In a video by al Shabab, an al Qaida-linked terror group in Somalia, terrorists encouraged Muslims to attack shopping malls in the US, Canada, Britain and other Western countries.
Why?
Well, first, because they’re stupid terrorists. But also, because the 2013 attack in the Nairobi, Kenya Westgate Mall proved pretty successful for them. A total of 67 innocent shoppers were gunned down by Muslim extremist murderers and the effect was reverberating fear.
(NSFW)
Tactically speaking, a complex attack is an attack that is, well, complex and usually involves both IEDs and firearms. This term entered our lexicon after overseas troops in convoys experienced IED attacks followed by shooting attacks. These events were labeled complex attacks.
To my mind, there are three points currently worth examining when it comes to the threat of complex attacks on civilian targets: (1) what’s going on inside the minds of the attackers, (2) how good guy, gun-toters respond, and (3) what do the other people do?
The psychology of the attackers
First off, what a bunch of pansies. The whole ideology behind these men is sordid and twisted. Who thinks bravery lies in murdering unarmed citizens? Innocent women and children distracted while shopping? I’m reminded of the anything but highly trained losers who attacked the press in Paris recently.
In that article, I wrote about Dr. Nancy Kobrin who I feel hit the nail on the head in her book The Banality of Suicide Terrorism: The Naked Truth About the Psychology of Islamic Suicide Bombing. Dr. Kobrin suggests these so-called terrorists have mommy problems and, without a doubt, they have a culture of despising women and murdering their sisters in so-called “honor killings.”
Just to be clear, I’m talking specifically about the terrorists, not my friends and brothers who are Islamic and fighting wars in their homelands to defeat such evil. In Iraq I regularly had dinner with an Iraqi officer who was in a Special Forces unit. He even gave me his wristwatch before I left—probably his most expensive piece of equipment that would go for about $25.00 here. He had been fighting for years in his own land without a break. Talk about a real hero.
The psychology behind the counter-attackers
Strangely, I dreamed about complex mall attacks back in the early 90s. Actually, it was a nightmare because in my dream I didn’t have a gun. Even more interesting was that the specific mall from the dream was in fact attacked about 20 years later by a psycho with a gun. Spooky, right? Like what normally occurs in these cowardly attacks, the guy eventually turned the gun on himself.
Personally, I hate going shopping unless it’s to a gun store. I hate large crowds and every time I witness one, all I can think is what a great place for a lot of people to get murdered by evil people, which is probably a product of my training and experience.
Yes, I think like evil people sometimes. Yes, I watched for terrorist attacks and IEDs and VBIEDs at malls before those were household acronyms and long before 9/11. Mirroring what evil people think helps us plan and prepare to stop them and if you follow that thinking, shopping malls are terrorist playgrounds.
Thankfully (I suppose), there are handfuls of guys and gals out there who also think like me. Thankfully there are a lot of military veterans with combat experience. We like to carry our guns and we’re not going down without a fight. We’ll run towards the fight. We know there are really no winners or losers in gunfights, there are just survivors and those who don’t survive.
At any rate, we’re crazy and bold enough to stand as a shield and defensive barrier between evil and the innocent. And, although it may sound like hyperbole and false bravado, we say, “Molon labe. Bring it on. Come and get it. I dare you to try to attack me. I will maim you. I will hurt you. I will kill you if you try to harm any innocent person. Bring it on. I dare you.”
The innocent, unarmed folks who frequent malls and support anti-gun bills
On one hand, the terrorist’s propaganda works well in the context of US and Western media. By distributing their message through the wire, it only enhances the terrorist agenda of striking fear into the population.
We shouldn’t live our lives in fear or embrace knee-jerk reactions in the name of protecting ourselves. We should always be ready. We become ready by allowing gun rights and by allowing guns to be carried concealed or open carry virtually everywhere.
While the propaganda video encouraged an attack at the Mall of America, interesting because a lot of Somalis live in the Twin Cities, near the Mall of America, my first guess was that this may not be the best place to come looking for a fight. These cowardly criminals don’t want any resistance. They’ll attack soft targets. They don’t want citizens with firearms stopping their plans and Minnesota is full of such folks. That is until I read that the Mall of America is essentially one big gun free zone and even had the audacity to “double down” on this foolish decision after journalists questioned it’s wisdom.
It’s clear to me that we supporters of the Second amendment understand what many policy makers and influential (but misled) legislatures don’t: That guns protect people and that the right to bear arms brings peace and lessens the possibility of attack.
I pray nothing comes of this. I do suspect though that if terrorists do decide to attack a US shopping mall Nairobi style, they likely won’t chose a state or facility that allows concealed carry.
The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of Guns.com.
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