US Marines: Heroes Again

[Kathianne]

Honestly!

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/france-3-people-wounded-in-shooting-on-high-speed-train/


Official: Gunman on France train overpowered by Americans


ARIS -- Three people were wounded, including two seriously, when a gunman opened fire with an automatic weapon on a high-speed train traveling from Amsterdam to Paris Friday, officials said.


French media reported that at least two U.S. Marines on board the train overpowered the man. U.S. Marine spokesman in Germany Capt. Richard Ulsh told CBS News that "they can confirm that Americans subdued the gunmen" but he would not confirm whether they were Marines.

...


Two of the victims were in critical condition, according to a statement from Hollande's office.
The suspect is a 26-year-old Moroccan, said Sliman Hamzi, an official with police union Alliance, said on French television i-Tele.
Police are not ruling out the possibility of a planned terror attack, CBS News' Elaine Cobbe reports from Paris.
Twitter user @FreedomFilmLLC (https://twitter.com/FreedomFilmLLC) posted a photo showing the apparent aftermath of the shooting, saying the suspect was allegedly thwarted by U.S. Marines.


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https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/561303720298684416/PyhMiufQ_bigger.jpegFreedomFilmLLC.com‏@FreedomFil mLLC (https://twitter.com/FreedomFilmLLC)

One man shot on @thalys_en (https://twitter.com/thalys_en) train heading to Paris.Man with machine gun taken down by US MarinesGunman in custody
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CM8ga84WcAAElVV.jpg
(https://twitter.com/FreedomFilmLLC/status/634761720909705216/photo/1)










...

[Kathianne]

A bit more:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3206426/U-S-Marines-armed-gunman-onboard-high-speed-train-Amsterdam-Paris.html


BREAKING NEWS: Unarmed US Marines foil suspected terrorist attack onboard high-speed train between Amsterdam and Paris after they take down Kalashnikov-wielding Moroccan gunman known to intelligence services


A group of unarmed US Marines on board a high-speed train between Amsterdam and Paris foiled a terrorist attack after a gunman opened fire with an assault rifle, wounding three people.


The 26-year-old Moroccan national, who was known to security services, came out of the toilet brandishing the gun and opened fire. Fortunately, three US Marines were nearby and overpowered him before he could massacre passengers.


The suspected terrorist had at least six full magazines of ammunition holding almost 200 rounds. He was also carrying a knife.

...

[Kathianne]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3206426/U-S-Marines-armed-gunman-onboard-high-speed-train-Amsterdam-Paris.html


Unarmed US Marines foil suspected terrorist attack onboard high-speed train between Amsterdam and Paris after they take down Kalashnikov-wielding Moroccan gunman known to intelligence services

A suspected Moroccan terrorist opened fire with a Kalashnikov on board a high speed train in northern France
Eyewitnesses said two U.S. Marines on the train disarmed the 26-year-old gunman and pinned him to the ground
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve praised the Marines who almost certainly 'averted a disaster'
The gunman is understood to have boarded the train, which had more than 500 passengers, in Brussels, Belgium

By DARREN BOYLE FOR MAILONLINE (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=&authornamef=Darren+Boyle+for+MailOnline)
PUBLISHED: 13:34 EST, 21 August 2015 | UPDATED: 17:24 EST, 21 August 2015



Two unarmed US Marines on board a high-speed train between Amsterdam and Paris foiled a terrorist attack after a gunman opened fire with an assault rifle, wounding three people.


The 26-year-old Moroccan national, who was known to security services, came out of the toilet brandishing the gun and opened fire.

Fortunately, two US Marines were nearby and overpowered him before he could massacre passengers.


The suspected terrorist had at least nine full magazines of ammunition holding almost 300 rounds. He was also carrying a knife.


Unfortunately, one of the Marines was shot and is believed to be in a critical condition. It is feared that he was shot in the neck by the gunman.


It is understood that the gunman boarded the train, which had more than 550 passengers on board, in Brussels and made his move as soon as it crossed into France.


