Lose the tasers, men: 

LONDON — Declaring “enough is enough,” Prime Minister Theresa May vowed on Sunday a sweeping review of Britain’s counterterrorism strategy after three knife-wielding assailants unleashed an assault late Saturday night, the third major terrorist attack in the country in three months.

At least seven people were killed and dozens more wounded, including 21 who remained in critical condition, as the men sped across London Bridge in a white van, ramming numerous pedestrians, before emerging with large hunting knives for a rampage in the capital’s Borough Market, a crowded night spot.

In a matter of minutes, the three assailants were chased down by eight armed officers who fired about 50 rounds, killing the men, who wore what appeared to be suicide vests but subsequently proved to be fake. One member of the public also sustained nonfatal gunshot wounds, the police said.

There is nothing left to say on the subject of Islamic terrorism that I haven’t beaten to death in other articles. I’ve written these articles over the course of several years and have watched this cancer continue to metastasize within the body of a patient that is, for whatever reasons, unable or unwilling to reckon with the consequences. This is apparently life in modern Britain and Europe now.

Continuing to read the New York Times’ article :

The prime minister led an emergency meeting of her security cabinet on Sunday morning. In a statement afterward, she said the government would intensify its counterterrorism efforts to deal with Islamist radicalism at home and to try to restrict “the safe spaces it needs to breed,” both on the internet and in British communities.

I would love to hear the specifics on how the government intends to “deal with Islamist radicalism at home.” Now, one would think that after decades of European Islamic terror, they’d maybe have something in place by now.

“Everybody needs to go about their lives as they normally would,” she said. “Our society should continue to function in accordance with our values. But when it comes to taking on extremism and terrorism, things need to change.”

“First, go on about your lives as you normally would, citizen, but also know that things need to change.” Huh? Obviously just the usual boilerplate pablum that we’ve come to expect from vanilla politico types. This makes no sense. Yes, by all means, go about your lives and pretend that nothing is wrong while Islamic maniacs are cutting people’s throats in the streets and blowing up your little girls in concert alls. CARRY ON GOOD CHAP.

Mrs. May said the government may extend the time of custodial sentences for terrorism suspects, but more needed to be done in binding communities together to combat what she called “a perversion of Islam,” adding, “There is, to be frank, far too much tolerance of extremism in our country.”

I’m not sure increasing prison time is an effective deterrent. Britain’s Muslim prisoner population is still a small percentage, but it has doubled in the last 13 years, with 15 percent of British prisoners identifying as Muslim. This is a large enough crowd to effectively create their own, Muslim-controlled gangs within the prison walls, with the perpetrators of the biggest attacks against the infidels having the most street cred. Much like American prisons, these inmates can continue to inspire and direct street attacks even from within the cell walls.

Meanwhile, outside the prison walls, “Tolerance of Extremism” is a goddamn understatement. For years, the UK has put up with people preaching hatred and jihad from the ever-increasing number of mosques; people like UK-born Anjem Choudry, who is credited with leading perhaps hundreds of fanatics into the jihad life. And the polling of British Muslims and how much exactly they’ve adopted the new country is a mixed bag. You’ll read that most are very attached to Britain. Then, that very same poll will say 25% would like some form of sharia and that 50% think that being gay should be illegal.

So the question remains: What to do?

Some partial, practical solutions have not changed in the years since I’ve been offering them (unheeded, naturally:)  Tightening immigration. Forbidding travel to, and re-entry from, certain countries known to have jihadist elements. More cops with guns. Expelling illegal immigrants, especially those convicted of crimes. Shutting down mosques and community centers when necessary.  Bringing back the death penalty and executing terrorists who kill people. Frankly, this question would have been far more easily answered if action had been taken decades ago. It is now far more difficult. A sensible immigration policy, especially from parts of the world with completely alien cultures should be slow and steady, allowing assimilation while welcoming the background of those immigrants, thereby enriching and adding to the country’s dominant culture. Instead, England got a tidal wave, with many speculating the political motivation of these policies.

