Terrorism in Barcelona
While we’ve been busily parsing every word Trump says, ISIS hasn’t been letting any moss grow under its feet. A terrorist on a vehicular rampage killed 13 people in Barcelona and injured more than 100 before he fled—and escaped—on foot.
And it might have been even worse:
A rented Fiat van was driven into crowds in the tourist district of Las Ramblas yesterday afternoon…
Investigators believe the atrocity is linked to an explosion at a home 70 miles away which happened 24 hours earlier. Documents discovered at the scene reveal details of the planned attack, police sources have claimed.
It is thought the address was being used as a bomb factory, and that the terror cell responsible for yesterday’s attack planned to fill the van with explosive butane canisters.
The targeting of a tourist destination is designed to kill foreigners as well as natives, and discourage tourism and therefore hurt a country economically. The scene was chaotic and horrific.
That Daily Mail article I linked to is typical of the British press, in that the coverage is more thorough and more graphic than is ordinarily the case in the US. More of the injured are expected to die, because quite a few are in critical condition.
There is little doubt that the attack was perpetrated by Islamicist terrorists, although the details are still emerging:
In the aftermath of the attack police circulated an image of Driss Oukabir, a 28-year-old Catalan resident of Moroccan origin, saying he had rented out a second van thought to be intended as a getaway vehicle – where his documents were found.
But police sources said Oukabir later handed himself in at a police station in Ripoll, 65 miles north of Barcelona, claiming his brother had stolen his documents.
His brother is named Moussa Oukabir, 18, who lives in Barcelona, El Pais reports…
[The Las Ramblas vehicular attack] is believed to be connected with a second incident – the explosion of a house in Alcanar. We received an alert of an explosion where one person has died and others were injured.
‘A part of the building collapsed. We are linking these two incidents. I cannot give further details as we are still working on the investigation.
‘This led to the arrest of two people directly implicated in this attack. This does not mean that the two people under arrest are those who carried out the attack in Barcelona – but they are connected to the attack.
‘Neither of them was the person driving the van. Neither of them has any convictions for terrorism. One is from Melilla (a Spanish enclave in north Africa) and the other is Moroccan.
That wasn’t the only terrorist attack in Spain, either. Just a few hours later, a group of five terrorists wearing what turned out to be fake suicide belts but driving a very real Audi A3 were shot dead by police in the town of while Cambrils perpetrating a similar—although fortunately less successful—attack:
Five suspected terrorists have been shot dead by Spanish police in the coastal town of Cambrils, south-west of Barcelona, after they drove into pedestrians as part of what appeared to be the country’s second terror attack in a day…
The attack in Cambrils, where six bystanders and a policeman were also wounded, ended a day of bloody violence along the Catalan coast, which the police said was the work of a terrorist cell determined to “kill as many people as possible”.
There are many expressions of unity and sorrow and outrage from around the world, but the real question is what is the West going to do about it, if anything. These sorts of attacks have become almost commonplace. They are relatively easy to execute (if one can apply the word “easy” to that sort of wanton, deliberate, up-close, mass murder) and inexpensive as well, and there are plenty of the usual “known wolves” (or even unknown wolves) who seem willing, able, and eager to perpetrate similar murderous attacks.
What will the west do? Sweep it under the rug ASAP.
I like the pershing idea, fight superstition with another superstition. The goal of committing jihad is to get the afterlife rewards, there is no better punishment than taking any possible rewards away with pershing if they truly believe in being buried with dead pigs or having pig blood bullets penetrated in the body would send them straight to the underworld. who would have thought pig blood would be their kryptonite.
Spain and all of Western Europe are simply reaping what they have sown. Given their arrogant dismissal and labeling as fascist and racist of anyone who disagrees with them, they are getting their just deserts.
And, it’s just begun.
“Umbrellas in the Rain”
What will be ‘enough’? Why to start with the return of “al-Andalus”, of course. Here’s a map. But really all of Europe and then, even should it take another 1400 years… the world. Since Allah will settle for nothing less.
Churchill’s comment on Britain and France handing over the “Sudetenland”, i.e. that part of today’s Czechoslovakia that contained a large minority of German extraction to Hitler comes to mind; “Britain and France had to chose between dishonor and war, they chose dishonor and will have war”. So too with Spain, Western Europe and Islam.
Only this time, in the aggregate Western Europeans haven’t the will to defend their way of life, culture and independence. Enslavement to Sharia is their future. Their children’s children not killed or beaten into submission will curse their memory.
Many will convert. When there’s nothing you’re willing to die for, then embracing the path to survival becomes a no-brainer.
And that brings us to the final point; when will we hold the murderer’s accomplices responsible for their actions? Those Spaniards who voted in 2004 to cave, fold and walk away from Islamic totalitarianism directly enabled the slaughter and in doing so have become accomplices to that slaughter.
ISIS hasn’t been letting any moss grow under its feet.??
https://youtu.be/pr47mKJeuaU
For many Europeans, being called racist is worst than death which leaves few policy options.
For many Europeans, being called racist is a sly implication that they are Nazis. Since being a Nazi means you have a bounty on you, are to be killed with extreme prejudice, or have no political power… it is something they don’t like to be targeted with.
