July 15, 2016

"The death toll from the terrorist attack on a Bastille Day fireworks celebration in the southern French city of Nice rose to 84 on Friday..."

"... as the government raced to establish the attacker’s identity, extended a national state of emergency and absorbed the shock of a third major terrorist attack in 19 months," the NYT reports.
News organizations in France and Tunisia identified the man believed to have committed the attack as Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, 31, a delivery-truck driver who was born on Jan. 3, 1985, and raised in Msaken, a town in northeastern Tunisia, and who moved to France around 2005...

According to two officials briefed on the investigation but who were not authorized to discuss it publicly, Mr. Bouhlel had a history of petty crime, including burglary and theft, but his name was not in a French database of people suspected of being radicalized militants....

Only hours before the attack, [resident François] Hollande had confirmed that a nationwide state of emergency put in place after the November attacks would end on July 26...
ADDED: The NYT article does not refer to the method of attack in the headline or until the 5th paragraph of the article. The method of attack is particularly terrorizing, since motor vehicles are everywhere and no one has a plan to control them. 

150 comments:

Static Ping said...

The NYT article does not refer to the method of attack in the headline or until the 5th paragraph of the article.

The paper of record, everyone!

MadisonMan said...

Dreadful that I've become habituated to this kind of event.

Alexander said...

Between Hillary and Trump, Hillary is the nice candidate.

For once, I believe it.

Luke Lea said...

Tunisia, one of the most moderate Muslim countries, produces way more than its share of terrorists. Wonder why?

Pookie Number 2 said...

The most important thing to remember that clearly identifying the religious motivations of these sub-humans won't magically make the problem go away.

But it's important to note that the police are racists. Because.

madAsHell said...

Am I wrong?....or does the news cycle keep playing into Trump's hand?

ndspinelli said...

Nice is a hotbed of radical Islam and this it is not a surprise an attack hit this city. Obama is now calling for controls on truck sales.

narciso said...

Cannes as their expert callimachi points out, is a surprisingly strong hub fir Islamic state.

Nonapod said...

Kinda surprised something like this hasn't happened sooner. When you think about it:

- a car or truck can potentially do much more damage more quickly than a gun
- motor vehicles are far easier to acquire than guns
- nobody suspects someone driving a vehicle of deliberately using it as a weapon.

Ron said...

Correction: The Left wants to ban fully automatic trucks. Let's limit the amount of fuel per tank also!

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Inspector Clouseau to investigate a possible motive...

dreams said...

We may not be interested in war but war is interested in us, James Wosley on CNBC.

This from Roger Simon.

"Let us hope and pray he is up to it because we have reached an amazing moment in all our lives. Imagine a truck plowing across Times Square the way that one did down the Promenade des Anglais. How many people would be mowed down? It would dwarf what happened in Nice where, it has been reported, bodies flew like bowling pins.
Could it happen here? Of course. Was Barack Obama right to allow so many Syrian and Middle Eastern refugees to come to the United States virtually unvetted? Is Hillary Clinton right to actually increase that number by some huge amount? Are these two leaders crazy -- or sadistic?
No, they are hungry for votes - and that's worse. In fact, it's beyond reprehensible. Not just the votes of refugees but of the braindead morally narcissistic morons who support this policy and risk all our lives.
So my prediction is not just a prediction. It has an element of wish and a certain urgency. Donald Trump must be the next president of the United States."

https://pjmedia.com/diaryofamadvoter/2016/07/14/will-trump-win-in-a-blowout/2/

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

Perhaps it's worth noting that the truck's large windshield gave the terrorist a full view of his victims' horror for more than one mile's worth of driving.

Lot's of opportunity to change his mind.

Didn't happen.

Pookie Number 2 said...

Am I wrong?....or does the news cycle keep playing into Trump's hand?

It's not 'the news cycle', it's reality. Trump may be clumsy and unpolished, but he's not lying to himself or others about a very real problem.

TWW said...

"White Truck kills eighty four in Nice, France.

President Obama, unable to utter the words 'Islamic Terrorist' and noting the truck's color, referred to the murders as a 'hate crime' and renewed his call for stricter 'truck control' laws in the US."

Johnathan Birks said...

- motor vehicles are far easier to acquire than guns
Seriously, it's easier to get a truck than a book...

Tommy Duncan said...

May God bless the victims of this evil act.

The US political response is already being spun.

Bad optics abound for the Democrats, who have staked their claim to the Presidency on the foreign policy genius of Secretary State Hillary Clinton. Bad optics for Barack Obama in his game against the ISIS JV team. Bad optics for the EU in the wake of BREXIT. Bad optics for the progressive narrative on Islam.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

"The tragic paradox is that the subject of the Nice attack was the people celebrating liberty, equality and fraternity,” said European Union President Donald Tusk on Twitter.

The fact that its president considers that a paradox reveals so much about what is wrong with the European Union.

Rick said...

Did Prime Minister Manuel Valls explain to these wayward Frenchman that banning private gun ownership is the only responsible reaction to this event?

buwaya said...

Ultimately there will have to be a "Spanish solution" - a ban on Islam, and an expulsion of those who refuse to denounce it. Its all going to be very bloody one way or another.

traditionalguy said...

The Government's Cable Media Propaganda Outlets calling themselves CNN and MSNBC are proclaiming that this guy Mohammed is not a real Islamic terrorist, but he is just a nut case. They are right. All Muslims are nut cases or nut cases in waiting.

Hagar said...

CBS News reported this last night as "it looks like it might not have been an accident."
Yah think, Sherlock?

OT, all of them are still talking about Mr. Castile's "license to carry."
Google Minnesota gun laws and you find that in Minnesota, like in Illinois, you need a permit from the police to buy a handgun (which I think surely is unconstitutional?) and you may "carry" it in your car, provided it is unloaded and "cased."
I assume "cased" means the little hard plastic cases with a padlock new handguns come in these days.
This was not how Mr. Castile was "carrying" his handgun.

