Key bits, but Mr. Steyn is always worth reading in full.
[SteynOnline] The pop star Ariana Grande has canceled the remaining dates of her "Dangerous Woman" tour following the murder of 22 fans (at the time of writing) and the injury of dozens more at her concert in Manchester. The Manchester Royal Infirmary reports that half the victims brought to the hospital overnight are children. The killer was a suicide bomber. Theresa May says the police believe they know his identity. The usual, predictable details will follow. [UPDATE: He's Salman Abedi, the Manchester-born son of Libyan refugees and another "known wolf".]
As The Independent's headline has it:
There's only one way Britain should respond to attacks such as Manchester. That is by carrying on exactly as before.
That's not actually the "only" way Britain could respond, but it seems the way to bet, judging from the responses of the political class. "Carry on" is a very British expression. One thinks of the famous scene in one of the most famous of the Carry On comedies, Carry On Up The Khyber, surely the most insightful film ever made about Afghanistan: as you'll recall, the revolting Khasi of Khalabar grows ever more enraged at the British Governor's refusal to let the shelling and destruction of Government House disrupt his dinner party. Even when the Khasi has the main course replaced with the head of a decapitated fakir, Her Majesty's viceroy declines to let his eye be caught by these vulgar attention-seeking jihadists. The film received unenthusiastic reviews from London critics in 1968. One would not have predicted that half-a-century later it would be official British policy on the home front.
Conversely, most other western citizens believe that, to invert Trotsky, if you're not interested in Islam, Islam won't be interested in you. Ariana Grande was eight at the time of 9/11, and most of her fans even younger. They have passed their entire sentient lives in the age of Islamic terror, yet somehow assume it's something compartmentalized and sealed off from them. "Dangerous Woman" is meant to be an attitude, nothing more - an edgy pose in a pop culture that lost any edge long ago; a great T-shirt, like the ones last night scavenged from the merchandising stands and used to bandage the wounded. It must come as a shock to realize there are those who take your ersatz provocations as the real thing, and are genuinely provoked by them.
"Carrying on exactly as before", as The Independent advises, will not be possible. A few months ago, I was in Toulouse, where Jewish life has vanished from public visibility and is conducted only behind the prison-like walls of a fortress schoolhouse and a centralized synagogue that requires 24/7 protection by French soldiers; I went to Amsterdam, which is markedly less gay than it used to be; I walked through Molenbeek after dark, where unaccompanied women dare not go. You can carry on, you can stagger on, but life is not exactly as it was before. Inch by inch, it's smaller and more constrained.
But the arithmetic is not difficult: Poland and Hungary and Slovakia do not have Islamic terrorism because they have very little Islam. France and Germany and Belgium admit more and more Islam, and thus more and more terrorism. Yet the subject of immigration has been all but entirely absent from the current UK election campaign. Thirty years ago, in the interests of stopping IRA terrorism, the British state was not above preventing the internal movement within its borders of unconvicted, uncharged, unarrested Republican sympathizers seeking to take a ferry from Belfast to Liverpool. Today it declares it can do nothing to prevent the movement of large numbers of the Muslim world from thousands of miles away to the heart of the United Kingdom. It's just a fact of life - like being blown up when you go to a pop concert.
All of us have gotten things wrong since 9/11. But few of us have gotten things as disastrously wrong as May and Merkel and Hollande and an entire generation of European political leaders who insist that remorseless incremental Islamization is both unstoppable and manageable. It is neither - and, for the sake of the dead of last night's carnage and for those of the next one, it is necessary to face that honestly. Theresa May's statement in Downing Street is said by my old friends at The Spectator to be "defiant", but what she is defying is not terrorism but reality. So too for all the exhausted accessories of defiance chic: candles, teddy bears, hashtags, the pitiful passive rote gestures that acknowledge atrocity without addressing it - like the Eloi in H G Wells' Time Machine, too evolved to resist the Morlocks.
#3
Honestly, I don't know. I'm thinking that the upper class tend to be security conscious and information about such gathering would be scant, so not very likely would be my guess.
#5
We've had quite enough of Neville. It's time to bring on Winston.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
05/25/2017 11:34 Comments ||
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#6
I guess what I'm trying to say is that nothing will happen as long as the upper class is not touched. Who cares about the lower classes, they can 'carry on'!
#7
I would think exiting a polo match or something along those lines wouldn't be that difficult a target. We are going to have to move the security perimeters to the entering the parking lot point lest a car bomb move in close as folks are exiting any venue.
[American Thinker] "ISIS" did not attack in Manchester; a second-generation Muslim, son of immigrants, did.