French media claim that the suspect was previously known to French security services and was living in Spain. He has already been linked to a number of radical Islamic groups. He was classed, according to FranceInfo.fr (http://www.franceinfo.fr/actu/faits-divers/article/fusillade-dans-un-thalys-un-drame-terrible-evite-selon-bernard-cazeneuve-718849) as 'potentially dangerous'.


Speaking in Arras, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve praised the Marines for their timely intervention.



He said: 'Thanks to them we have averted a drama.


'(The Americans were) particularly courageous and showed extreme bravery in extremely difficult circumstances.'


The man was arrested by police near the town of Arras in northern France.


Belgian journalist Marin Buxant Tweeted that the US Marines were on leave in Brussels when they spotted the man and followed him on the train. When the suspect went into the toilet, the Marines recognised the sound of a weapon being armed and decided to act immediately.

...

[Tyr-Ziu Saxnot]

The United States Marine Corp = ALWAYS HEROES!! :salute:--Tyr

They kill grizzlies with hunting knives and subdue muslim terrorist vermin wherever they
can lay hands on them... and much more!!

[Kathianne]

I'm reading some comments off the story:


Yep -- unarmed Marines have an unfair advantage over armed jihadis.


30 years ago this would be made into network special docudrama.
Today? Meh.

Maybe if the terrorist had a little more 'success'. The media isn't big in extrapolating what happens when terrorists don't fail. Must be worried about misrepresenting jihadis as losers.


Since when is a pair a "group"? Two unarmed Marines took down a heavily armed jihadi, and one is in critical condition after being shot in the neck. The two probably saved dozens of lives.

[Russ]

Those 2 Marines are stud heroes! :clap::salute:

[Kathianne]

More clarity, seems it was 1 airman, 1 national guard, a friend from CA, and a Brit living in FR:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3206426/U-S-Marines-armed-gunman-onboard-high-speed-train-Amsterdam-Paris.html

Maybe the Marines will get the next one...:laugh2:

[NightTrain]

3 U.S. servicemen and a British civilian took him down. Seems like the story has changed more than a few times... I was wondering why they kept saying there were 3 U.S. Marines that subdued the terrorist, but the accompanying picture showed an older English man given a medal as well.


The Moroccan terrorist was disarmed and beaten unconscious by US servicemen and a British man after he opened fire on a Paris-bound train with a Kalashnikov.

US airman Spencer Stone, who on board the train during the attack, spotted the 26-year-old Moroccan acting suspiciously and heard him trying to load his weapon in the toilet.
He was travelling with Oregon National Guard member Alek Skarlatos, 22, who was on leave and travelling through Europe at the time after returning from a tour in Afghanistan.
With the help of their friend Anthony Sadler, from Pittsburg, California, and fellow passenger British IT consultant Chris Norman, they managed to wrestle the attacker to the ground, stopping what could have been a deadly terrorist attack.
Mr Sadler has described how the attacker pleaded with them to return his AK-47.
He said: 'He was just telling us to give back his gun. 'Give me back my gun! Give me back my gun!' But we just carried on beating him up and immobilised him and that was it.'

Job well done, men! "But we just carried on beating him up..." :laugh2:

You have to be severely punch drunk to even think about pleading with people you planned to kill to give you back your gun after they took it away and are administering your well-deserved beating, let alone say it!

That reminds me of that idiot shoe bomber on the flight from Paris to the USA. Those Midwest Corn-Fed American boys jumped up and worked him over something fierce with a fire extinguisher. I still laugh when I think of those pictures of his lumpy head & puffy face by the time the cops hauled him off after the plane landed. That was a great ass kicking! As someone that's been on both ends of spectacular ass kickings, I can spot one a mile away... and that one was 1st class all the way around.



'Suddenly, members of the crew ran into the hallway and their faces were pale.'
He said the staff hurried towards their own car on the train and opened it 'with a special key' before they locked themselves inside.
Mr Anglade claims he and other passengers banged on the door and shouted at staff to open up, but their cries for help were ignored.
He said: 'Nobody replied, there was radio silence. It was terrible and unbearable, it was inhumane.
'The minutes seemed like hours and protected my children with my whole body, telling them everything was fine.'