TRISTRAM said...

"Ignorance is Bliss said...

The fact that its president considers that a paradox reveals so much about what is wrong with the European Union."

They are taking your Nome de Plume to it's logical conclusion.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

The NYT article does not refer to the method of attack in the headline or until the 5th paragraph of the article

It could be worse, the MJS headline this morning was:

France reels as Bastille Day truck attack kills 84 in Nice

No news yet as to whether it was a domestic truck or a refugee truck.

damikesc said...

Sadly, I've wondered for years why there isn't a rash of shootings here on 7/4 since fireworks can cover up gun shots pretty well.

Terrible tragedy, but not wanting violence isn't the same thing as not having violence. It is coming for you.

Just wait until they decide to start attacking security areas in airports. Easy, target rich environment that will do more damage to a country's psyche than a repeat of 9/11.

Gahrie said...

Ultimately there will have to be a "Spanish solution" - a ban on Islam, and an expulsion of those who refuse to denounce it. Its all going to be very bloody one way or another.

I agree....when the Euros finally get fed up, the reaction is going to be very ugly...we still have a chance here to avoid bloodshed and brutality,...but we have to immediately restrict the immigration of Muslims, as we have done in the past.

Rick said...

buwaya puti said...
Ultimately there will have to be a "Spanish solution" - a ban on Islam, and an expulsion of those who refuse to denounce it. Its all going to be very bloody one way or another.


I'm not sure I would predict this as the outcome. But it is absolutely true the longer the left blocks a resolution the more severe that resolution will be.

Larry J said...

Pookie Number 2 said...
Am I wrong?....or does the news cycle keep playing into Trump's hand?

It's not 'the news cycle', it's reality. Trump may be clumsy and unpolished, but he's not lying to himself or others about a very real problem.


I was about to post the exact same thing. Since 9/11, we've been told that "Islam is a religion of peace" countless times. It's unfortunate that so many Islamists have not gotten the message. They've been too busy killing people to listen to the likes of Oprah and Obama.

Bill said...

Small children, wheel wells . . . dear God.

Original Mike said...

Hillary says that when she was Secretary she started the "first ever(!) international group to deal with global terrorism."

It doesn't seem to occur to her that she's touting her failure.

David Begley said...

If Hillary wins these terror attacks will continue. Not only have Obama and Clinton failed, but their STUPID policies created ISIS.

If you want more FAILURE in domestic and foreign affairs, then vote Clinton. Add in her corruption and I wonder how she gets above 30%.

Chuck said...

This NYT interactive shows just how far the truck went, and how far-reaching the carnage was:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/07/14/world/europe/trail-of-terror-france.html?mabReward=A5&moduleDetail=recommendations-1&action=click&contentCollection=Europe&region=Footer&module=WhatsNext&version=WhatsNext&contentID=WhatsNext&src=recg&pgtype=article

TreeJoe said...

Hagar: Did you read the letter to Mr. Castile granting him the license to carry? It was a full permit to carry from the Sheriff. And this is on the MN website about the permit to carry,

"If I have a permit to carry a pistol do I have to conceal the pistol?
No. Minnesota’s Personal Protection Act is a permit to carry law, not a conceal and carry law. The pistol does not need to be concealed, but can be concealed."

https://dps.mn.gov/divisions/bca/bca-divisions/administrative/pages/permit-to-carry-faq.aspx

Given this permit to carry, he was legally carrying it concealed.

Rick said...

Hagar said...
CBS News reported this last night as "it looks like it might not have been an accident."


Compare their process [everything must be absolutely confirmed before we admit anything] to their rush to anoint Tea Partiers guilty whenever a white person kills someone.

If there were any decent left-media people they'd be embarrassed.

Fernandinande said...

Bouhlel had a history of petty crime, including burglary and theft

Burglary isn't a "petty" crime, it's a major crime. NYT to the rescue!

In Europe, Islam and low IQ are good predictors of criminality, but "Islamic countries have lower IQ, so some of the predictiveness of Islam is probably due to that."

Whiz dumb from The Economist:
Fighting Islamic State with laughter and a listening ear

Rick said...

David Begley said...
If Hillary wins these terror attacks will continue.


While true if Trump wins these terror attacks will continue also. Let's not kid ourselves.

Anonymous said...

Trump calls for Congress to declare war on terrorism. How likely is this to happen?

TRISTRAM said...

We need a ban on assault trucks, stat!

buwaya said...

In the short term, of at least a decade, it doesnt matter who is elected, this all will continue regardless. One way or another policies will have to adjust, and any government of whatever ideology will have to implement them. The only difference is relatively small details of timing.

rhhardin said...

It's reported to have been a truck crash. Another highway death.

Something to make "moderate" Muslims have to defend their religion might be nice, say some sort of ridicule of it. PC prevents that approach, which actually might have a chance of working by producing some movement for a reformation inside the religion.

David Begley said...

Rick

Yes, but at least Trump would be fully committed to winning. Big difference. The will to win is important.

George111

If Ryan and McConnell scheduled a vote on a war resolution it would force the issue into the campaign and compel Congressmen to take sides.

A war resolution shows commitment and the will to win.

ISIS wants a final battle in Debiq, Syria. I say schedule a date and we will meet you there. On the appointed day, we nuke them.

rhhardin said...

Of course Muslims are killing each other too, but that seems to be about which nutballs wind up in charge.

Todd said...

Imagine for just a moment, if you will, that everything that President Three-putt says about this or any other of these recent terrorist attacked where to have been uttered by President Bush. Imagine the field day the press would have with "the utter cluelessness displayed by the Commander in Chief". It would be wall to wall "how incompetent and out of touch". How "feckless", etc.

Instead we get crickets or "an unsolvable problem", or the ever popular good old standbys of "more gun control" and "raciest whitey" is the cause.

The elites stand around with their thumbs up their collective asses more worried about the hicks in fly-over country than those that want to destroy modern civilization.

Well I guess the "most qualified person to EVER run for President" was right, "At this point, what difference does it make?"