(Dominic Lipinski/PA via AP)

I continue to remain baffled by several aspects of this debate. One is from the immigrants themselves, and their offspring. If England and the West are such disgusting sin-filled tarpits of infidels,  jezebels, pornographers, sluttiness, and Jews…. why stay? Would they not be far happier in a country where their religious preference is official state policy? Further, and as in the United States, it is extraordinary how the people’s desire to see immigration reductions have been ignored. Politicians, known to bend with the slightest breeze on whichever issue their constituents have screamed about, have shown a curious willingness to absolutely ignore the topic of immigration from foreign cultures. And again, as in the United States, poll after poll has consistently shown an enormous desire to curtail immigration, yet this has been stone-walled by any action taken in European and British parliaments. In many cases, as with Manchester bomber Salman Abedi, it is the children of immigrants. And those are citizens in many cases, so what is one to do?

Of course, an enormous wave of immigration will also eventually bring about massive, permanent demographic changes, with a speed that that, in the past, would have suggested some great war, famine, or other hardship surely must have taken place. But there was no hardship: this is a voluntary policy. This, in turn, aids in creating large populations that are separate just enough from the broader nation’s culture to allow jihadists an enormous pool of humanity in which to swim about undetected. This cannot be stressed enough: Though many Muslims are indeed innocent, it is a fact that their presence in large numbers gives the shitheads plenty of breathing room in areas that are difficult or impossible for white British to access, due to the foreign language, religious practices, and lifestyle. Even worse, when they are detected, as many of the terrorists are already known to the authorities, the huge numbers make it impossible for law enforcement to keep these subjects under 24 hour surveillance. Thus, we have the “watch list” fantasy, wherein the authorities think an effective deterrent is by putting someone’s name on a piece of paper. And don’t forget the ladies!:

https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/871477887626600449

It is a fascinating and necessary debate to have. It is unfortunate that Britain, unlike the United States, has a very dim view of the concept of “freedom of speech,” leading to a chilling effect on honest debate in their press and parliament. But there are other issues that also merit some dialogue. The police response to the London Bridge attacks was especially noteworthy for several reasons. First, the police-without-guns thing is utterly absurd and ridiculous. This is a new time, England: Wake the hell up and start giving your police firearms. Reports of police running away from the threat along with terrified civilians is UNACCEPTABLE. Yes, I know it is a cultural thing, but Shit Changes. How many more bodies are they going to give up before they get rid of this outdated foolishness? THEY ARE SLITTING THROATS IN THE STREET. Right now, about 90% of British police are unarmed. I suspect that percentage will quietly begin to drop.

On the plus side, the armed police response time was extraordinary. As fellow sofrep writer and former Delta operator George Hand said, “The British are coming, the British are coming, and they’ll be here in eight minutes!” It is clear that the Counter Terrorist Specialist Firearms Officers (CTSFO) haven’t been just sitting around, but training like maniacs with the SAS and other tier one units. . To go from a static position to dropping three terrorists dead in 8 minutes is really, really good. These are clearly the best of the best. According to the Guardian, the police are operating out of patrol vehicles in groups of three:

The officers who shot dead the terrorists were in police armed response vehicles (ARVs), which regularly patrol big cities and other areas across Britain. ARVs usually carry three officers apiece and they are the first armed responders to incidents. The number of ARVs was increased in the UK after the November 2015 attacks in Paris revealed the vulnerability of cities to marauding terrorist attacks.

Recall that the perpetrators in the London Bridge incident were wearing phony suicide vests. This made the shoot to kill decision easy for the police, saving England from long years of public trials and shyster attorneys and Jihadist propaganda opportunities. Frankly, that should be the standing order to one of these responses, but I guess they have rules. Note the tasers in the vests of the armed police in header picture. No tasers, boys. Other than that, outstanding work on quickly neutralizing the threat. Really well done.

But even reading about the origins of the armed police units leads to head-scratching. The CTSFO was founded in… 2012, if you can believe it. Yep, the Metropolitan police force apparently really didn’t see a need for a unit like this until 2012. It makes me realized just how slowly they drag their feet over there. Also, note that similarly to our own FBI, you’re asking these guys to be perfect. Perfection and incredible response times against thousands of potential jihadists. It went well this time, thankfully. In the mean time, police continue to carry out raids and look for supporters;

While none of the assailants in Saturday’s attack were identified, the counterterrorism police conducted a raid Sunday in Barking, in east London, in connection with the assault and made 12 arrests. Searches there continued, the police said, suggesting that they had identified at least one assailant.

