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Reactions to the London Attack, Helpful and Unhelpful
Jon, I was prompted to write this when I saw your post this morning.
I spent the day yesterday with two friends who were visiting from London. They live quite close to London Bridge. One used to be a Ricochet member. Both were, until recently, solid Atlanticists — and still are — but they’re both offended beyond words by the tone of hostility and contempt for Britain that’s oozing, non-stop, out of the US these days, starting with the President, and echoed by many Americans on social media. I don’t blame them for being offended.
“Instructing Londoners to run, hide, and tell,” Jon writes, “is a dramatic departure from the can-do, stiff-upper-lip, globe-striding empire of a century ago.”
Actually, it’s not.
This guidance has been in place since 2014. It’s not a dramatic departure from anything, although it is a response to studying hundreds of similar situations around the world, including many in the United States. You’ll note that Britons are being told, explicitly, not to surrender or negotiate. The reason they’re emphasizing the seemingly obvious — run — is that we now, unfortunately, have a lot of evidence about how civilians (everywhere) behave during terrorist attacks and other emergencies. Some small percentage of them do behave as we all like to fantasize we would: They become superheroes who defeat the terrorists using any implement available. Unfortunately, in reality, many people don’t do that. They freeze.
“Freezing” seems to be something like a biologic default. It’s a cross-cultural reaction to fear. So people do in fact need to be told, specifically, not to obey that instinct. They need to be warned that their first response may be to deny what’s happening, or be confused by it, and freeze. They need to hear (often, repetitively) that this is not the reaction most likely to result in their survival.
This is why we get a lot of seemingly-obvious warnings about what to do and not do in other kinds of emergencies — e.g., “If you need to evacuate this plane, do not stop to get your luggage.” The reason we hear that all the time isn’t because the airline officials condescendingly suspect we might be idiots. It’s because they know we are. There’s evidence, and a lot of it, that a significant number of people will try to get their luggage, even though every second matters when you’re trying to evacuate a smoke-filled plane, and even though people who try to get their luggage put everyone behind them in mortal danger. And yes, this happens in the US as well as the UK. An NTSB study found that 50 percent — yes, 50 percent — of the passengers in emergency evacuations tried to take their bags. Now, why would they do such a stupid thing? Because most people have no experience of situations like this, and most people don’t respond heroically — or rationally — to them, unless they’ve had a lot of training. No matter what you think you would do, the reality is that in emergencies, many people do dumb things, and unless you’ve been in the situation yourself, you don’t know for sure you wouldn’t be one of them.
“Run, Hide, Fight” is standard protocol for active-shooter situations in the US, too. Are Americans wimps because we, too, need to be told to run and hide? Ah, but you say, part of the advice we get is to fight. Well, no one is telling the British not to fight: And indeed, they fought — they fought back with everything they had on hand: chairs, pint glasses, bottles, discarded bicycle parts. They’ve emphasized “Tell” over “Fight” because that actually makes a lot of sense if you’re living a country where the cops are armed and the terrorists aren’t, and it makes even more sense if the cops are able to get there and kill all of the terrorists within eight minutes. That is, by the way, an impressive achievement, and the appropriate reaction from allies to that news is, “Well done,” not “You remind us of Neville Chamberlain.”
Larry Barton, an American researcher at the University of Central Florida, is the highest-rated instructor at the FBI Academy and US Marshals Service. His research supports both the “run” advice and the giving of the advice. He analyzed 61 deadly assaults in public places from 2006 to 2016 — mostly in the United States. Among those who survived, 73 percent did so by running. Those who ran wound up with no no injuries or only moderate injuries, e.g., a sprained ankle. Of those who survived by hiding — 20 percent — a third were more seriously injured. “Running” is generally the best strategy. It is not always and everywhere the best strategy; there is no such thing as a universally successful solution. But it’s statistically likely to be the best strategy. A highly pro-Second Amendment group, The Truth About Guns, ran simulations of the Charlie Hebdo attack, for example, in which one or more of the civilians were armed. The civilians “died” in every scenario except immediate flight from the scene. So overall, based on evidence, the responsible advice to give the public — whether it’s armed or not — is “run.”