Pookie Number 2 said...

Rick said...

While true if Trump wins these terror attacks will continue also. Let's not kid ourselves.


That's true, and it's a good point. But Trump will prioritize fighting Islamic terror over intentionally mendacious political correctness. There will be fewer terror attacks under Trump than under Hillary.

Michael said...

It is illegal, of course, to ban the immigration of Muslims. It is not illegal to ban people from counties which are predominately Muslim and that, sadly, must be done. I would also recommend the daily publishing of Mohammed cartoons until it can be proven that there is some agency amongst the Muslim cohort, proven by their ability to restrain themselves from riot and beheading at the sight of these cartoons. I think I would then tear down the mosques that blight the landscapes of the western, civilized, world and permit the adherents to worship from home. The banning of non-western garb in the western civilized, world would come next with special dispensation for religious Jews and Mennonites. Finally, the ancestral home towns of any terrorist would be obliterated after any terrorist attach in any town or hamlet or city of the western, civilized, world. Should three such attacks occur anywhere in the western, civilized, world the place called Medina would be eradicated. Mecca would go on the fourth. These protocols would be published in advance, of course, as fair warning. This would work.

We will probably hear later that Nice was the result of brake failure or a stuck accelerator.

TRISTRAM said...

she started the "first ever(!) international group to deal with global terrorism."

Depends on the definitions of started, first, ever, international, group, deal, global, and terrorism. Also probably she, the, to, and with.

See also: Allies, NATO, USMC, Barbary Pirates, etc.

Unknown said...

I honestly don't think the west is going to win this war against Islam. Europe will fall. They killed off most of their men that would and could resist in two horrific world wars. The Germans, who held off practically the whole world and almost conquered it, lost, and lost decisively. Now they watch their women get raped and throw in jail the people who protest.

The French? Well, they stir themselves for a day or two, but then fall back into their malaise. Over 10% of their country is Muslim, and those Muslims are very, very active. The French have fallen, for the most part. The Brits? They may.... but likely Brexit is their last gasp, before their own leftists (who were taken by surprise by the vote) again ruthlessly import more Islamists.

Switzerland appears the only sane ones left. Maybe Poland.

And we are about to elect Hillary; who looks at Nice as something to import here, because that gives her more power.

Our churches have been crippled--deliberately, no less-- and are busy trying to survive the LGBT persecutions, let alone build up faith and morals enough in enough people to resist Sharia and Islam. There won't be another crusade to defend the west against Islam, even though that is needed.

Why did Rome fall to the barbarians? Because the people lost the will to survive; and Roman politicians thought they could use the barbarians on their side in their political struggles. The Barbarians didn't dance to their puppet strings, though. The left thinks they can use the Muslims as voting stooges, but they deliberately close their eyes to the fact that Muslims have their own agenda, which does not include the left. All of the left's special interest groups are high on the "commit genocide against" list of Islam.

No, I don't think that the West will win this war against Islam; because the left doesn't want to win--they are, as proven by Hillary and Obama and Merkel, on the side of Islam. And it will be too late once the left wakes up.

It is sad that the left is putting us into a situation where in order to survive, we will need Vlad Tepes style leaders to defend us, if we defend ourselves at all. Barbarous, brutal men who slaughter tens of millions--but soon, we will have no choice, will we? Us or them.

mockturtle said...

On Hannity last night, Newt Gingrich said, Western civilization is in a war. We should frankly test every person here who is of a Muslim background, and if they believe in Sharia, they should be deported. Sharia is incompatible with Western civilization.

This issue has nothing to do with freedom of RELIGION. Radical Islam is an IDEOLOGY intent on destroying our civilization.

Darcy said...

If Drudge/Breibart headline is correct - that, if she wins, Hillary plans to settle 1 million new Muslim immigrants here during her term I hope that Trump crams that up her ass.

That is not racist of me. I will own bigoted - I do have an obstinate belief in the superiority of my own opinion on this. Yes, I do.

MikeR said...

This method was developed in Israel recently: a number of attacks by terrorists driving vehicles into people at bus stops.

Clayton Hennesey said...

There are several chilling things implicit in this event. First, truck driving will be a typical occupation of the lower income, more likely to be disaffected imminent terrorist.

Worse, owner-operated trucks of any type can easily be modified with any number of last minute attachments, from hydraulically lowered scythes a la Ben Hur to multiple, electronically actuated fragmentary grenade launchers. A 40mm grenade only needs a tiny tube; one could theoretically mount dozens on even a pickup truck.

Any public gathering of people not wholly protected by substantial bollards, then, becomes a grounded airliner awaiting destruction.

Did I mention that drivers can now enter the U. S. from Mexico and go anywhere?

TRISTRAM said...

Now if it were an S.U.V, then clearly IT would be culpable.

Rick said...

David Begley said...
The will to win is important.


This is true, but the other statement drives the response that you're merely anti-Democrat which is then used to dismiss everyone on the right.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Fernandinande said...

Michael said...
It is illegal, of course, to ban the immigration of Muslims.


Top Scholars Say Trump Muslim Immigrant Ban May Be Constitutional
"If it passed Congress, experts say courts wouldn't necessarily strike down 'odious,' 'scary' policy."

"Odious" and "scary" are Newspeak for "sensible".

Todd said...

Michael said...

We will probably hear later that Nice was the result of brake failure or a stuck accelerator.

7/15/16, 9:47 AM


That would likely be the fall-back reason if it is absolutely impossible to blame it on a trans-phob, CIS-normal white guy upset over unisex bathrooms.

Anonymous said...

France uses the words "radical Islamic terrorism", they've defined what it is, yet the attacks continue. When asked what Trump would do on the O'Reilly show last evening, one of the first things Trump said was to call it radical Islamic terrorism, to define it, France did that. Trump didn't have any solutions to prevent radical Islamic terrorism either, that haven't been tried in France and failed.

Rick said...

Michael said...
It is illegal, of course, to ban the immigration of Muslims.


