Islamic State (IS) has said that it was behind the attack on a Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest in the US state of Texas.
It said that “two soldiers of the caliphate” carried out the attack at a conference centre near Dallas.
My first thought was to wonder why they would demand credit for such a failure.
My second thought was how stupid am I. That’s exactly what I thought about the embassy bombings, too, and it turned out to be a staggeringly stupid thing to think. The fact that one adventure goes badly means nothing. It sure as hell doesn’t mean that the next one won’t go swimmingly.
Correspondents say that it is believed to be the first time that IS has claimed to have carried out an attack in the US.
“We tell America that what is coming will be even bigger and more bitter, and that you will see the soldiers of the Islamic State do terrible things,” the statement released by the group said.
I’m sure we will.
The BBC’s security correspondent Frank Gardner offers some analysis.
This is obviously not the first jihadist attack to take place on the US mainland, but if Islamic State is able to prove that it planned and directed it – rather than just staking a claim after the event – then that would be a significant development.
It is also possible that IS’s claim is one of convenience, that it played little or no part in the attack.
In some ways, it was a failure. The attackers did not get near the actual event organisers or speakers and the two gunmen ended up being the only ones killed, shot down not by a SWAT team, but by a traffic policeman.
But that would be to miss the point. For IS, this is all about publicity and the generation of fear. The message they want to give Americans is: “You’re not safe in your own backyard, this was just the beginning and there are more attacks to come”.
And why wouldn’t that be true? Especially in the US, where the citizens are steeped in a culture of violence from birth; where guns are a religion of their own; where religion is almost as popular as violence. How could IS fail to be hugely alluring here, with its throbbing combination of fanatical religion and bloodsoaked violence? Of course IS is going to be able to find thousands of eager volunteers to do the promised “terrible things.”
I’m sure the Republicans are going to try to pin it all on Hillary….BENGHAZI!!!
I’m sure they’d be doing airstrikes with F-16s if they could. 🙁
If they want the American military to join in the fracas against them, this would be a good way to do it wshether they were really involved or not.
zubanel @ # 3: If they want the American military to join in the fracas against them, this would be a good way to do it …
They do want that. If not for the US military’s fracas in Iraq, ISIS/L would not exist at all.
The more chaos, the more they grow. And who does chaos better than the US military?
9/11 was intended to sucker the US into a pointless war in Afghanistan. Bush/Cheney cooperated and raised them Iraq. It worked beautifully.
Those who cannot remember the past…vote Republican. The Congressional GOP gang is itching to help ISIS out with their plans.
The attack was not a failure in the eyes of ISIS, the morons got themselves killed while trying to slaughter kaffirs. Big Win.
I recall a courtroom video of a jihadi (in Indonesia? Malaysia?) reacting to hearing himself sentenced to death. He jumped for joy and flashed thumbs up for the camera, grinning from ear to ear.
Odd that in the fury about militarized police and trigger happy patrolmen. It was a traffic cop who stopped the attack with his sidearm. No full-auto-30-round-magazine-armored car etc. etc.
Then we know what and when the next all out war will shortly be. Although I have to say, these two going at it like they did, on American soil and of all places, Texas, well that’s like bringing a tabby to a tiger convention.
Isis does indeed want the US military to fight them directly, and they want it to happen in Dabiq, Syria. Wood’s recent article the Atlantic pointed out that they believe these are the last days and that the kingdom of god (whatever they call it) will return after the long foretold battle with “Rome” in that precisely prophesied place.
Well (‘sobvious, right?) Rome really means USA, so the more they can fight, the closer the kingdom of god will come.
US aggression isn’t helping matters, but it’s not the only stupidity in this mix. And they do believe this stuff. Put yourself in their place, and, yes, getting killed (sorry, “martyred”) by an American is a straight path to Heaven. That’s a win. To them. And then there’s the not-so-small practical downstream consequences that the US can be counted on to go into spasms of fear and lash out, which means more recruits and more heaven.
Any terror attack is successful.
@8 quixote,
‘Rome’ doesn’t necessarily mean the USA at all, ‘Rome’ refers to any powerful infidel enemy. Historically it was a reference to Constantinople and the Eastern Roman Empire which was the superpower of the 7th century and also the obstacle between the Muslims and the conquest of Europe, which is still on the agenda.
It isn’t always about America.
This is interesting from a firearms perspective. The officer is reported to have been armed with a “.45 Glock”. No mention if that is a .45 ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol) originating over a century ago or the nearly ballistic equivalent .45 GAP (Glock Automatic Pistol) developed by Glock to make a smaller handgun, easier to carry and handle, with a slightly larger magazine capacity, typically 13 shots versus 10. Pistol shooters sweat such details. I’m not a pistol shooter but, having previously learned the basic of the craft, I follow the sport.
The first thing that has to be said is that the officer showed exceptional bravery and fortitude while outnumbered and outgunned. Anyone can learn to shoot accurately when faced with paper targets. It is a skill that can be learned and developed by anyone willing to spend the money and time. Everything changes when people start shooting back. Taking the time and remaining calm enough to carefully aim and line up shots while under fire and outnumbered is exceptional. Practice helps but there is simply no way to effectively train for that.
The reports I’m seeing are that the two gunmen were wearing body armor. The Glock .45, any .45, falls short for shooting through body armor and avoiding the body armor means shooting at much smaller targets. Typically head and neck areas, outer shoulders, lower abdomen, and upper thigh areas are exposed. None of them are easy shots when the targets are moving and shooting back.
The other alternative is to shoot center of mass and hope the impact, roughly equivalent to being hit with a 90 mph fast ball, stuns them enough to interfere with their shooting you as you close in.
All of this has to be accomplished in 10 or 13 shot units with a maximum of perhaps 39 or 40 rounds total. The officer’s weapon I assume holds 10 or 13 rounds, perhaps one in the chamber and most police carry, at most, two spare magazines. Many, only one. Assault rifles shoot, typically, from a 20 or 30 round magazine with as many spares are they care to bring. Running out of ammunition is demoralizing and , potentially fatal. Picture firemen advancing on a conflagration and surround by fire running out of water. Running away is the proper response but the officer in the shootout had nowhere to run to. The vehicle he was shooting from was surrounded by pavement and lawn. Looking at pictures of the scene there appears to be little cover other than the car they were shooting from.
This may have motivated his exceptional bravery. He may have intuitively understood that this was a winner-takes-all fight with no chance to run and little chance reinforcements might arrive in time to help. Estimates bandied about claim the entire encounter took around fifteen seconds. A fight where every shot counted because he had so little to work with. Luck, skill, training, and a lack of options, all seem to have played a part.
Clearly , ISIS had little to do with this other than as inspiration. That said this is obviously motivate fear and even more money wasted on security theater. ISIS wins even as this cost them nothing.
Texas, well that’s like bringing a tabby to a tiger convention.
No; it’s prepping the stage for gun-crazed texans to start shooting brown people.
One of the primary tenets of insurgency is to separate the target population from its government/police/military and divide it within itself. If they get Texans freaked out enough that it’s dangerous to be brown, they don’t win – but it’s a step down that path.
@6. johnthedrunkard : Sounds like one of the Bali bombers :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amrozi_bin_Nurhasyim#Trial
Who murdered 202 people (including 88 Australians, 38 Indonesians, 27 Britons, 7 Americans, 6 Swedes and 3 Danes) back in 2002 October 12th. He was subsequently executed without showing any remorse whatsoever. Almost makes me wish there was such a thing as some sort of (limited) hell.