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The Next Mumbai
Washington Post ^ | December 3, 2008 | David Ignatius

Posted on 12/08/2008 8:56:44 PM PST by Lorianne

For Americans watching the carnage, the obvious question was: Could it happen here? U.S. officials say the answer, unfortunately, is yes.

The Department of Homeland Security has been worried for more than a year about the danger of seaborne attacks. With an estimated 17 million small vessels plying the thousands of miles of U.S. coastline, the vulnerability is obvious. The DHS announced a "small-vessel security strategy" in April to focus on ports and coastal waterways, and it has held four regional small-vessel "security summits" this year, in Buzzards Bay, Mass., Long Beach, Calif., Orlando and Cleveland. A fifth such gathering is planned for Houston next month.

Technology is improving for detecting radiological devices that might arrive at seaports. But defenses are thin against bioterrorism and are almost nonexistent against seaborne attackers of the sort who terrorized Mumbai.

What would happen if roving gunmen infiltrated U.S. cities and started shooting? Most U.S. police departments aren't well prepared to deal with such "active shooters," as they're called. Police are trained to cordon off an area that's under attack and then call in a paramilitary SWAT team to root out the gunmen. But what if the attackers keep moving and shooting? The response can be haphazard, as was clear in such disparate incidents as the 2002 Beltway sniper attacks in the Washington area and last year's massacre at Virginia Tech.

"Mumbai is a worst-case 'active shooter' problem," says a former CIA officer who helped organize a DHS pilot program on the subject last summer for police chiefs. "It had multiple shooters, multiple locations, mobile threats, willingness to fight the first responders and follow-on SWAT/commando units, well-equipped and well-trained operatives, and a willingness to die. Police department commanders in America should be scratching their heads and praying."

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: dhs; islam; jihad; jihadinamerica; mohammedanism; mohammedanism122008; mumbai; nationalsecurity; stealthjihad

1 posted on 12/08/2008 8:56:44 PM PST by Lorianne
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To: Lorianne
What would happen if roving gunmen infiltrated U.S. cities and started shooting? Unlike the people of India, Americans haven't been castrated and many of us still own guns.
Of course, this is also the country where a mad gunman told students to line up against the wall, and he killed them one by one, and nobody fought back; so, who knows?
2 posted on 12/08/2008 9:00:44 PM PST by ClaudiusI
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To: Lorianne; freekitty; justiceseeker93; ZULU; SouthTexas; gonzo; TXRed; Albion Wilde; Old Sarge; ...

Not to worry, the Muslim Messiah, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid will protect us NOT! Americans need to bend over and kiss their rears goodbye which is guaranteed since Liberals are playing games with our security.


3 posted on 12/08/2008 9:00:52 PM PST by ExTexasRedhead
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To: Lorianne

Not to worry — the cowardly libs will have their knee pads on after Jan. 20th — pandering to every U.S. enemy both in and out of the United Nations....they are setting up for one of the biggest failures in U.S. administration history.

And I will have plenty of popcorn ready....


4 posted on 12/08/2008 9:03:15 PM PST by EagleUSA
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To: Lorianne
What would happen if roving gunmen infiltrated U.S. cities and started shooting?

Absolutely nothing - to the shooters.

The Sheep will cry in great voices to the One (piss be upon him), and demand that those nasty guns be taken away.

And The One (his name be pissed) will spread His hands, and all shall be made good.

Meanwhile, the funerals will be held...

5 posted on 12/08/2008 9:15:13 PM PST by Old Sarge (For the first time in my life, I am ashamed to be an American)
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To: Old Sarge
What would happen if roving gunmen infiltrated U.S. cities and started shooting?

You'd have various news reports about increases in gang warfare having to do with illegal drugs.
6 posted on 12/08/2008 9:16:57 PM PST by aruanan
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To: ClaudiusI

Virginia Tech.


7 posted on 12/08/2008 9:27:56 PM PST by Leisler ("Give us the child for 8 years and it will be a Bolshevik forever. " Lenin)
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To: Lorianne
"What would happen if roving gunmen infiltrated U.S. cities and started shooting?"

Lots of people would die, and the congress would ban "assault weapons" after the shootings in an attempt to make everyone feel better.

8 posted on 12/08/2008 9:35:39 PM PST by KoRn
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To: Lorianne

If Iran wanted to hit us with a missle, it wouldn’t come from land. It would come from the ocean. No way of stopping it, it would be to close.


9 posted on 12/08/2008 9:41:38 PM PST by RC2 (Where is Obama's Birth Certificate??????)
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To: Lorianne
For Americans watching the carnage, the obvious question was: Could it happen here?

It *DID* happen here - on steriods. It was called "9/11" - an event larger than Pearl Harbor.

And, after stirring a little, the giant known as "America" hit the snooze button and went back to sleep.

10 posted on 12/08/2008 9:51:09 PM PST by The Duke (I have met the enemy, and he is named 'Apathy'!)
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To: ClaudiusI
The 70 yr old teacher fought back. I believe he was a survivor of the Concentration Camps. Not one of the able bodied 20 yr old students helped him though. Apparently they were well indoctrinated by the left.
11 posted on 12/08/2008 9:57:46 PM PST by Republic of Texas (Socialism Always Fails)
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To: Lorianne
The reason to discuss such threats isn't to feed anti-terrorism hysteria. There was far too much of that fear-mongering and spasmodic reaction after Sept. 11, which had the effect of destabilizing the United States almost as much as it did its enemies.

Sez who? The idiot (sorry, I mean 'the author') who wrote this little fantasy gratuitously inserted that little piece of "received liberal wisdom" without bothering to support it with any evidence. Was he instructed to shove that vacuous and unsupported lefty talking point into his writing by his masters at the DNC, or was it merely the bloviation of a freelancing idiot? No doubt he plans to publish a follow-up article after the first terrorist incident with The One in office (or the second, or the third) to write glowing praise of the Obama regime's "smart" approach to responding to terrorism...

12 posted on 12/08/2008 11:01:25 PM PST by Zeppo
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To: ExTexasRedhead

That’s the scariest thing of all.


13 posted on 12/09/2008 12:37:26 AM PST by freekitty (Give me back my conservative vote.)
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It is critically important to have the conversation with your kids. If they are in a lock down at school and they hear gun fire, they get out. Period. Break a window, blow through a fire door, set off alarms, disregard the BS the teachers are telling you, and get out. Period.

I have instilled in my kids that if they are in school and hear a gunshot, they are going to die if they do not get out. No kidding. Run away from the sound.

Unfortunately this type of massacre will not take a lot of effort. The sheeple will not fight back.


14 posted on 12/09/2008 5:49:34 AM PST by Vermont Lt (I am not from Vermont. I lived there for four years and that was enough.)
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To: Vermont Lt

As I was writing this, it occurred to me: Are we the only animals that gather together when there is a threat? Most animals I’ve seen will run away from a predator. We train our children to come together and become easy targets.


15 posted on 12/09/2008 5:51:00 AM PST by Vermont Lt (I am not from Vermont. I lived there for four years and that was enough.)
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To: Lorianne

The cities with the toughest handgun laws will be seen as most vulnerable to these terrorists. I think Houston and Miami will NOT be in their first-tier target list. But Chicago, LA and NYC sure will be...


16 posted on 12/09/2008 5:55:58 AM PST by Pharmboy (BHO: making death and taxes yet MORE certain...)
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