This is not true.

Drago said...

Michael: "We will probably hear later that Nice was the result of brake failure or a stuck accelerator."

It's worse than that. Some lefty lawyers will claim that the truck manufacturer purposely produced a racist truck that was racist against muslims and sue accordingly.

Charlie said...

I fully expected the perp's first name to be Nigel or John or Jacques. But Mohamed? Knock me over with a wet noodle.

mockturtle said...

Did I mention that drivers can now enter the U. S. from Mexico and go anywhere?

This is true, but having observed the Border Patrol on the job in AZ, I have more confidence in them than I do in the TSA. Seeing hijab-wearing baggage inspectors at the airport makes me a tad bit suspicious. Why are there so MANY Muslims working at airports?

buwaya said...

Its not even about "reforming" Islam. Its not the rigor of the particular religious expression thats the problem here, it is the nature of the people who have Islam as a cultural structure.

There are plenty of Islamic peoples that have made themselves obnoxious to their neighbors in spite of their heterodox or even "liberal" versions of the religion.

This is why only a "Spanish solution" will serve, ultimately. That, or an endless series of manifestations of conflict.

Jupiter said...

buwaya puti said...
"Ultimately there will have to be a "Spanish solution" - a ban on Islam, and an expulsion of those who refuse to denounce it. Its all going to be very bloody one way or another."

While I am entirely in favor of the return of Muslims to the Islam-plagued shitholes which are their natural habitat, the problem is not Islam. The problem is the Left. They are the implacable enemies of our society.

Get used to this kind of thing. There will be a lot more of it before the West gathers the resolution to attack the enemy within.

Pookie Number 2 said...

Trump didn't have any solutions to prevent radical Islamic terrorism either, that haven't been tried in France and failed.

Has France tried to limit Muslim immigration?

Drago said...

Eric the mindreader: "Trump didn't have any solutions to prevent radical Islamic terrorism either, that haven't been tried in France and failed."

A more accurate statement would be that Trump did not provide any details about policies he would pursue as President. Whether or not he has solutions he will try as President is not discernable to us at this point.

Something tells me he does and that it is a set of some not-very-nice-policies. which is why he doesn't share them.

David Begley said...

We have no duty to allow anyone into this country. Furthermore the President has statutory authority to act immediately.

Fustigator said...

If only we could get all the liberals and leftists to attack and tear down the intolerance of Islam like they do everything else/everyone on the right. Islam must be reformed as Christianity was centuries ago.

Unfortunately what we see is that Islam is going through a reformation going the wrong or opposite direction and closer to the 7th century teachings within the Koran and Hadith. Anybody who cant see that is happening is being willingly blind to the enemy in front of us.

For an intellectual exercise, doubters might want to read up on the teachings in the Koran and Hadith and also explore how societies within the Muslim world have changed since the 1950s and 1960s.

Inga said...

Newt Gingrich suggested we should give all American Muslims a "sharia test". How would that be done? Round them up at the mosque or make home visits, maybe a supoena to testify under oath in a hearing of some sort?

buwaya said...

An immigration ban is necessary at least to limit the scope of the problem in the future. This alone wont reduce the already assumed risk of the resident population.
A person who has drunk poison is well advised to refrain from drinking more of it, though this alone will not save him from the consequences of the dose he has already ingested.

Captain Drano said...

Just read: of all those hospitalized, fifty people are still so critical they cannot say if they'll make it yet. 50.

And FWIW, Reports are the driver of the murderous truck was a first-generation Frenchman. As with the Orlando freak, his parents had emigrated. Also, now they are saying he was "depressed" over a separation from his wife and three children.

Sadly, the motorcyclist that tried to stop the truck was crushed under the wheels as he fell reaching for truck's door handle.

dreams said...

"Am I wrong?....or does the news cycle keep playing into Trump's hand?

It's not 'the news cycle', it's reality. Trump may be clumsy and unpolished, but he's not lying to himself or others about a very real problem."

Its both, having a president who is lucky and realistic is what we really need.

Michael K said...

First, the truck was rented only two days before the attack.

No time to modify it.

Second, the driver was allowed to park on the Prom for nine hours. I think from my own visits there, the Promenade is a divided street and one half was closed for the fireworks viewers in the morning or early in the day. The truck got there early, probably to get into the blocked street half.

Supposedly, the police checked on him, perhaps when he drove in or when the street was closed, and he told them he was delivering ice cream. There was no refrigeration in that truck, suggesting a careless police check or even something more ominous.

I have read that there is a search for an accomplice going on. This was pretty well planned.

Captain Drano said...

Fustigator@9:59, here's a decent read on how those societies have changed:
http://thezman.com/wordpress/?p=2199

Michael K said...

we should give all American Muslims a "sharia test". How would that be done? Round them up at the mosque or make home visits, maybe a supoena to testify under oath in a hearing of some sort?

The "Bacon test."

eric said...

People seem to think others have a constitutional right to enter our country. They don't. Just thought I'd clear that up.

And how pissed off must Democrats be this morning? Theyd love to be talking about guns but the idiot terrorist used a truck!

After the last attack, the Muslim terrorists complained that they needed to kill more white people because it was turned into an anti gay thing. Maybe with this success, theyll be using more trucks to avoid the gun discussion.


At no time in human history has a group of people tried harder to declare "We are at war with you!" Only to have their victims declare,"No you're not."

rhhardin said...

It is illegal, of course, to ban the immigration of Muslims.

They're not citizens. It's our country and we can ban anybody we like. We get to say who comes here.

Anonymous said...

buwaya: Ultimately there will have to be a "Spanish solution" - a ban on Islam, and an expulsion of those who refuse to denounce it. Its all going to be very bloody one way or another.

