I warned about the impending total collapse of our national economy, and the possible (or probable) effect that will have on life at the Armed Forces Retirement Home.
Like I told the shrink, they don’t like the message, so their solution is to shoot the messenger.
I told the shrink that if I were him, I’d be really upset that the folks who ran the Armed Forces Retirement Home were wasting his time like that.
After I told him that, he never returned.
Mox nix.
Xin loi.
Thank you.
John Robert Mallernee
Armed Forces Retirement Home
Gulfport, Mississippi 39507
Highly amusing that the second source the talking head mentions for buying an “assault weapon” is Chicago where they are thoroughly banned.
This is the latest update on Nairobi: http://news.msn.com/world/witness-kenya-mall-attackers-targeting-non-muslims
I won’t say I’m getting suspicious of people who wear non-USA clothing, but I’m paying far more attention than I used to when I shop for groceries.
@2–don’t forget Lewiston, Maine.
“Highly amusing that the second source the talking head mentions for buying an “assault weapon” is Chicago where they are thoroughly banned.”
That reminds me of an article re the Navy Yard shooting that mentioned that an ERT “with HK-416 assault weapons” was allegedly told to stand down.
Also, speaking generally, laws in Kenya are a bit different than laws in the US. For example, Kenya, like the U.S., technically does have some actual traffic laws…. (A cynical person would say that laws anywhere in Africa are enacted to ensure the cost of bribes keeps up with inflation.)
I remember, in the weeks after 9/11, how there were rumors of backpack bombs being taken to malls. The malls were deserted and many parents refused to let their kids trick-or-treat that year.
I always marveled that something like that hasn’t happened, because with our open borders, it would be sooo easy. Thanks to the Kenya incident, if they didn’t think of it before, they’re thinking of it now.
Speaking of Tom Clancy, both my son and I had read Debt of Honor and when we watched the second plane hit the Towers, we both said, at the same time, “Debt of Honor”. Then we listened to talking heads say things like “who would have thought of using planes as missles?” and we said “Tom Clancy thought of it years ago”.
“It would not take too much sophistication to try a similar attack here, the official who spoke to Pamela Brown said.
“The worst case scenario is a bunch of these kids coming back, buying weapons in the United States some place like Minneapolis or Chicago and going after one of our malls here,” Bob Baer, CNN’s national security analyst, said Sunday. “They are indefensible especially with a well-trained group.”
Yep, I could EASILY see a group of Al-Shish-Kabab Somalis attacking and taking over a large major shopping mall in the US, especially in those sheeple-driven gun-denied cities like NY Shitty, Shitcago, Sham Francisco, Detroitlet, Lost Angeles. Anywhere else, those muzzies would soon realize they had a fight on their hands, well trained group or not.
I can’t find the quote now, or the story (I think) it came from, but here’s my best go at it:
A woman who was shot, as she was being carried out, said to the effect, “This just shows that this attack crosses all religious lines.”
All I could think is W-T-F!! have YOU been ingesting lately?! I hope it was the shock from being shot speaking, but in all cases, it was an irrational comment.
The nature of malls makes the more intrusive approaches problematic. There are a couple of Israeli companies that consult (as Israel has managed to avoid having a mall attack) on everything from architecture to surveillance to staffing. Regarding how feasible the latter (increasing standards for mall personnel) is, the most common response is, “If people could meet the higher standards, they wouldn’t be mall cops.”
On the other hand, this would be awesome: http://www.flickr.com/photos/99626732@N07/9908794483/
* One of the more interesting things the Israeli’s do at home is scent-profiling: In Israel, the terrorists tend to use perfumes and oils before suicide attacks; people and dogs can be trained to alert to the odors.
There! Found it! On another site, from the London Daily Mail Online, the money quote:
“Elaine Dang, 26, a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, has been named as one of the injured and is recovering in hospital today. She tweeted on Sunday: ‘I am recovering. Thank you for all the love and support – in Kenya and overseas. Terrorism knows no religion.’
She then posted a picture of herself and added: ‘Proof that I am OK – hanging out with some of my best friends in Nairobi.'”
My emotions and expressions remain the same – WTF! Woman (not lady), I got some words for you!
I consider Elaine’s statement a bit off the mark.
Terrorism IS a religion. Its mantra is ‘KILL, KILL, KILL’. It has many followers.
Terrorism knows no religion huh? Well, the terrorists know only one religion: Islam. And the efforts of the National Park Service can’t change that. Take a look see at this:
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/09/23/national-park-service-produces-videos-praising-islam/
Terrorism is a tactic used by fanatics. Over time, they have many causes. The current crop of terrorists primarily are using a particular religion (Islam) as their excuse to be terrorists. But, it is important to always keep in mind that nuts/fanatics will find whatever excuse they need to justify themselves and their extreme intolerance for views which differ from theirs.
B Woodman-“Elaine Dang, 26, a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, has been named as one of the injured and is recovering in hospital today. She tweeted on Sunday: ‘I am recovering. Thank you for all the love and support – in Kenya and overseas. Terrorism knows no religion.’
Not even the hard truth of actual interaction with reality can be allowed to intrude on the multi-culti fable she has been taught. Believing that “the other” is anything but a friend who hasn’t yet been met, would run contrary to her indoctrinated sense of self-only a right winger could believe anything different. Better to be dead, but still smug.