When Americans respond to an event like this by insinuating that the victims of the attack are wimps, or that they would have performed better under the same circumstances, it — unsurprisingly — offends the victims. It offends them terribly, in fact. And pointlessly. As one of the friends who was visiting me yesterday wrote on my Facebook page (in response to an offensive comment to this effect):
Before you sneer at us, may I remind you that the UK has the longest continuous experience of terrorism on its soil of any western country, and the greatest expertise in stopping it. Yes, we have had far too many terrorist incidents, but they are a drop in the ocean compared with the myriad plots that have been foiled. I think it’s fair to say the 9/11 plot would probably have been detected here. A little respect for us might be in order, too.
I agree. A lot more respect might be in order.
Many Americans believe the British were offended that Obama moved a bust of Churchill. Obama denied that it had been moved. Whether or not it was moved, I’ve never spoken personally to anyone in Britain who was offended by this story. Many have never even heard it. But everyone I know in Britain — and remember, I lived there for seven years, so I do know many people there, and I stay in contact with quite a few of them — is wildly offended by this kind of sneering. It causes real harm to our relationship with the people of Britain. What we say, in fact, on social media and other public fora, causes more offense than anything our politicians say: A politician’s comments can be dismissed, by people with a generous nature, as unrepresentative of the American character. But when ordinary Americans use social media to sneer at our allies, it really leaves a bad taste — and let’s not pretend we would not feel precisely the same way were the situation reversed. We would.
More than 220,000 British personnel have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. According to Ministry of Defence figures, 456 Britons have died in Afghanistan. More than 7,300 have been treated for battlefield injuries, non-combat wounds, or disease related to their service. In Iraq, 179 British service personnel were killed. Some 5,800 were treated in field hospitals. This is a heavy toll. Britain wasn’t attacked on September 11. We were. They are in Afghanistan because we asked them to be. They entered war in Iraq because we asked them to. They did so despite believing it would increase the risk of terrorism on British soil. They did it because they are our allies.
When in response they hear sneering contempt from Americans to the effect that they’re sheeplike, cowardly wusses reminiscent of Neville Chamberlain — illustrated by wartime enlistment posters, clearly meant to suggest that Britons no longer enlist — they respond exactly as Americans would were the situation reversed. They did enlist, and do enlist, and they have been fighting, by our side, since September 11. Here are photographs of British men (and a woman) who died in 2010 in Afghanistan. In this link, you can see more photos of the British men and women who’ve died in every year of that war since it began.
So why would an American, in the wake of an attack on British soil, taunt the British for failing to enlist? Every one of the men above died because they took seriously the promise that an attack on any one of us would be an attack on all of us. Is taunting the British for being “sheeplike” and unwilling to enlist in the fight the right way to show our respect to their families?
Jon posted a photo of the famous “Keep calm and carry on” poster, intimating that the Britain of calm, dignity, and resilience is dead, replaced by a bunch of cowering ninnies. As it happens, that poster — precisely — has been widely circulating on British Twitter in the wake of the attack. But I suspect that if it were a new poster, Americans would be mocking the British for urging calm and normalcy. Our president would be Tweeting, ‘At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and the British are saying, “Keep calm and carry on!”‘
President Trump’s tweets caused grave offense. You may think the offense misplaced, but I can promise you they did cause offense, and I don’t find that offense at all hard to understand. What on earth would possess him to use an occasion like this to criticize the Mayor of London? Jennifer Rubin’s description of this is accurate:
After receiving blowback for that obnoxious missive, he tweeted out, “Whatever the United States can do to help out in London and the U. K., we will be there – WE ARE WITH YOU. GOD BLESS!” But then he decided to slam the mayor of the city attacked, who had calmly warned his fellow Londoners: “Londoners will see an increased police presence today and over the course of the next few days. There’s no reason to be alarmed.” Trump took the second part out of context and responded viciously, “At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is ‘no reason to be alarmed!’” (The mayor, of course, was telling them not to be alarmed by the heightened police presence.) Trump was not done, however, inanely tweeting, “Do you notice we are not having a gun debate right now? That’s because they used knives and a truck!”