In another thread you mentioned Patrick Calvar, the French intelligence chief, and his statement about France being "on the brink of civil war". Those interested ought to google his comments in recent months. His fears for the potential outcome of all this concur with your prediction, but what I found disturbing was his emphasis on the great need to control the "extreme right" to prevent all-out war - to wit, that it was a worthy and necessary goal to neuter any self-defensive reaction to terror, even as the state demonstrated its own impotence in protecting citizens. The "extreme right", he claims, is itching for a confrontation, and will use another attack to provoke one. (This was before Nice.) He states that another attack will prove that the state has failed, yet at the same time that the worst danger at that point is native vigilantism. (Why? What are they supposed to do? Lie down and die? Convert?) Very strange.

This may be an unfair reading, as these comments are gleaned from limited quotes in a few media sources, and the transcript of a security report. Still, one is left with the impression that a large part of "anti-terrorism" policy is (or should be) to prevent the natives from fighting back in self-defense when the state does not or cannot protect them. If so, good luck with that.

tim in vermont said...

The "Bacon test."

In Spain, after kicking out the Muslim invaders, they forced all shopkeepers to sell pork. To this day you can get some of the best ham in the world in Spain.

tim in vermont said...

I still think the easiest way is to set them up with an EEG and show them a video of the Twin Towers collapsing. If their pleasure centers light up, send them to Egypt for "further processing", if they are indifferent, deport them, if they are horrified, give them their citizenship.

Jim Gust said...

"buwaya puti said...
Ultimately there will have to be a "Spanish solution" - a ban on Islam, and an expulsion of those who refuse to denounce it. Its all going to be very bloody one way or another."

This is absolutely correct. The last Western leader who thought clearly about muslims was Queen Isabella.

Michael suggested that we start obliterating the home cities of future terrorists, obliterate Mecca on the third attack, and Medina on the fourth. Way back on September 12, I was wondering why Bush hadn't already nuked Mecca and Medina. Muslims readily admit, and prove with their actions, that they only respect and follow the "strong horse."

I read elsewhere that there were more books translated into Spanish last year than have been translated into Arabic in the last 1,000 years. Is that true, or just an urban legend?

Michael said...

Anglelyne

The European establishment has always been more fearful of the "extreme right" than of terrorists. Think of them as the Southern Poverty Law Center speaking French.

Michael said...

Jim Gust

You have the transalation/Arabic stat exactly right. Extreme, really extreme, retaliation against them will work. They cannot build a bicycle is you give them the plans. They simply can't. Back to the tents then.

Anonymous said...

"They're not citizens. It's our country and we can ban anybody we like. We get to say who comes here."

What should we do with the ones already here or born here? Set up "Bacon Test" testing centers across America?

buwaya said...

Of course the bulk of anti-terrorism policy is to prevent retaliation by the "natives". That could open the door to outright communal war. Current policy is meant to wait out the situation while keeping the lid on the pot. Perhaps the pot will stop boiling.
The problem here is that communal isolation and conflict seems to be the situation already, or very nearly so, or it is well on the way, inevitably. That calls for a different policy.
History says things arent going to improve, the pot wont stop boiling.

Fred Drinkwater said...

I read a NYT article last night with a heart-freezing photo of bodies in the street, stretching in the distance. I have walked that street.
The Times felt it necessary to say that the "first victim" was a Muslim woman. That was the only mention of religion in the article.
Do you HAVE to be a d*ckhead to write for the NYT?

Sebastian said...

Since any Muslim man can turn into a terrorist on short notice, as Minnesota and Orlando and Nice have shown, there is no way to prevent further attacks. France and Germany, among others, simply have too many Muslims. But we can at least try to fight, with constant pressure, harassment, ridicule, straight talk, and of course maximum force against IS and its offshoots. We know our peace Prize winner doesn't want to do it. It's not clear the Euros will. Might mean being mean to Muzzies.

SteveR said...

A shocking and unforeseeable event. What the people of France must have done to provoke this? Thankfully our President is charging full speed ahead to bring as many of these people into the US as possible. They'll love us and treat our culture with respect.

Pookie Number 2 said...

What should we do with the ones already here or born here? Set up "Bacon Test" testing centers across America?

We could certainly do a better job of infiltrating Muslim communities.

mockturtle said...

@buwaya A person who has drunk poison is well advised to refrain from drinking more of it, though this alone will not save him from the consequences of the dose he has already ingested.

True, but there are antidotes.

Matt said...

Of course, these sorts of attacks are a perversion of Islam. Any scholar of Islam or who has really studied the Qu'ran and hadiths will tell you that. It's easy for non-Muslim to cherry-pick verses, but you need a scholar, like someone who has a PhD in Islamic Studies, to put the teachings of Islam in context.

Wait. Doesn't the head of ISIS have a PhD in Islamic Studies? Crud.

TRISTRAM said...

"Anglelyne

The European establishment has always been more fearful of the "extreme right" than of terrorists. Think of them as the Southern Poverty Law Center speaking French."

Odd. It was the extreme left Communist and (National) Socialist that cause most of the deaths in Europe over the last generation (75 or so years). Also, by most accounts, the Radical Muslims would be considered Right Wing were then not Muslim, no?

Their fears and their discernment of who to fear are quite frankly (no pun intended...well, except that on) incosistent.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

Am I wrong?....or does the news cycle keep playing into Trump's hand?

Last night I happened to catch a few seconds of Charles Krauthammer on Fox News. He stated that the terrorist attack wouldn't help Trump because it took place overseas and the American people don't see overseas events as being able to affect them.

I though to myself that at one time that might have been true, but it isn't any longer.


For these reasons:

1) Terrorist attacks pretty much receive 24/7 news coverage on the cable networks now and the broadcast networks no longer control the narrative,

2) Terrorism used to be about things that didn't concern us. England's retention of Northern Ireland was not something that most Americans cared about and the IRA was unlikely to commit terrorist acts in the US. It wouldn't further their goals and could end up costing them funding. Islamic terrorism however is something we need to worry about. We went to war in the Middle East and Afghanistan over it after a major attack on NY and there have been smaller successful acts in the US since 9/11.