Britain’s home secretary, Amber Rudd, said on Sunday that the government was confident the attackers were “radical Islamist terrorists.” Speaking on ITV television, Ms. Rudd said, “As the prime minister said, we are confident about the fact that they were radical Islamist terrorists, the way they were inspired, and we need to find out more about where this radicalization came from.”

To publicly state you need more time to figure out where Islamic radicalization comes from is to identify one’s self as a damn fool. But I can’t do anything but shake my head at this point. This is going to go on forever now, slowly bringing about a militarized police state with checkpoints, cameras, internet snooping  and all the rest… our freedom will gradually erode. And while I am grateful for the speed with which the police killed these pieces of shit, I still don’t think people understand the gravity of the situation. The Jihadists don’t need a sophisticated pipeline of cash, weaponry, and directed orders. They have vans, knives, and the internet. And they are already inside.

*UPDATE* I’m shocked; totally shocked I tell you: 

https://twitter.com/DRUDGE_REPORT/status/871506886498975744

Since everything is terrible but you need to laugh, follow me on Twitter and listen to the podcast:

https://twitter.com/BKactual/status/870836880102670336

These USMC officers had a bad night:

A Marine colonel and two majors could face career-ending disciplinary or administrative action after two of them were reportedly drugged and robbed of sensitive equipment by local women they had picked up in Colombia.

An military investigation into the February incident found that the three officers went to an off-limits neighborhood of Bogota and later returned to their hotel rooms with four local women, the Miami Herald first reported on Friday.
At the end of the night, two of the officers  — Col. Roger McDuffie and Maj. Andrew Mueller, according to the newspaper’s report  — were drugged and passed out in their rooms. Several of their belongings were stolen, including a work laptop, other government-issued equipment and personal cell phones, the report said.
A third officer, Maj. Mauricio Saenz, was not drugged, but like the other two officers he drank and cavorted with the women, according to the Miami Herald. All three men are married…
…The Miami Herald reported that the three men and their female companions walked past other Marines who were waiting to go to the airport, and that means they could be charged with conduct prejudicial to good order and discipline and bringing discredit to the service, Womack said.

A mother and her mother-in-law forced at gunpoint out of their vehicle and handcuffed outside the Air Force Museum were paid $40,000 to settle a federal civil lawsuit, according to a court document recently obtained by this news organization.

The “Stipulation for Compromise Settlement and Release” document states Alice and Wendy Hill must drop all claims against the government and pay their attorneys out of the $40,000.

The Columbus-area residents and two young children were stopped by Wright-Patterson Air Force Base security in April 2014 during a “high-risk” stop after a 911 caller said a family was checking out vehicles in the museum parking lot.

The family said then 8-year-old Aaron was just looking at all the different states’ license plates as they made their way to their blue Honda Odyssey van. Base personnel mistakenly thought the van was stolen because the vehicle’s Vehicle Identification Number was incorrectly entered during a search, base officials have said.

The Hills have said they were both handcuffed and ordered to their knees on concrete for 20 minutes as the children screamed in fear. The Hills spent an additional 40 minutes in police vehicles.

Meanwhile in Portland:

Sounds pretty effective to me:

Dodging enemy gunfire in close-quarter urban combat, seeking to destroy enemy fighters hiding behind walls, rocks and trees and firing ammunition especially engineered to explode at a particular, pre-planned point in space – comprise the highly sought-after advantages of the Army’s XM25 “airburst” weapon.

However, despite the initial promise of prototypes of the technology in combat in Afghanistan as an emerging way to bring a decisive advantage to Soldiers in firefight, the future of the XM25 is now uncertain due to ongoing Army needs, requirements, weapons inventory assessments and budget considerations, service officials told Scout Warrior.

The Army’s XM25 Counter Defilade Target Engagement airburst weapon system, in development for several years, was used to destroy Taliban fighters hiding behind grape-growing walls in Afghanistan during a Forward Operational Assessment of the weapon several years ago. Extensive analysis and adjustments to the weapon followed this operational combat evaluation, Army officials explained…

..Maj. James Carabello, MCoE, (Maneuver Center of Excellence) a combat veteran who recently led infantry units, told Army.mil following the assessment.

“We defeated any enemy force that we deployed the weapon against. The XM25 is a devastating weapons system that changes the face of battle when we are in direct fire contact with the enemy,” he said.