The Islamic State may have inspired 22-year-old Salman Abedi, but ISIS in the Middle East did not murder 22 youngsters and injure dozens at a pop-tart performance.
ISIS, no doubt, is pleased Salman Abedi has killed in Manchester. The outfit is eager to continue providing inspiration, even training, to his kind. But the ephemeral ISIS did not send Abedi and his ilk to kill Britons.
The Abedis, who fly the Libyan flag outside the family home, were invited into England. Policy makers and power brokers in the West have invited Muslim immigrants to live among us in the belief that, underneath the burqa, the abaya and full-body swaddle they were just like us.
Almost all these Muslim killers are legitimate immigrants. Before the Manchester murderer came Knifeman Khalid Masood, on Westminster Bridge (March, 2017). There were the immigrants who carved up Drummer Lee Rigby, in Woolwich, and the Muslim who gutted an American woman in central London, both in 2013. It’s hard to keep up.
This is how citizenship in the West has been rubbished. Not by ISIS, but by your representatives: State officials who regard all of us impersonally and imperiously. The same overlords squint at the great unwashed of England or Middle America from behind their parapets in Whitehall and Washington. The same sorts despise us all for wanting neighborhoods that are safe, maybe even a tad monocultural.
While the Muslims who strike at our families live among us, they’re not of us
Look, language mediates behavior. To properly respond to the vipers that elect to kill Americans, Europeans and Englishmen, we need to closely describe them.
To be vested in linguistic accuracy is to be vested in the truth. The closer language cleaves to reality, the greater the likelihood that correct, and corrective, action will follow.
#1
The real enemy is not Islamic ideology it's the "cognitive" elites who refuse to grasp the simple truth of "A Muslim is either at your feet, or at your throat".
[DAWN] THE deadliest attack in the UK since 2005 is the most wretched yet. A jacket wallah stood among a crowd of teenagers and young people and deliberately detonated an IED -- an act of violence so ghastly that it numbs the mind. Pakistain, which has suffered many terrorist atrocities, none worse than the barbaric targeting of children in the APS attack of December 2014 in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. , can extend its deepest condolences to the UK and must renew its pledge to cooperate with the UK in the fight against terrorism wherever necessary. The myrmidonIslamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group, which has grabbed credit for the Manchester attack, is truly the biggest global threat since Al Qaeda, and a greater, more sustained, more coordinated effort is required by the global community to eliminate it. Confirmed details are necessarily scarce so soon after the attack, but the scope of the IS threat is clear. From so-called lone wolf attacks by self-radicalised individuals absorbing IS propaganda to the direct cultivation of myrmidon cells, networks and armies across the world, IS has established itself as the pre-eminent myrmidon threat to the global order.
Worryingly, while the international community appears to understand the gravity of the IS threat and the need for coordinated action against it, the global fight against militancy appears to be headed in the wrong direction. In a week where the US president is in the Middle East and representatives of many Moslem states are gathered to pledge to fight militancy, there could have been the possibility of a united front against the principal common threat facing the Western and Moslem worlds. Instead, US President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... ’s policies threaten to exacerbate the very IS threat he has vowed to eliminate, while the Moslem world appears to once again be dividing itself along sectarian lines. Where IS has deadly clarity in considering every single nation on the earth as its enemy, the international community is unable to recognise that the direction it is taking in the fight against militancy may prolong and extend the threat of terrorism.
For its part, Pakistain needs to recognise that it risks jeopardising the gains it has made in the domestic fight against militancy for two reasons. One, the IS threat inside Pakistain is not being taken seriously enough, particularly with strong counter-extremism measures yet to be implemented. The pernicious effects of IS propaganda are already becoming visible inside Pakistain, with the skilful exploitation by the group of social media and the internet already claiming a number of victims. Just as counter-insurgency and counterterrorism together have been unable to end the Pak Taliban ...Arabic for students... threat, the IS threat will not be defeated without robust counter-extremism measures. Two, Pakistain must reconsider its involvement with the Saudi-led Islamic Military Alliance if it continues down the path of becoming an anti-Iran force. The national interest is paramount and clear: no involvement in regional or sectarian conflicts of any kind.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/25/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
"The basic canon of Arab life. It was me against my brother; me and my brother against our father; my family against my cousins and the clan; the clan against the tribe; and the tribe against the world and all of us against the infidel."
~ Leon Uris, 'The Haj'
[Daily Caller] Michael Morell, the former acting director of the CIA under President Obama, said that the Obama administration "did nothing" to stop Russian interference in the presidential campaign. Why stop it? It's the perfect post-election political exploitation tool. See CIA 'regime change' techniques.