I’ve spent more time in Spain than any other country in Europe. Beautiful country and a playground for northern Europeans. Europeans love to walk or stroll on their plazas. Las Ramblas is just one example of thousands of such pedestrian plazas all over Europe. Unless they are completely blocked to all vehicular traffic (most allow trade vehicles and delivery trucks in limited numbers but no cars.), they are perfect venues for these vehicular attacks. It’s going to be a tough job to defend these types of areas. It can be done, but is costly and disrupts the normality of life – exactly what the terrorists are trying to accomplish.
Not as many places like that in the U.S. Of course, a big city sidewalk filled with pedestrians during rush hour is a pretty ripe target.
Spain has a fairly large Muslim population and I imagine the push to radicalize unemployed (Spain is in bad shape economically) young Muslim men is pretty strong there. This attack was intended to be much bigger than it turned out. It appears the police are uncovering a large ring of terrorists. Unfortunately, Europe will probably continue to treat radical Islam as a law enforcement matter. If so, expect more attacks.
Ymar Sakar Says:
August 18th, 2017 at 8:24 pm
For many Europeans, being called racist is a sly implication that they are Nazis. Since being a Nazi means you have a bounty on you, are to be killed with extreme prejudice, or have no political power… it is something they don’t like to be targeted with.
* * *
http://www.spiked-online.com/newsite/article/from-charlottesville-to-barcelona/20222
“Rarely has the hypocrisy of the West’s ostensible liberals and leftists been as violently exposed as it has been this week. Between Charlottesville and Barcelona, between their fury over the former and their embarrassment at the latter, we have gained a glimpse into today’s extraordinary double standards over extremists who loathe liberty, democracy and swathes of mankind. If the extremists are white and fond of the swastika, they’ll be roundly condemned, organised against, transformed into a focal point for the activities of a flagging left. But if they’re Muslims, if it’s a misogynistic, homophobic caliphate they want to build, if their targets are ‘kuffars’ rather than pinkos or black people, they will be frowned upon, of course, but never raged against. Never organised against. They will be treated more forgivingly, and explicitly so. It’s clear now: leftists only dislike certain kinds of neo-fascism.”
Geoffrey Britain Says:
August 18th, 2017 at 4:45 pm
“Many will convert. When there’s nothing you’re willing to die for, then embracing the path to survival becomes a no-brainer.”
* * *
A variant on “better Red than dead” —
Churchill would not approve.
Mr. Frank Says:
August 18th, 2017 at 7:58 pm
For many Europeans, being called racist is worst than death which leaves few policy options.
* * *
Nice phraseology.
Note that this is the same world-view that decrees a woman who has been raped to be so dishonored that death is the only policy option.
Geoffrey Britain Says:
August 18th, 2017 at 4:45 pm
Spain and all of Western Europe are simply reaping what they have sown. Given their arrogant dismissal and labeling as fascist and racist of anyone who disagrees with them, they are getting their just deserts.
And, it’s just begun.
“Umbrellas in the Rain”
* * *
One of Steyn’s commenters observes:
Quinn – Aug 18, 2017 at 14:34
Did you see Wolf Blitzer? He actually said, “Do you think this is a copycat of the white supremacist who used his car to mow down counter protesters last Saturday?” Yeah Wolf, that’s what happened. And the guys behind the wheel in Nice, the guys at the Berlin Christmas market, and the fellas at London Bridge- they all had visions into the future, and got the idea from this guy in Charlottesville last Saturday, too. And they wonder why people call them Fake News.
* * *
Well, as Sarah Palin is demonstrating, the NYT admitted it doesn’t read its own stories, so why should Wolf listen to his own network’s broadcasts?
Even HuffPo called him out on this one (gently, of course).
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/cnn-wolf-blitzer-barcelona-copycat-charlottesville_us_5996014be4b0e8cc855c5db6
FNC, Fox News was also called Fake News by the Left’s propaganda ministry.
The former and maybe current Demoncrat, Trum, used it against the media. That was hilarious. Fight poison with poison!
AesopFan Says:
August 18th, 2017 at 11:44 pm
There are also laws in Germany which ban swastika Nazi stuff. So if your party is guilty of that, it loses all power and seats in the Bund or the parliament of Germany.
So the accusation that someone is a Nazi, has real political effects, like when we tar people as adulterers or Muslims in the US, disloyal patriots. Except some EU countries have a law about that which can be enforced on the books.
Americans are so blocked by the language gap and filtered news from mainstream propaganda sewers, that they have a difficult time grasping the context of many European actions. Just as they have the same problem with the US/Hollywood.
Blitzer is a perfect example of the multitudes who enable the slaughter. That he continues to work for CNN is proof positive that he hasn’t even a bit of intellectual integrity.
These attacks continue until Islam reconquers Europe. I say 50-100 years.
These attacks continue until Islam reconquers Europe. I say 50-100 years.
Actually Islam never conquered Europe, though they gave it a pretty good shot twice.
FWIW my Irish friend says Europeans won’t be able to hold back their inner Vikings forever. When that dam breaks it won’t be pretty.
Actually Islam never conquered Europe, though they gave it a pretty good shot twice.
Spain was pretty much conquered, and that is part of the modern day conception of Europe.
huxley,
It’s inevitable but it’s not going to happen any time soon. Europeans are too comfortable and fighting is scary and unpleasant. They won’t change until their circumstances are as uncomfortable as the prospect of fighting, and that’s a long ways off.