16 November 2015
(A quick stream of thought -- no time to edit now. My apology for any grammatical errors.)
A photo that I published from Paris caused an uproar. (I am in Thailand and did not take it.)
It is a terrible photograph from the aftermath of the attack. Most people were supportive while many others became righteously indignant about my publishing this.
Firstly, no harm was meant from me and no apology is forthcoming.
I have been in many terror attacks in Iraq, Afghanistan, and even Thailand where I nearly got hit with an RPG, as one example.
Some of the attacks I was present at in Iraq and Afghanistan were horrific. In one case it was only the aftermath of an attack on a village where children were decapitated and parents shot. I still cannot fathom how they murdered the children.
I have seen so many terror attacks, and many of our troops have seen even more. It is the smell that stays with you the most.
I have deep empathy for the families of the victims and the innocent victims of what just happened.
We are at war.
We must retrain our minds that we are not sheep to be slaughtered.
An attack like this would never have been so successful in Israel.
The Israelis would have slaughtered them with bricks and whatever was at hand. This might explain at least in part why hijackers do not go for El Al, the Israeli airline.
There is no chance that an airplane full of Israelis will go down to hijackers without a fight.
When I published the photo, one dad pompously threatened that he would get the photographer if those were his kids. Really? He would go for the probably unarmed photographer but not the people related to the terrorist who killed his kids? He was more angry with the photographer than with the terrorists. He needs a recalibration of priorities.
The photograph was terrible. I hate it. There are such memories in my mind and I see too clearly even today. I smell them.
Worse images and video were published from 9/11, and they are republished constantly. The baby who recently washed on the beach -- that was replayed over and over. When a friend of mine was murdered in Fallujah, Iraq, and two charred bodies were hanged from a bridge -- one of which probably was my friend, the photo got a Pulitzer. Obviously the Pulitzer people do not mind, nor did the newspapers around the world mind.
Media has steadily been publishing video from the Paris attack. If there are complaints about this -- and there may be -- I have not seen them.
Then comes amateur-hour comments from people who obviously were never combat troops or cops. Many spouted that bum-rush will not work. False.
There are endless examples throughout time of bum-rushing an armed attacker and succeeding. Some of our troops recently did this on a train and were lauded as heroes in France.
Another US veteran recently did this during a school shooting in America. He got shot up, but he broke the attack.
In the US and British militaries, if you are caught in a close ambush, you are taught and trained to immediately fight into it. Remember -- you are in their kill zone. They prepared in advance. Your best chance is to bust their plan to pieces. Waiting for them to run out of ammo is not a plan.
Aggression. Ask a Marine infantry NCO or Officer what his plan is should he not know what to do and find himself confused. His answer will be ATTACK! Because attack is what works most often. It does not always work, but when you find yourself in a terrorist attack, your day is already going down the pipes. Your schedule just changed.
On 9/11, passengers on the first aircrafts that crashed, our good people, did not know what was happening so they perished like sheep. If they knew what was coming, no doubt they would have attacked like wolves. But on the last airplane, Americans figured it out and bum-rushed the terrorists. The airplane still crashed and they all died, but they thwarted the attack and may have saved hundreds or even thousands of others.
Of course if the attacker is wearing a suicide belt, you may die. Come to grips with it. We all die. If not now, it is coming later. If he is carrying an AK-47 or a sword, you may die. Okay. Escape, hide, or attack. Do not wait to be slaughtered.
First option -- unless you are law enforcement or a Soldier -- is to escape. Second option is to hide. Final option, kill that son of a ***. Bum-rush him.
Take his rifle and shoot him in the head.
He might be wearing a vest -- when you are very close shoot his head twice and keep moving. If the rifle is out of ammo, kill him with the rifle butt or something else. Smash with all of your strength.
No time for hogtying him. There might be other terrorists and there is no time for pleasantries. Just kill him and keep your weapon pointed at potential enemies. Be very careful not to cause innocent casualties. Can be hard to do.
For targets father away, aim center mass and fire.
Look for other attackers to shoot. Shoot them all. Take their weapons and reload and look for other attackers to shoot. Let others do first aid. You are now a Soldier and must defend those who are giving aid until the police come -- and when the police come, get away from those weapons!
Tell the cops what happened. Go home. Take a long shower. And get some rest.
Visualize yourself doing this. Mentally prepare yourself to fight and kill him by any means at your disposal, including smashing his head in with a fire extinguisher, which can also be used as a "smoke screen." Be prepared to kill and to die doing it.
Tonight no doubt the French police are conducting raids. They may have to do some bad things. If they do, remember that photo.
In this video, notice how quickly Japanese take down an assassin. He has a sword, but this technique works just as well against an AK.
Again, my apologies for any grammatical errors. This is a busy time.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=iUbyxiRNrhE
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