Morell, who left the CIA in 2013 and supported Hillary Clinton for president last year, appeared on "CBS This Morning" to discuss testimony that former CIA Director John Brennan gave in a House Intelligence Committee hearing on Tuesday.
Brennan revealed for the first time that he was so concerned about Russia’s attempts to meddle in the election that he contacted Alexander Bortnikov, Russia’s FSB chief, on Aug. 4 to warn him against continuing its active measures against the U.S.
President Obama is said to have warned Russian president Vladimir Putin the following month against interfering in the election. But the Kremlin appears to have not been deterred.
"What struck me...is that the U.S. government was concerned enough last summer about Russian interference in the election that they had the CIA director make contact with his Russian counterpart and tell them to stop," Morell said Wednesday.
"So my question is what did the Obama administration do after that, after they learned that the warning had fallen on deaf ears," said Morell.
"Well it appears they did nothing," host Norah O’Donnell chimed in.
#2
Heh, I think the following slightly modified quote posted by Besoeker says it all:
"The basic canon of Democrat life. It was me against my brother; me and my brother against our father; my family against my cousins and the clan; the clan against the tribe; and the tribe against the world and all of us against the infidel."
~ Leon Uris, 'The Haj'
#3
Another red line crossed. Missing from all the coverage about Trump's alleged collusion with the Russians was even the slightest acknowledgement that Baraq Obama had eight years to do something about cyber security and he failed miserably. Also missing was any discussion whatsoever about attempts to make the DNC email server secure from cyber attacks and the question that immediately occurred to me: If these people can't even manage an email server how are they going to run the country?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
05/25/2017 11:45 Comments ||
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#4
The DNC server wasn't cyber-attacked. Seth Rich leaked the documents and was murdered for his betrayal.
Posted by: Herb McCoy7309 ||
05/25/2017 11:50 Comments ||
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#5
By the Russians!
[/tinfoil hat]
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/25/2017 13:19 Comments ||
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#6
Yes, Herb, Rich is beginning to look more and more suspicious as are Donna Brazille, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and Hillary Clinton. But the donks knew they could blame the Russians without the MSM ever asking the questions I raised. That's the bitch.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
05/25/2017 13:31 Comments ||
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[LegalInsurrection] If you thought that intelligence community leaks against Donald Trump were okay because Trump was the target, then you don’t understand the problem. Such leaks to the NY Times and Washington Post, among others, are not only criminal, they are contagious.
If accusations being made by the British are true, the leakers in the U.S. intelligence community have revealed to the NY Times highly sensitive information shared as part of a joint terrorism investigation.
It all started when the NY Times ran a lengthy report on the evidence recovered at the scene of the Manchester concert suicide bombing, Found at the Scene in Manchester: Shrapnel, a Backpack and a Battery:
The bomber in the Manchester terrorist attack appeared to have carried a powerful explosive in a lightweight metal container concealed either within a black vest or a blue Karrimor backpack, and may have held a small switch in his left hand, according to preliminary information gathered by British authorities.
The article then goes on to show photos of evidence, including the battery, shrapnel, and remnants of the backpack in which the bomb was contained. The Times summarizes preliminary findings as to the nature of the bomb and how it was constructed:
Certain details of the bomb further suggest a desire by a bomb-maker to reduce the risk of a dud.
The authorities found a mangled Yuasa 12-volt, 2.1 amp lead acid battery at the scene, which is more powerful than batteries often seen in backpack bombs or suicide vests. The battery, used for emergency lighting and other applications, can be bought for about $20.
A possible switch to initiate the explosion, carried in the bomber’s left hand, was also unusual in a suicide device, in that it appears to have contained a small circuit board soldered inside one end.
You don’t need to be a professional explosives and terror investigator to understand that publishing such details so early in the investigation could prejudice the ability to roll up the bombmaker and network. The way in which bombs are constructed often carry forensic signature telltale details that can be traced back to specific groups or even individual bombmakers.
So who leaked to the NY Times?
The British apparently are blaming U.S. intelligence services, who would have been privy to such information as part of joint investigation.
Posted by: Anomalous Sources ||
05/25/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
could prejudice the ability to roll up the bombmaker and network this 1 time.
There are many, many more.
#3
So who leaked to the NY Times? The British apparently are blaming U.S. intelligence services, who would have been privy to such information as part of joint investigation.
The 'who' is fairly obvious. I'm more concerned with the 'why.'
#5
According to the Telegraph, the Manchester police have stopped sharing information with the Americans altogether, and PM May intends to speak sharply to President Trump about it today.
