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2 U. S. Servicemen stop a terrorist attack on a French train
- Thread starter JamesMike
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I will temporarily set aside my natural disdain for Devil Dogs and offer them a hearty "Semper Fi!" Well done, Marines, well done.
Now back to my usual position of reminding every Marine I meet that the US Army executed the largest amphibious landing in history.
Now back to my usual position of reminding every Marine I meet that the US Army executed the largest amphibious landing in history.
You'll be happy to know the initial reports were wrong, no Marines. A member of the AF, a National Guardsmen and a civilian.
Being a Marine myself, I'd love to have had it been Marines that helped out, but from the linked story, it wasn't Marines that were there.
Regardless, I'm happy to see these fine individuals step up and handle business.
Perhaps, but we do it better.
The suspect (it's an understatement) had recently been with IS in Syria. How the hell they didn't keep a closer eye on him upon his return is beyond me, since the Spanish intelligence services had already alerted the French that he was likely to join extremist groups. If they keep multiplying low-intensity lone wolf terrorist attacks like this one, it'll really be much harder to fight them. Look at these numbers and imagine if just 1/20th of them decided to do the same:
Now that the dust is settled and they got the facts straight, the folks involved are heroes. I found it amazing that the National Guardsmen involved is from my small town in Oregon. Way to go Alek!
Why is it that in France, terrorists have no problem acquiring Kalashnikovs?
It's a huge problem, not limited to terrorists. Violence in poor neighbourhoods has been rampant for the past twenty(?) years, and since they don't vote anyway, not much has been done to solve the issue. The political class in France (both sides) are exceedingly good at ignoring problems and pretending everyone is classe moyenne (that's why Le Pen is surging in the polls). France being a very gun-averse country, I guess buying dirt-cheap used AKs in former Yugoslavia countries and selling them to gangs can be very lucrative. As a result, automatic weapons are apparently not hard to get in the cités (not that I've tried getting my hands on one, I'd probably hurt myself, but reports of AKs being used in shootings are becoming relatively frequent).
Great story, even if those who initially stopped the attack were two off duty soldiers and a student (rather than two Marines). Wonderfully uplifting, and what a a terrific display of true courage and selflessness. Fantastically well done, and nice to see genuine heroes from the US in action in a noble cause, too.
SS, and to see they were from my little town was great!
You must be proud, and rightly so.
And I see from the British papers that a fourth guy, an older gentleman from the UK, also seems to have assisted in the subduing of this individual. Apparently, - among other things - he gave the young soldiers his necktie which was used to tie the hands of the would be killer.
Reading the papers, it is quite unnerving to see how this unfolded. It seems that it started when a male passenger wished to use the bathroom in one of the carriages, and stumbled over the Moroccan who was inside busily preparing himself for an afternoon of carnage.
Again, extremely well done to these guys. When your instincts scream at you to take cover, to charge down an armed maniac who is planning to kill as many as he can requires a cool head, quick thinking, serious selflessness (they couldn't have known that the AK47 had jammed), and extraordinary courage. A wonderful story.
Before all the Yanks get carried away in a round of national pride about how the US has clearly saved the world again
http://www.theguardian.com/world/20...for-men-who-prevented-carnage-on-french-train
The American servicemen who intervened (at the possible risk of their lives) and the American student, who is their friend, did exceptionally well and showed both courage and excellent judgement.
However, - not detracting from the superlative actions of those young men - this can also be said of those others who played an impressive role, heroic individuals such as the French actor, the French banker, the older British gentleman and so on.
There was a related thread begun in PRSI that was just shut down because this thread already existed in Current Events.
I have to disagree with that decision, as PRSI allows for a more robust—albeit partisan—look at events, which is exactly what the OP of that thread was intending. While I don't agree with the direction he was taking, I do support his having the opportunity to make the argument, and hope that the thread will reopen there again.
I have to disagree with that decision, as PRSI allows for a more robust—albeit partisan—look at events, which is exactly what the OP of that thread was intending. While I don't agree with the direction he was taking, I do support his having the opportunity to make the argument, and hope that the thread will reopen there again.
Yes..... but notice how the OP only talks about the american marines, doesn't even mention the english or the french...... just american marines who aren't marines.....
Unfortunately the way many things are phrased in threads posted on here just smack of desperation to somehow get a point across that America is the greatest country on earth etc etc..... it gets a bit tedious for those who aren't american sometimes.
Even the thread title is "2 US servicemen stop a terrorist attack on a french train" as opposed to "Terrorist attack thwarted on french train by the public, including US servicement"..... just as an example....
From the mouth of babes, as reported:
A fourth passenger, British businessman Chris Norman, 62, joined the Americans in fighting the gunman. Norman admitted he was a reluctant participant. “My first reaction was to sit down and hide,” he said. But the Americans’ bravery changed his mind. “My thought was, ‘OK, I’m probably going to die anyway, so let’s go,’ ” Norman said.
http://nypost.com/2015/08/22/americans-hailed-as-heroes-for-thwarting-terrorist-attack/
This was not picked up in the "Newspaper of Record."
I wasn't talking about the articles, I was talking about the way it was presented in the OP...... actually predominantly spurred on by your thread, where the OP was simply nauseating at best.
According to the first interrogation the suspect (SIC!) is not a terrosist, he had an intention to rob the passengers of the train. As he and his lawyer stated the suspect (again a big SIC!) found the Kalashnikov in a park, in Belgium.
That's good enough for me. Release the poor ISIS guy with profuse apologies and prosecute the Americans for unnecessary vigilantism.
Fair enough. We can organize a demonstration of sympathy for the innocent non-terrosist.
Look.
I am not from the US, and, as someone who has studied and taught politics, and has worked abroad in some of the most challenging places on the planet I am not blind to US idiocy or ill-informed foreign policy choices.
To be honest, I don't much care how this story is reported in the US; my opinion of much of the domestic media in the US is pretty low.
However, it is for once very nice to see a story where genuine heroes from the US acted bravely and appropriately, and it is nice to be able to applaud them for so doing. That does not detract from the fact that there were also a number of others form different countries (French, British) who also behaved heroically and with commendable courage and judgement and compassion.
I am not from the US, and, as someone who has studied and taught politics, and has worked abroad in some of the most challenging places on the planet I am not blind to US idiocy or ill-informed foreign policy choices.
To be honest, I don't much care how this story is reported in the US; my opinion of much of the domestic media in the US is pretty low.
However, it is for once very nice to see a story where genuine heroes from the US acted bravely and appropriately, and it is nice to be able to applaud them for so doing. That does not detract from the fact that there were also a number of others form different countries (French, British) who also behaved heroically and with commendable courage and judgement and compassion.
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