The offense caused by this kind of boorishness has real consequences — for us. It’s insane, right before a British general election, to hand ammunition to a politician like Jeremy Corbyn. But that’s exactly what this kind of behavior from Americans does. It puts defenders of the Anglo-American alliance in a terrible position. And this time, the people who are offended aren’t the usual suspects — they’re not British leftists who have always hated Americans and always will. We’re offending people who have always considered Americans their closest allies. And it isn’t because they’re delicate snowflakes, either. It’s because we’re being offensive. The tone of contempt from Americans, above all, is one no amount of rational argument can counter. If American voters didn’t care for being called “deplorable,” how do you imagine British voters feel about being called cowardly, sheeplike, and a disgrace to their heritage?
The UK has committed 1,250 military personnel to the fight against ISIS. Apart from us, the Royal Air Force has conducted more airstrikes in Iraq and Syria than any other Coalition country. It provides intelligence and surveillance to Iraqi Security Forces. It’s trained 39,000 Iraqi soldiers in engineering, medical skills, and infantry. In Syria, UK armed forces are training Syrian opposition groups in infantry, emergency medicine, and explosive disposal. How does undermining this alliance help us?
Why would we mock the British in the wake of a terrorist attack that killed seven innocent people on their soil? We know what it means to be the victims of terrorism. Why would we spit on our friends? What do we get out of it?
My answer: We get nothing out of it. So I suggest we not do it. It’s not in our interests to harm the friendship between the United States and Britain. And more importantly, it’s just not decent.
Published in General
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You are not helping the case against what I saw. Yes, as a Georgia native, I am more than used to the rest of the Nation, especially the North East looking down on the South. Check. However, every bit of news that comes out of the South is not Anti-North. Coming here looking for rednecks means you see what you want to see.
What I have spent a life time seeing from Europe, is how much they appear to look down on us. What I got when I visited was that very thing. So, we have being feed the line they hate us (and their media sure does), and then I get reinforcement in person. I do not see why my personal experience should be discounted and another’s raised up.
And, that is a side point. The sneering is real, and it is loud, and it what I see. It is normal to sneer back.
Have you driven a Ford (over someone) lately?
Occupy Mecca.
The melting pot worked. It no longer is the model used here.
Claire Berlinski, Ed. (View Comment):
“I’ve been tracking Western European appraisals of this carefully for 30 years. Until recently, the strongly-held view that Americans suck was confined to the far left. There was often a casual sense that Americans were weird, but it didn’t go deep, and there was a lot of affection and respect for Americans, too.”
—-
Many of us are terrified that the U.S. is headed in the wrong direction, namely that of a country that embraces and aspires to European attitudes, governance, and legal norms. As for anti-Americanism in France, this scholar found that it runs deep.
So you know Islamic theology better than they do. Good. You have some work to do, but with luck, you can probably get this cleared up by year’s end.
It certainly abrogates their prayers. However, I feel like admitting this opens a door that Christians are uncomfortable peering through because it exposes their theology to the same sort of analysis.
Also, the ecumenical impulse in this case is well-nigh suicidal.
So, Pascal then…
If God is real and praying works neither need have died…
That false attribution of theodicy is a dangerous thing. Bad stuff occurring is just as attributable to the Divine as when good stuff happens or when bad things are prevented. If it provides comfort, it’s cold comfort, and as far as preventing the next attack… Well, I think the results speak for themselves
The prayer actually does nothing in and of itself. But I don’t want to derail this thread any further.
I am sorry to see so much stereotyping and generalizing on this thread.
If you want to read an account by someone who was there, as to what was (I believe) the overwhelmingly prevalent reaction to the arrival of the US troops in the UK in January of 1942, please look towards the end of this post. (Warning: Shameless self-promotion alert).