You don’t need to be a professional explosives and terror investigator to understand that publishing such details so early in the investigation could prejudice the ability to roll up the bombmaker and network.
Really? Is it fundamentally unique from all the other 'carry on' bombs we've been exposed to from Iraq to Israel? Or are you really concerned about less skilled but wannabe imitators already in your midst picking up pointers?
#9
Perhaps, in addition to the traditional Russian moles, our intel services have been penetrated by the NY Times.
(note: by 'penetrated', I mean lying down in the street with your legs spread)
[DAWN] IN a recent address, Chaudhry Nisar hit out at political opponents by classifying them as ’secular’ and equating the term with ’non-believing’. Clearly, the interior minister needs tuition in history and political philosophy.
There is no simple thing, place or peoples called the ’secular’, the ’religious’, the ’West’, ’good’ or ’evil’. Each carries multiple, contradictory meanings and is subject to historical interpretation. Only political manipulators use these as fixed and oppositional categories in order to create divisions and distrust. Debates around secularism often follow religious wars or conflict and, like many countries, Pakistain also faces this dilemma.
Secularism is a philosophy rooted in the 16th century, when European Protestants struggled against the rule of the exploitative Catholic Church. These dissenters were not without religion, or la-deen -- they simply wanted social, political and economic freedoms from the tyranny of the Holy See. Secularisation is the result of the social and political processes that followed, influenced by rising capitalism and scientific discoveries. The tumults of secularisation spanned a century, up until the Treaty of Westphalia (1648). Still, this bottom-up history does not mean that all Western societies are unimpeachably or completely secular today. One visit by the Pope to any European country will confirm the secular paradox.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
05/25/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
Secularism -- the distancing of state from religion -- does not mean la-deeniyat, absence of religion or anti-religion. It means rearranging state laws and policies so that they are neutral (ghair janibdaar) and treat citizens of all faiths without prejudice.
Wow. In *your* country, perhaps, but we have the ACLU here in the U.S. to protect us from such Alt-Right thinking!
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/25/2017 13:33 Comments ||
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[DAWN] THE documents and two-way radio messages that Israel has declassified on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the 1967 war are a treasure trove for researchers worldwide and will, no doubt, help solve some of the riddles surrounding the shocking Arab defeat despite superiority in men and material, if not in quality. Israel, according to the documents, had 412 aircraft, including 203 bombers and fighters with 235 pilots, as against 826 flying machines and 980 pilots that Egypt, Syria and Jordan had between them. Some documents attribute the destruction of Egyptian air power to the fact that the Egyptian defence minister was airborne and the air force had been ordered not to fire on a flying object. While Israel’s own losses were minimal — 46 planes lost and 24 pilots killed, one of them in friendly fire — 250 Egyptian aircraft were destroyed or disabled, with over 100 pilots killed.
Barring Sinai, which Egypt recovered thanks as much to the 1973 war as to the US-brokered Camp David accord, the fruits of that victory are still with Israel. It has annexed Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, while the West Bank and Gaza continue to remain under its occupation in violation of UN resolutions and several bilateral and multilateral treaties to which America is party. The documents reveal the contradictions in Israeli thinking. Abba Eban, one of Israel’s finest diplomats and then foreign minister, opposed from day one any idea of Israel gobbling up the conquered lands. His book, My People, shows both his enlightened mind and the warmth with which he speaks of the joint Judeo-Arab glory that Spain was. The documents quote him as opposing the annexation of Arab territories and warning that the world would side with the Palestinian liberation movement. The true Zionist philosophy, however, was articulated brazenly by Levi Eshkol, then prime minister. “If it were up to us,” he said, “we would send all the Arabs to Brazil.” Since then, it seems, men like Eban have been in short supply in Israel.
Whither the Jews of Pakistan, you may well ask. It turns out most of them settled in Ramle, Israel. Not for them the romantic ideas about Arabs and Moslems that those first generations of Ashkenazi pioneers had.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/25/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
Since then, it seems, men like Eban have been in short supply in Israel.
The daily terrorist attacks, after Camp David's accords, might have something to do with it.
#2
But, what are the benefits of releasing this stuff now? Why not after 200 years?
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/25/2017 13:20 Comments ||
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#3
But, what are the benefits of releasing this stuff now?
It's the 50th anniversary, Bobby. Almost two generations, but some of the participants are still around. The Times of Israel has some pretty pictures here, if you prefer that.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
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dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[DAWN] IN a recent address, Chaudhry Nisar hit out at political opponents by classifying them as ’secular’ and equating the term with ’non-believing’. Clearly, the interior minister needs tuition in history and political philosophy.