3) More Americans have traveled abroad and when they see an act of terrorism abroad they think about how they could have been there and it could have been them or a friend or relative that was a victim.

4) The Internet. It provides multiple sources of information and opinion. Much of it sensationalized.

hombre said...

The NYT headline I saw said the "truck" did it. While European mediaswine reassure: "The killer's neighbors say he wasn't religious."

Meanwhile, ISIS celebrates.

Ban assault trucks.

tim in vermont said...

Instead of calling them "communists" and "Nazis", why not use "national socialists" and "international socialists" since that sums it up pretty nicely.

Michael K said...

Half the injured in the hospitals are described as "critical" so the death toll might get to 100.

We simply have to stop Muslim immigration and come up with a better immigration policy.

Most civilized countries have something like "point systems" in which immigrants have to justify admitting them with skills or money or something of value they can contribute. The Kennedy 1965 law should be repealed.

buwaya said...

It doesnt matter. Eventually a French (or European) government of whatever ideology will be driven to extreme measures.
What those extreme measures will be will be determined by the situation at the time moreso than the ideology of the government.

Todd said...

hombre said...

The NYT headline I saw said the "truck" did it.

...

Ban assault trucks.

7/15/16, 10:42 AM


DAMN those self-driving vehicles! It is Skynet I tells ya!

buwaya said...

The first two named victims were Americans, from Texas, one was an 11 year old boy.

Birkel said...

TERRORIST ATTACK IN NICE, FRANCE
ATTACKER USED FULLY AUTOMATIC TRUCK
WE MUST BAN FULLY AUTOMATIC TRUCKS
TO SAVE THE CHILDREN

-----

Trump's poll numbers in the face of a staggering Islamist invasion of Europe... Will Hillary be blamed for Islamist invasion due to insecurity of Egypt, Libya, Syria...

Developing...

dreams said...

Some people think it won't make a difference who is president concerning terrorism which I think is just stupid.

"In a nearby post I explore President Obama’s attitude toward Islamic terrorism and its consequences. His attitude is superficially sophisticated and seriously misguided.

Obama of course detests Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is in every way Obama’s better. Among other things, he he is rather more perceptive than Obama about the threats we face. In the video clip below, he warns a French correspondent in August 2014 that “this terror plague will come to you.”"

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2016/07/netanyahu-in-2014-terror-will-come-to-france.php

Anonymous said...

Michael: The European establishment has always been more fearful of the "extreme right" than of terrorists. Think of them as the Southern Poverty Law Center speaking French.

I'm aware of that, Michael. (And it's not just the Europeans.) But it was one thing when the ruling castes of the West were just constantly wagging their fingers about "fascism" and "racism" to an annoyed citizenry, and keeping tabs on skinheads. It's another when they start ceding to lawlessness and losing control of territory (see, e.g., Calais), and start engaging in speech and indulging in policies that, more and more, appear to observant, rational people as not just cynical and self-seeking, but as out-and-out insane - as in schizophrenia-grade detachment from reality.

Anonymous said...

"Kinda surprised something like this hasn't happened sooner."

It has, in Paris in December 2014:
https://www.rt.com/news/216527-man-drives-crowd-france/

This attack was barely reported in the American press. Have there been others? Probably.

DanTheMan said...

>> Why are there so MANY Muslims working at airports?

The last time I took the Eurostar from London to Paris, the security people checking my bags were Muslim women.
At least the French are cracking down on the Muslims working at their airports...


http://www.spiegel.de/international/anti-terror-investigation-paris-airport-bars-muslim-workers-a-446120.html



holdfast said...

US immigration law specifically provides for giving preference to oppressed groups, including religious groups. The President simply needs to exercise executive discretion and issue a finding that all religious groups other than Muslims are oppressed and are to be given preference. Muslims would not be banned per se, but each year they would miss the quota cutoffs. So sad.

Bonkti said...

Obama again condemns senselessness in the strongest terms.

hombre said...

"Am I wrong?....or does the news cycle keep playing into Trump's hand?" 9:18

It is reality that is rearing its ugly head. Democrats like us to think in terms of biased news reports, polls, fake gov't stats, election results, lefty logic, trigger words ("racist," "sexist," etc.), Obama pontification, etc.

Sometimes real life is so strident that the lefty mediaswine lose control of the news momentarily.

They will have it under control soon with their worries about backlash against Muslims, the weakness of the killer's faith, Hollande's reassurance that French security forces are doing a good job (he is a lefty and entitled to news media support, after all). You know, that stuff.

buwaya said...

The thing is, thinking communally, it isnt senseless at all. Muslim communities are inclined to think in terms of enmity vs others, even if this doesnt manifest among all individuals all the time. Every once in a while (or quite often) this prompts raiding and other random attacks upon the neighbors.
This tends, over time, to harrass their neighbors into ceding land, or induce them to join the Muslims.

hombre said...

Anglelyne: "... indulging in policies that, more and more, appear to observant, rational people as not just cynical and self-seeking, but as out-and-out insane - as in schizophrenia-grade detachment from reality." 11:00 AM

Remember: Lunacy is on the rise and will become mandatory if Crooked Hillary is elected.

damikesc said...

I though to myself that at one time that might have been true, but it isn't any longer.


I agree with your reasons, but I'd another one:

5) This is the third mass killing done by Muslims in France in the last 18 months. Repeated attacks get people more and more unhappy. "Why won't these fuckers stop?" will eventually be replaced with "Why don't we make those fuckers stop?"

Some people think it won't make a difference who is president concerning terrorism which I think is just stupid.

I'd love a President to say "We're going to talk with Israeli security to get some advice on how to improve our security to do away with the 'safety theater' we're doing right now."

Fernandinande said...

CBC: “Children feared killed in Nice as truck attacks family event”
CNN: “Truck rams crowd; 84 dead in Nice”
NYT: “Truck attack on French crowd; Scores die”

Hagar said...

Tree Joe,
Copied from Wikipedia, Minnesota gun laws.