In 2007, Mr. She traveled to the UK and spent six weeks living in my Dad’s independent living facility, helping him out after he broke his hip. He was treated with unfailing courtesy by everyone he met, everywhere. Of course, he reciprocated.
I am sorry if some of you had unfortunate experiences abroad. I assure you some folks I know have had unfortunate experiences when they’ve been visiting this country. I always encourage them not to view all Americans through the same filter as that of the few bad apples they ran into, and not to form a negative impression of an entire people just because they found themselves in the company of a few jerks.
I’d appreciate it if you’d return the favor vis-a-vis the Brits.
Thanks.
This is a trick question: Fords do not run.
Thanks for the post, Claire. We dislike getting lectured about how to do things by our European friends, but seem to be full of advice for them.
Jihadi is Job One.
No. You really seem to be enjoying taking shots at Americans over the Muslim attack in Europe. It is vile.
A melting pot requires cultural confidence. Otherwise, why would immigrants want to assimilate in the culture? This is the explanation for the 2nd and 3rd generation Muslims to become the jihadists. The 1st generation is grateful for getting out of the hellhole. The 2nd and 3rd generation grows up among self-hating westerners and somewhat understandably want nothing to do with western culture. They choose the strong horse.
Not exactly. There are three primary instinctive responses: freeze, flight, and fight. Here’s well respected self defense trainer Greg Ellifritz:
[continued]
An eight minute response time is not too bad for two separate incidents in two different locations. It also appears that more armed officers were available to respond for this latest attack than were available for the Lee Rigby attack on May 22, 2013, timeline below:
Most people have no experience in dealing with a violent confrontation and when it happens their reaction time is hampered by this can’t be happening to me. That denial takes up precious seconds before the flight or fight decision is made.
The aftermath for survivors is anger and grief. Anger and grief is also the reaction of those who did not directly experience the incident.
The new normal in politics, especially in this time of the 24 hour news cycle is that politicians on both sides of any issue live in fear that something they have said will not be heard and that they missed a moment where they have left something unsaid.
President Trump needs to get off Twitter. I heard a lot of America First during his campaign. Does America First include being first to offer unsolicited advice and criticisms of those outside our borders. We certainly resent it when other nations criticize us. If we demand to be allowed to solve our own problems within our borders then we should respect the right of other nations to do the same.
Unfortunately we have very little control over the actions of those who intend to commit horrific acts, and we are in a position of having to react. As cruel as this sounds sometimes fate is the hunter.
A melting pot requires cultural confidence. Otherwise, why would immigrants want to assimilate into the culture? This is the explanation for the 2nd and 3rd generation Muslims becoming the jihadists. The 1st generation is grateful for getting out of the hellhole. The 2nd and 3rd generation grows up among self-hating westerners and somewhat understandably want nothing to do with western culture. They choose the strong horse.
This isn’t just my humble opinion, btw — my 15-year-old said this to me in reaction to the London terror.
What may seem like sneering is probably more accurately described as frustration; apparently, one of the terrorists in the most recent attacks in London was out waving an ISIS flag at a demonstration, but the powers that be were too busy going after those who engage in anti-Muslim “hate speech” to notice. I just find what is going on Great Britain very, very frustrating, and I don’t know how to express that frustration in a polite way. Would it be better to just remain silent? I don’t think so. People in Europe need to wake up. Liberalism is a suicide cult. If saying that offends some people in Great Britain, I don’t care-and my husband, who comes from Great Britain, agrees with me. We are facing an existential threat, and people like Claire are complaining that we aren’t re arranging the deck furniture in the most polite way possible; give me a break.
Whenever a non Muslim person in America shoots people, Europeans do not hesitate to blame American gun culture; there is nothing wrong with pointing out that American gun culture puts America in a better position to deal with terrorism. If Europeans think it’s rude to point that out, I am sorry, but I don’t care anymore. People have been far too polite about this for far too long.
After reading this book, I remain extremely pessimistic about Britain’s chances of coming out of this cultural
raperip tide intact.Please understand Bryan. I am not discounting your experiences. I have a few of my own that I could relate that would reinforce your perceptions. Really. You’re right that Europeans like to cast themselves as the sophisticates. Especially elite Europeans.
