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Top Counter-Terrorism Agency: Citizens Should Be Armed To Stop Terror Attacks

George Washington's picture




 

The head of the world’s international police agency (Interpol) – which is very active in counter-terror efforts – said last October that arming citizens might be the best way to stop terrorism.

ABC News reported:

Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble said today the U.S. and the rest of the democratic world is at a security crossroads in the wake of last month’s deadly al-Shabab attack at a shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya – and suggested an answer could be in arming civilians.

 

In an exclusive interview with ABC News, Noble said there are really only two choices for protecting open societies from attacks like the one on Westgate mall where so-called “soft targets” are hit: either create secure perimeters around the locations or allow civilians to carry their own guns to protect themselves.

 

“Societies have to think about how they’re going to approach the problem,” Noble said. “One is to say we want an armed citizenry; you can see the reason for that. Another is to say the enclaves are so secure that in order to get into the soft target you’re going to have to pass through extraordinary security.”

 

***

 

The secretary general, an American who previously headed up all law enforcement for the U.S. Treasury Department, told reporters during a brief news conference that the Westgate mall attack marks what has long been seen as “an evolution in terrorism.” Instead of targets like the Pentagon and World Trade Center that now have far more security since 9/11, attackers are focusing on sites with little security that attract large numbers of people.

 

***

 

“Ask yourself: If that was Denver, Col., if that was Texas, would those guys have been able to spend hours, days, shooting people randomly?” Noble said, referring to states with pro-gun traditions. “What I’m saying is it makes police around the world question their views on gun control. It makes citizens question their views on gun control. You have to ask yourself, ‘Is an armed citizenry more necessary now than it was in the past with an evolving threat of terrorism?‘ This is something that has to be discussed.”

 

***

 

“For me it’s a profound question,” he continued. “People are quick to say ‘gun control, people shouldn’t be armed,’ etc., etc. I think they have to ask themselves: ‘Where would you have wanted to be? In a city where there was gun control and no citizens armed if you’re in a Westgate mall, or in a place like Denver or Texas?'”

If you are for gun control – as I used to be – you may want to note that a top liberal Constitutional law scholar, Ghandi and the Dalai Lama are all  for the right of citizens to bear arms.

Perhaps more importantly, look at the alternatives

Would you rather let the government keep on waging its virtually endless, counter-productive , freedom-destroying and ruinously expensive War On Terror?

Or would you rather arm yourselves and take your chances?

I know a native American man who has a bumper sticker on his truck which reads:

Open Hunting Season on Terrorists

I think he’s got the right attitude.

Postscript:  For those who think that guns are “unhealthy” or “disgusting”, please note that Freud disagreed.  Specifically, he argued that when men give up the primal drive to protect ourselves, our families and our communities – and that power is transferred to standing armies – it disempowers us and makes us weak psychologically.

And see this.

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Fri, 01/23/2015 - 05:21 | 5695607 Ghordius
Ghordius's picture

mmhh... interesting article, GW. yet I disagree

don't get me wrong, it's not about the US gun debate. in fact, I think the whole US gun debate is one of the most distracting things American politics ever invented

but most terrorism can't be fought with guns, not in my book or experience being on the target's side of terrorism for various decades here in Europe

most terrorist attacks are done with bombs. the second most common type of terrorist attack is done with kidnappings, and I doubt more guns would seriously decrease the availability of "soft" targets

terrorism is about terror and propaganda. it's about people resorting to violent actions in order to promote awareness to their cause (when not false flag attacks, of course)

so it is a kind of monstruos PR, a news-piggy-backing kind of advertisement of the criminal kind

and so the only way to combat genuine terrorism is twofold:

1) engaging in direct talks and raising awareness of the issues (the disarming part in the human sense)

2) ignoring the terror and treating the thing as a criminal act only (the civil part in this)

if you change your behaviour because of terrorism without engaging the root causes of this terrorism... then the terrorist has already won his first battle, and has put you in the defensive

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 08:57 | 5695897 IronShield
IronShield's picture

Wasn't this approach taken with the PLO?  How did that work out?