Peaceable Journey laws? Yes Yes §97B.045 §624.714, Subd. 9 Any legally possessed gun may be transported in a motor vehicle, provided it is unloaded and cased.

Bonkti said...

While inaccurate, "senselessness" has the virtue of being antithetical to the mores of decent folk. It has the right level of precision because together we are stronger.

Yes we can.

In the strongest possible terms.

I'm not gonna lie about it.

mockturtle said...

@Dan the Man: At least the French are cracking down on the Muslims working at their airports...

When will WE do likewise? Last time I was at the Denver airport, at least half of the baggage checkers were wearing hijabs.

DanTheMan said...

>>When will WE do likewise?

Three bombings and three union lawsuits from now....

DanTheMan said...

This just in: FBI director Comey says terrorist was driving "extremely carelessly"

TRISTRAM said...

But that isn't a crime because he wasn't driving recklessly or negligently.

Michael K said...

"52 critical injuries right now in Nice. Some will die and the death toll is 84 now.

Quaestor said...

Kinda surprised something like this hasn't happened sooner.

It did, and quite awhile ago.

William said...

I live in NYC. After the Twin Towers attack on 9/11, I used to look at the sliver skyscrapers here and wonder how big a plane you would need to bring them down. It was, as it turned out, an irrational fear. It's not so easy to fly a plane into a skyscraper, but I'm sure there's some Mo somewhere who's thinking about how to do it........This truck attack is scary easy to replicate. There has already been one car bomb attack in Times Square. The attacker had some kind of advanced degree, but the bomb fizzled. I'm sure if he had to do it all over again, he would just go up on the sidewalk and run over pedestrians. I'm sure that same thought is occurring to many of the devout.

Etienne said...

France is playing the end-game to the open border EU. I wish there was an answer, but the end is closer than the restoration.

buwaya said...

"It did, and quite awhile ago."

Certainly. And this case is an excellent example of the "spontaneous" aggression typical of Islamic communities. Personal problems, random aggression, status conflicts, greed or want, whatever the trouble, tend to be directed towards the enemy community. It doesn't even require being devout or orthodox.
This is the same impulse that makes Muslims kidnap foreigners in Davao for ransom, and to cut their heads off when thwarted. Its all the same tendency to direct hostility outward as harassment of the enemy communities.

William said...

Kurt Vonnegut wrote an essay about how his parents stopped being German during WWII. He went away for basic training and when he came back, it was ixnay on Beethoven and the bratwurst.......I would find it reassuring if the Moslems in America became less rather than more militant in their religious observance. The onus shouldn't be on us to become more tolerant, but rather it should be on them to demonstrate that they are willing to adapt to our ways. I have read of families and communities that force their female members into wearing those uncomfortable garments. Why don't I read about Moslems who are mocked by their communities for wearing such absurd clothes........There's no demonstrable evidence that living under Sharia Law leads to happiness, harmony, or peace. It would be reassuring if somewhere, sometime some respected Muslim would make that obervation, say it aloud, and not be killed.

buwaya said...

This is NOT merely same as the communal tendencies of other cultures. Muslim communities have that predatory attitude beyond the exclusionary trait. Others are very easily seen as licensed victims, fair game, not covered by their ethical system.

It is not even necessary for the majority of the community to have these views. It suffices that a significant minority does, in order to benefit the whole in terms of territorial conquest and conversions.

Quaestor said...

Do you HAVE to be a d*ckhead to write for the NYT?

Yes. It's right there in the employee manual — page 1, right after "Welcome to the New York Times!", about two paragraphs down. It explains that non-dickheadness is grounds for termination.

A few of their new hires were not previously dickheads, however Sulzberger has a machine in Room 101 designed to fix that. He's not called Pinch for nothing.

Michael K said...

".This truck attack is scary easy to replicate. There has already been one car bomb attack in Times Square. "

The first Twin Towers attack in 1993 was a truck bomb. Ramzi Yousef said he would get a bigger bomb next time. He did.

The truck vs pedestrians has been used repeatedly in Israel. They are always the first to see new techniques of terrorism. The Palestinians only industry is terrorism.

Michael K said...

The Muzzies are already assuring us that he wasn't "a good Muslim."

This is the old "No True Scotsman" fallacy but it will be used again and again by and for those who know no history.

Darrell said...

ISIS encourages all Muslims to become a terror cell of one. An act like this could be seen as redemptive by a lapsed Muslim. It doesn't matter what friends or family say. The Dallas shooter's family is still saying that it wasn't him. Denial isn't limited to Islam.

buwaya said...

The Arab-Israeli troubles can be said to have begun with exactly this sort of communal harassment. The early Jewish rural settlers in Palestine had no intention of political control, and they were almost all pacifists of one sort or another. This was back in the 19th century.

They were quickly preyed on by their Muslim neighbors, robbed, raped and murdered whenever the opportunity came. This was and is the pattern in these cases. The earliest Israeli political systems were a consequence of a communal response to this traditional brigandage, as was the first Jewish militia system that eventually became the Israeli army.

Michael K said...

Spengler today has the explanation and the solution, if we have the stomach for it.

The way to win the war is to frighten the larger community of Muslims who passively support terror by action or inaction–frighten them so badly that they will inform on family members. Frightening the larger Muslim population in the West does not require a great deal of effort: a few thousand deportations would do. Western intelligence services do not even have to deport the right people; the wrong people know who they are, and so do many of their neighbors. The ensuing conversation is an easy one to have. “I understand that your nephew is due for deportation, Hussein, and I believe you when you tell me that he has done nothing wrong. I might be able to help you. But you have to help me. Give me something I can use–and don’t waste my time by making things up, or I swear that I’ll deport you, too. If you don’t have any information, then find out who does.”

Trump might do it. Hillary will import more.

The piece is worth reading in full.

When snipers fired on Union soldiers from Tennessee or Kentucky villages, Sherman expelled residents, burned houses, and laid waste to crops. There are lessons here for what we used to call, quaintly, the Global War on Terror.