However, I am saying that I have spent a great deal of time in Europe, and Americans are often respected, lifted up, and even appreciated… especially by the regular people of other countries, i.e. not the Cambridge professor or leftist politician whose opinions you hear on the nightly news.
All I mean when talking about the South is that many Northerners who have been fed negative Southern stereotypes for years in the media expect Deliverance, and they are quicker to see that than the good old boy who pulled his truck over to the side of the road to help a woman he doesn’t know change her flat tire….
Could that not be the case in a couple of trips to Europe?
One can also sometimes have negative experiences based on misunderstandings that occur because of language and/or culture when traveling abroad. (See my comment about me and a taxi driver in France.)
I am not talking here about negative perceptions of Islamic terrorists who want to kill people causing some sort of culture clash. That’s a different thing.
I’m talking about the French girl at the hotel who speaks English with an insufferable accent and says “but of course” to your every question as if you’re a moron for asking her. I had a dear friend who was French, and she did not understand at all why I found “but of course” so intolerable. This is a phrase said all the time– C’est Evident–to other French people in Paris. Something is lost in translation that is cultural but allows for easy misinterpretation by an American of a French person’s intent. (It always sounds like an insult.)
Ironically, many British people find Americans insufferably arrogant, not less sophisticated.
They’ve been predicting that here ever since 9/11 and it didn’t happen.
[continued from #164]
Greg Ellifritz again:
That can be a tall order; it’s also a lifestyle or a trade. Professionals like @bossmongo train the component individual and group skills in small chunks, and then assemble them into more complex skills which are performed under various stresses.
The “run” advice has the great advantage of utilizing an instinctive response that is already high on the menu of choices under stress.
Yes, Zafar.
@mikelaroche: Thank you :)
My pleasure!
If you’ve played violent sports like rugby, American football, combative arts where you actually fight, or have engaged in hard dangerous physical work in which you routinely sustain small injuries and work when in fear and/or pain and do your job anyway, you’ve done hard things and have been able to function and problem solve under a significant degree of stress with “function” including using your body under those circumstances.
I don’t like heights. You can guess how happy I was to be told on my first day of a new job “take the other end of this 4×12, we need it up on the deck.” “Up” meant up an inclined 2×12 ramp across the foundation excavation. But a couple of months of that sort of thing and I was able to work on an icy 2×4 top plate about 25′ up. I was still nervous, but I earned my wages.
That was baby steps, though.
Alex Honnold’s recent free solo up El Capitan in Yosemite, on the other hand…
I am reminded about a story I once read in NRO about one of those bloody summers in Chicago. A reporter went in and had a Pakistani driver and the Driver said. “This kind of thing would never happen if Pakistan.”
The reporter asked. “What do you mean?”
The driver responded. “In Pakistan every shop owner has his own AK-47. You try something stupid, and the storeowners all pull out there AKs.”
I see I missed that.
I have never been to the UK, so I cannot speak for there. My experiences have been in Europe. The problem has not been someone being rude (I can get that with Yankee Transplants here in Georgia). No, the problem is being lectured on the problems of my nation when I am visiting. That is not being a good host.
As far as American’s being demanding tourists, having seen what passes for service in France and Romania, I think Americans are mostly just used to a higher level of service for the money than in Europe.
I haven’t read all the comments yet. “Run, Hide, Tell” sounds like instructions for 5-year-olds. As to Britons feeling “offended,” have they noticed the anti-Trump invective they spew at us on a daily – make that hourly – basis? Has anyone had a conversation with a person in England who gets all their information from The Guardian? I have. Talking to my U.K. publisher, you’d think Trump was Ivan the Terrible on the point of blowing up the world and spending his free time dropping arsenic into the water supply.
Having said that, England has done this to themselves with their reckless immigration policies, and it’s probably a little late for any kind of advice. But I can’t help asking why the law-abiding citizens of England should have to be the ones to run and hide.