Something tells me he left out a few things when he was talking to a recruiter: 

A well-known militant who fought with Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine and participated in far-right European politics before joining the U.S. Army has been discharged from the military, a spokeswoman for the Army said.

Earlier this month The Washington Post reported that Pfc. Guillaume Cuvelier, 29, had spent time with French ultranationalist groups before helping create an anti-Western militant group in eastern Ukraine in 2014. After leaving Ukraine in 2015 and fighting alongside Kurdish peshmerga in Iraq, Cuvelier shipped to U.S. Army basic training in January.

Before his discharge last week, Cuvelier — a dual French and U.S. citizen — was serving as a newly minted infantryman in a Hawaii-based unit, according to records provided by the Army

You had me at “titanium .50 cal”:

The Army is creating a new, lightweight version of its iconic .50-cal machine gun designed to better enable Soldiers to destroy enemies, protect convoys, mount weapons on vehicles, attack targets on the move and transport between missions.

The new weapon, engineered to be 20-to-30 percent lighter than the existing M2, will be made of durable, but lighter weight titanium, Army officials said.

The emerging lightweight .50-cal, described as still in its infancy stage, still needs to be built, riveted and tested.

The parts for the titanium prototypes will be built at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J. and then go to Anniston Army Depot, Ala., for riveting and further construction.

“We always want to lighten the soldier load. A major requirement is to engineer a 60-pound weapon compared to an 86-pound weapon,” Laura Battista, Product Management Engineer, told Scout Warrior in an interview.

Does this count as Boots on Ground?:

During roughly two months in Syria, Marines fired more than 4,500 rounds in support of Kurdish and Syrian Arab forces, said the spokesman of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit.

The Marines were supporting the foreign troops as they tightened the noose on the Islamic State group’s de facto capital of Raqqa, Maj. Craig Thomas said on Wednesday.

About 400 artillery Marines deployed to Syria during the 11th MEU’s seven-month deployment aboard the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group. The Marines were recently replaced by another Marine artillery unit, which has not been identified.

Marine Corps officials were tight-lipped on Wednesday when talking to reporters about the 11th MEU’s contributions to operations in Syria and elsewhere. Thomas said that the number of artillery rounds the Marines fired in Syria was the one statistic he was allowed to share.

“It’s an ongoing operation,” Thomas said during a roundtable discussion. “We have another Marine unit that’s there – to my knowledge, they have not released that name, so we’ll let [Operation Inherent Resolve] do that. It’s not exactly an established theater as Iraq or Afghanistan was.”

Zero fucks given by sailor: 

A sailor assigned to the dock landing ship Whidbey Island may face punishment after dumping plastic disks of melted trash off the ship in violation of Navy regulations.

The maritime littering was discovered when some 26 of the foul-smelling disks, about 20 inches across, were discovered washed up on Carova Beach in North Carolina’s Outer Banks, the Virginian-Pilot reported in May. Other disks were found in nearby Kill Devil Hills, the outlet reported. Some had melted-in markings clearly identifying them as belonging to the Navy.

A spokesman for U.S. Fleet Forces Command said an investigation that followed the reports determined the identity of the ship and resulted in a confession from the sailor who had thrown them overboard.

“When notified of the disks’ discovery, we immediately began to investigate their origin,” Ted Brown, a command spokesman, said in a statement. “On May 19, Navy representatives traveled to the Outer Banks to take custody of the disks to examine them. We found markings on several of the disks confirming that they did originate from a Navy ship.”

Crews routinely melt and compress plastic waste aboard ships to save space, Brown said in the release, but these are intended to be kept aboard the ship until they can be disposed of ashore. No ships are allowed to dispose of plastic in the ocean.

Nude man is Excavator enthusiast: 

Shocking video has emerged of a naked man masturbating while straddling the top of a construction digger’s arm on a highway.

The video, which appears to have been shot from a moving car on a Miami Beach highway on Sunday, shows the unnamed man stood at the top of a CAT digger.

As the car passes by the man, it becomes increasingly clear that he is naked – and pleasuring himself.

The video, which was uploaded to LiveLeak, shows the car’s occupants cheering as they realize what’s happening.

But those on the ground are likely less joyful about the situation.

They include a team of construction workers and Florida Highway Patrol officers.

Exactly why the man is touching himself is unclear. 

@BKactual

Featured image courtesy of Getty