Captain Drano said...

OMG:
http://heatst.com/uk/exclusive-france-suppressed-news-of-gruesome-torture-at-bataclan-massacre/
Eyes gouged out, testicles chopped off and stuffed in mouths...

How did this not leak out prior to this?

Big Mike said...

The [Muslims] are already assuring us that he wasn't "a good Muslim."

@Michael K, it seems to me that we're overdue for forcing the (allegedly) "good Muslims" and "moderate Muslims" to have some skin in the game. We should confiscate the drivers licenses of every Muslim in the United States, then put police around mosques and confiscate any vehicles used to drive worshipers to prayer.

The "good" Muslims and "moderate" Muslims can have their licenses back when there are no more acts of terrorism perpetrated by Muslims anywhere in the world.

Be nice to see how they react when they have something to gain by telling their co-religionists to cool it.

Etienne said...

The worse thing that can happen to you when you get run over by a truck, is not to die.

It is to live. Some will now have to go to physical therapy for the rest of their lives. Others will have to buy wheel chairs. Still others will have to poop into a bag, or wear a steel plate where there skull once sufficed.

Some will be hooked-up to machines and nurses will rotate them once an hour until they die. Like chickens on a rotisserie.

No, the lucky ones were killed instantly.

When we did our triage drills every year in the military, it was always impressed on us, not to waste time on the people who would be better off dead. Your instinct is to save them, but the humane thing is to let them die. Certainly give them morphine, but don't try to put their intestines or liver back in, and then try to clamp the belly shut.

hombre said...

"The [Muslims] are already assuring us that he wasn't "a good Muslim."


Mark Steyn in good form: "British Muslims Fear Repercussions Over Tomorrow's Train Bombing."

MadisonMan said...

We should confiscate the drivers licenses of every Muslim in the United States, then put police around mosques and confiscate any vehicles used to drive worshipers to prayer.

I don't agree that the solution to this very real problem is to allow the Federal Government to increase its power.

I think a better tactic would be to find their families and drone them.

mockturtle said...

But do these guys know that they're really getting raisins in paradise and not virgins?

Rick said...

I don't understand why Muslims think saying he "wasn't a good Muslim" is worth mentioning. It's completely irrelevant.

Todd said...

Michael K said...

The Muzzies are already assuring us that he wasn't "a good Muslim."

7/15/16, 1:00 PM


What? Did he return library books late? Tell lies to his mom? Not get his daughter's genitalia mutilated? Allow his wife to drive? In what way was he "not a good Muslim"? Cause killing a bunch of innocent non-Muslims seems to be just the thing to make him a "good Muslim" for LOTS of other Muslims. More the better if any of the victims turn out to be Jewish. So please explain to me exactly how this person was "not good" by the standards of other Muslims.

hombre said...

Is there, in general, an upside to allowing Muslims to immigrate? I'm sure there are exceptions, but they don't change the big picture. They don't assimilate. They believe in Sharia law. Their holy books condone lying, dhimmitude and killing.

Government is obliged to protect its citizens. Who protects us when government officials are making unwarranted decisions that endanger us?

The McCarran-Walter Act of 1952 permits the President to suspend or limit the immigration of any class of aliens whose entry may be detrimental to the interests of the U.S.

Will Obama ever act to protect our citizens instead of those of other countries?

Darrell said...

Why didn't the British let millions of able-bodied German men immigrate to GB during 1939-1945? Because they weren't fucking stupid, that's why.

Darrell said...

Jihad is the ultimate redemptive act.
No greater love in the religion of peace and love.

hombre said...

Funny how some days the moonbats are no-shows.

Michael K said...

"So please explain to me exactly how this person was "not good" by the standards of other Muslims."

Well he drank liquor and didn't go to mosque but he did beat his wife so he wasn't all bad, Muslim-wise.

Michael K said...

"don't try to put their intestines or liver back in, and then try to clamp the belly shut."

Actually, if modern surgery is available, they are in the best shape to survive and be OK. I ran a trauma center for years in a suburban location so most of our cases, especially the bad ones, were motor vehicle accidents. Most were ortho and neuro cases.

Head injuries are a lot more common with auto or truck injuries. There were a lot of bad head injuries, reports say 20+ are "on life support" and they will probably die.

I remember one guy who had been run through with a machete that was sticking out his belly in front and he kept saying, "Doc, it's hopeless. Look !"

He was home in a week.

Then we had the high school girl whose car was rear ended at 25 miles per hour as she was dropping friends off at school. She never woke up. Just whiplash.

tim in vermont said...

Where did he get the grenades? Ordnance are Us? Or was there a network involved that could supply a ne'er do well like this with actual military weapons?

Darrell said...

Where did he get the grenades?

The stuff in the back of the truck was all fake/replicas. He had no working grenades.

Etienne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
DanTheMan said...

>>Will Obama ever act to protect our citizens instead of those of other countries?

He's a citizen of the world. He told us so in 2008, in Germany. He's got 190 other countries to worry about... He can't spend all of his time worrying about just us. That would be unfair.

Fred Drinkwater said...

DanTheMan:
Once, when I got too sympathetic about the issues coming from a development partner company, my SVP Engineering took me aside and pointedly reminded me "You work for me, not for them."
Would that someone (i.e. Congress and/or the US press) had done so with Obama about 10 years ago.

Quaestor said...

An act like this could be seen as redemptive by a lapsed Muslim.

Bingo. Martyrdom is the Islamic panacea. Besides getting their slates wiped, martyrs get the virgins, the silk cushions, the lithesome boys like RIGHT NOW! in an instant, while everybody else has to wait for Judgement day.

Muslims knows this better than anybody. Those who say Mohamed Bouhlel wasn't a "good Muslim" are obfuscating.

Quaestor said...

mocktutle wrote: But do these guys know that they're really getting raisins in paradise and not virgins?

72 raisins to last for eternity? How many are in a box of Sun-Maid, 800? That Allah dude sure is a cheapskate.