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 07:51 | 5695747 css1971
css1971's picture

The characteristics of Islamic and European terrorism are quite different.

Islamic terrorism tends to be more personal for some reason. They like to be there when their bomb jacket explodes or shoot their AKs, or take down the aircraft.

IRA, ETA etc used bombs and kidnappings as you say. Bombs fair enough. Kidnappings, the availability of firearms I think could have and effect.

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 08:22 | 5695794 Ghordius
Ghordius's picture

Kidnappings? it's very difficult to bring the number of "soft" targets down to zero, if not impossible. Having an armed guard next to every child... that's victory for the terrorists

as a reminder, the Charlie Hebdo magazine building was guarded by armed policemen. and stopping a murderer willing to sacrifice himself was always difficult, see the the story of the Sicarii or that of the Assassins

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 05:56 | 5695637 TeethVillage88s
TeethVillage88s's picture

Agree. But Military Republics is what we have in Europe & USA... This means the Agenda or Mission has to do with not really acknowledging the other side or the other side of the fight.

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 06:15 | 5695648 Ghordius
Ghordius's picture

I'm not so sure. I hate to make here a differentiation between America and Europe, but there are many differences

yes, we europeans joined the "War on Drugs", for example. but we don't have the kind of violence about it that you find in the US. If memory does not fail me, last year Germany witnessed four shootings involving the police and three dozens involving mafia bands only, with two or three dozen deaths total. That's on 80 million

we also never stopped the "War on Terror". In fact, we had much more terrorist attacks in the 70's and 80's then now. Terror never stopped in Europe. But the use of SWAT teams in Belgium just recently was more of an exception then a rule

we also have more or less a kind of "cap" on prisons, with one prisoner out of 1'000 citizens being the common statistic

it is completely useless to make a comparison to Europe when it comes to guns and gun ownership (we treat guns a bit like drugs)

but there are lessons to be learned from Europe when it comes to how to cope with terrorism, imho

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 07:39 | 5695733 nmewn
nmewn's picture

Coping with it doesn't solve it.

I assume you're talking about the muslim kind and not the mafia kind. I believe thats the distinction you're trying to make, that one violent act is criminal (mafia, profit driven) and the other cultural/religious driven which is the terrorism under discussion.

They're not after money, they're after political changes in how people are governed.

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 08:07 | 5695774 Ghordius
Ghordius's picture

you can't "fix" terrorism as much as you can't "fix" drugs for once and all. so yes, coping with it instead of "solving it"

no, we had and still have more kinds of terrorism

separatist, anarchist, communist, fascist, mafia, religious, political, the works. even the mafia terrorism is not "profit driven" in it's acts of terrorism. when the Sicilian Mafia blew up a whole section of a freeway in order to murder one Italian magistrate, it just wanted to give a "back off" signal

simialrly, a relation of mine was decapitated by a bomb set at a road traffic sign because a communist cell wanted to make some noise for their cause with a prominent target

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 09:35 | 5696035 Doubleguns
Doubleguns's picture

 (we treat guns a bit like drugs)

 

Nope, I walked into a gun store while on vacation hunting in Europe and bought a gun and walked out with it that day. I also brought my own gun with me from the states, completed a form prior to arrival in Europe and went through one extra step at customs. Not treated like drugs at all. 

 

Now the US has treated that purchased gun like drugs with all kinds of headaches getting it back to the USA.

 

Its a drilling, for those who do not know what that is its a double barrel shotgun with a single barrel rifle underneath. I plan to take it to Slovenia this year to hunt because I need both a rifle and a shotgun for the different game we will be hunting. I fully believe that I will not be treated like a drug dealer when I go there nor my gun treated like its drugs. 

 

I am not trying to bust your chops I am assuming that you simply do not own a gun and have preconceived ideas about the ownership, purchase and use of firearms within Europe. Its not difficult if you do some simple paperwork. I noticed pistols for sale in that gun shop too. It seems thats allowed in Europe too. 

