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Tragedy: Four (Unarmed?) French Police Die
Let’s hope this tragic event was due to French rules forbidding gendarmes from carrying guns in their offices. At least that would make this terrible incident comprehensible. When I lived in France, the French gendarmes (local police) and the national quasi-military police were always armed, often heavily. Of course, the terrorism was from both the left and Islamists, or the occasional Iranian sponsored death squad.
France still does not understand it is no different from the rest of the world, subject to terrorism from all quarters, not to mention mental illness. Knives are abundant, guns remain available despite strict control, and cars and lorries packed with explosifs sont disponible.
When I lived in Japan, where almost all civilian guns are banned, I recall attacks on police and civilians by the mentally ill, disgruntled workers, or angry husbands using abundant knives and seppaku wakizashi. The Yakuza used ropes, strait razors, drowning, asphyxiation by plastic bag, starvation, car trunks, garroting, pedestrian rundowns by vehicle, hatchets, hammers, and of course, plentiful illegal guns to make a point. The police and Yakuza had an understanding: guns were to be used sparingly.
It’s hard to outlaw all the possible instruments of violence and defend against them. Maybe it’s better to properly arm and train civilians and authorities, especially those who are on the front lines, recognize the danger at all times, and remain vigilant, even with harmless, co-workers. We citizens should not become vigilantes, but we should not be unduly exposed to those who mean harm or are disturbed.
Published in General
We were in Brussels near the Grand Place in 2015 and walked past the police station nearby. All the police we saw had submachine guns. We were there about two weeks before the big terrorist attack. Our hotel was sealed for almost a week after the attack and I was glad we were not there.
You would think the French would get wise after the Charlie Hebdo attack,.
I can’t peek over the WSJ paywall, so I’ll ask the obvious – was the killer a devotee of the Religion of Peace?
Not if you know anything about the French.
I see the killer used an assault knife. When will we take these weapons of war off our streets?
The killer was a colleague, which probably had something to do with how slowly the officers reacted. I’ve been inside that building, and you have to go through a metal detector, but the knife was ceramic and didn’t set the thing off. In other words, this was planned.
And yes, after 20 years on the force, he had converted to Islam. His wife has evidently also been taken into custody.
I’m thinking of the French cops I met there, with prayers and worry.
Alternate source without paywall:
https://news.sky.com/story/man-attacks-police-officers-with-knife-in-paris-11826248
Note, the WSJ visible graf says the perp worked in the IT department. Other sources say he worked in the intelligence department. Hmm. Why might we not want a recent convert to the “religion of peace” in that department?
The world provides abundant weapons; one just has to be willing and able to see them. And then, well trained enough to use them.
Ceramic knives are insanely sharp, but also very brittle. Were I to use a ceramic knife to fight someone else who also had a knife (regular, steel knife) I would be at a significant disadvantage.* Were I to plan on going on a stabbing/slashing spree before which I had to pass through a magnetometer? Ceramic, all the way.
And, of course the guy was muslim. They like stabby-stabby slashy-slashy.
*From some of the best instructors in the world: There are no “winners” in a knife fight.
I wonder if the attacker shouted the traditional Arabic battle cry usually translated in the MSM as “My motives are unclear!” In any event, the key is to find which of President Trumps’s incendiary remarks set him off and are thus to blame.
Hmmmm…my translation book says it means “nothing to see here, move along, move along”
OldB,
The attacker had converted to Islam about 18 months before. His supervisor was a woman and he had begun to disregard her and all of the other women on the force. She had confronted him recently. He attacked her first in a premeditated fashion. Then the other officers tried to stop him so he slashed them too.
We should not conclude from this that Islam’s attitude towards women is wholly incompatible with our modern Western attitude towards the sexes or the 100 different genders. It may be true that Islam’s attitude is wholly incompatible but we shouldn’t conclude that.
Regards,
Jim
If you can make distinctions like that with a straight face and no sense of irony there are probably senior editorial positions available at the WaPo and NYT.
OldB,
I’ve been taking lessons in credulity and doublethink. Also, since facts don’t matter, I’ve synthesized an entirely fictional resume. Move over Brett Stephens here I come.
Regards,
Jim