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 09:50 | 5696129 Ghordius
Ghordius's picture

Doubleguns, you are talking about Europe as if it was a country. it isn't. each country that is part of the EU has it's own gun laws

I have plenty of arms (some of them highly illegal), and I agree with the rest of your recap. (perhaps you are right, my comparison is whacky)

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 11:48 | 5696759 Doubleguns
Doubleguns's picture

I stand corrected. Your one of those Euro-rednecks with illegal guns and all. I salute you. Keep stacking and dont give up the guns. How hard is it to get ammo? I brought my own last time and never bought there. I will have to buy this time since shotgun shells are way to heavy to carry over in the baggage. 

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 11:58 | 5696807 Ghordius
Ghordius's picture

the only time I went hunting in Slovenia I was a guest

careful, they have some licence/paperwork hurdles, so be sure you did contact a hunting org. see http://www.slovenia-tourist-guide.com/hunting-in-slovenia.html

or a local that knows the way around those things

Thu, 01/22/2015 - 23:04 | 5694985 General Decline
General Decline's picture

University of Chicago professor John Lott came to the same conclusion when he set out to prove guns were bad. He actually acted with integrity (a rarity got a liberal university professor) and wrote the following book:

http://books.google.com/books/about/More_Guns_Less_Crime.html?id=j6cMYKR...

Thu, 01/22/2015 - 19:32 | 5694256 foxmuldar
foxmuldar's picture

Wasn't long ago when a Black savage Muslim in Oklahoma beheaded a coworker and attacked another female worker before he was shot dead by a gun owner who luckly had his gun with him at work. The attack on the French Magazine was made much easier due to the idiotic gun laws in France. The police are not even allowed to carry guns. So when they went to investigate the shooting, the poor cop was at the mercy of the two savages and we saw the result. Next time you need a cop to come save you, you better live next door to the police station or else have a gun of your own. Most often the cops get there after the victim has been killed. Time to Lock and Load. 

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 07:53 | 5695751 css1971
css1971's picture

France and Germany, police carry guns.

UK police don't carry guns.

 

HTH.

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 06:28 | 5695659 Ghordius
Ghordius's picture

"The police are not even allowed to carry guns." In France? Seriously? re the attack on Charlie Hebdo (link Guardian article):

Ahmed Marabet was one of the policemen that heard the shooting, took out his gun and faced the masked terrorists. Who then killed him

Franck Brisolaro was one of the policemen that were inside the magazine's building. Collegues told he never came to draw his gun before he was killed

carrying a gun does not necessarily make you ready to fight. or invincible. Mr. Marabet, btw, was a Muslim

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 08:56 | 5695891 IronShield
IronShield's picture

Taking out the gun without shooting doesn't work too well.

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 07:54 | 5695755 css1971
css1971's picture

Absolutely.

Guns have a limited use. You have to be aware of the limitations of any weapon you use. We often overestimate the power of weapons like guns and knives. They aint magical.

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 07:54 | 5695745 nmewn
nmewn's picture

The article didn't say gun, it said weapon.

You read gun in your mind didn't you? ;-)

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 07:54 | 5695756 Ghordius
Ghordius's picture

possibly, yes. but it was a hand gun, wasn't it? I'm not sure about your point

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 07:58 | 5695758 nmewn
nmewn's picture

Its widely reported the muslim cop arrived on a bicycle armed with a baton, a weapon to be sure...but not a gun.

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 05:22 | 5695609 HughK
HughK's picture

Keep making stuff up, Fox.

The police in France do carry guns.  

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 08:55 | 5695885 IronShield
IronShield's picture

Yes, but the guns are loaded with Brie.

Thu, 01/22/2015 - 22:59 | 5694968 General Decline
General Decline's picture

They're really good at putting the white tape body outline on the ground tho. So we got that going for us.

Thu, 01/22/2015 - 23:42 | 5695092 disabledvet
disabledvet's picture

Looks like we're gonna need some Moe Sod on this one!

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 06:06 | 5695641 Self-enslavement
Self-enslavement's picture

Are they suggesting we shoot the REAL Terrorist's? The Federal Reserve Terrorists...

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