Absolutely shameful! I sincerely hope the crew members are publicly exposed and summarily fired for their craven cowardice and leaving the people they're responsible for to die.

[Kathianne]

I wonder how this defense will go?

http://news.yahoo.com/france-train-gunman-dumbfounded-terrorism-allegations-132517618.html


...But Khazzani has denied any intention of waging a jihadist attack, saying he had merely stumbled upon a weapons stash and decided to use it to rob passengers, according to Sophie David, a lawyer assigned to his case at the beginning of his detention in Arras.

"He is dumbfounded that his act is being linked to terrorism," she told BFM-TV, adding the suspect who is believed to have lived in Belgium describes himself as a homeless man.


"He says that by chance he found a suitcase with a weapon, with a telephone, hidden away," said David, who is no longer representing him as Khazzani has been transferred to Levallois Perret near Paris where he is being questioned by counter terrorism officers.


"He said he found it in the park which is just next to the Midi Station in Brussels, where he often sleeps with other homeless people.


"He says that the Kalashnikov didn't work and he was brought under control immediately without a single shot being fired," David added.


- 'Let's get him' -


Under French law, suspects in probes related to alleged terrorism can be questioned for up to 96 hours, which means Khazzani could remain in custody until Tuesday evening.


Armed with the weapons, the attacker exited a toilet cubicle on the high-speed train just after it crossed from Belgium into northern France.


A French passenger who happened to be there tried to disarm Khazzani -- described as "small, slim, not very strong" -- but he got away and fired at least one shot, wounding a Franco-American traveller in his 50s.


But the attack was quickly stopped when two off-duty US servicemen and their friend charged the gunman and restrained him.

...

An aside, the 3 Americans were interviewed this morning, very impressive.

[NightTrain]

I think Homie would rather get an armed robbery rap than face attempted terrorism charges.

[Kathianne]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/08/23/americans-thwart-terrorist-france-column/32228597/


Glenn Reynolds: See something? DO something! Glenn Harlan Reynolds7:55 p.m. EDT August 23, 2015


We are a pack of wolves, not a herd of sheep. Courage is contagious when intended victims thwart would-be terrorists.
"Three Marines stop terrorist on French train" was the gist of the first headlines on this weekend’s counterterrorism story. But when the actual facts came out, the story got even better.


As it turns out, it wasn’t (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/23/world/europe/3-heroes-who-stopped-train-attack-were-boyhood-friends.html?_r=0) three Marines. It was two U.S. servicemembers — from the <culink class="culinks" culang="en" href="http://curiyo.com/en/topic/National Guard" title="" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dashed; cursor: help; display: inline !important; float: none !important; padding: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(102, 102, 102) !important;">National Guard</culink>and the Air Force — and their civilian buddy from middle school. And they had the help of a traveling British businessman (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34023361).


The three were riding on a train from Amsterdam to Paris when a gunman — an Islamist from Morocco who had visited <culink class="culinks" culang="en" href="http://curiyo.com/en/topic/Syria" title="" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dashed; cursor: help; display: inline !important; float: none !important; padding: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(102, 102, 102) !important;">Syria</culink> and was flagged (http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/08/23/france-train-attack/32224933/) as a possible jihadist— started shooting. One of the Americans, Airman 1st Class Spencer Stone, 23, sprinted at the gunman (http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/08/23/americans-acting-instinct-hailed-heroes/32228605/) and tackled him. The others, Oregon National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos, 22, and Sacramento State University student Anthony Sadler, 23, joined in.


As Skarlatos recounted in a Sky News interview (http://news.sky.com/story/1539905/us-soldier-how-we-stopped-train-gunman) from his hotel in Arras, northern France: "I just looked over at Spencer and said, 'Let's go!' Spencer got to the guy first, grabbed the guy by the neck, and I grabbed the handgun, got the handgun away from the guy and threw it. Then I grabbed the AK (assault rifle), which was at his feet, and started muzzle thumping him in the head with it."


Stone was cut by the attacker behind his neck, and his thumb was nearly sliced off as the man was wrestled to the ground by the Americans. Sadler said (http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/08/22/train-gunman-traveled-syria-spanish-officials-say/32188943/): "The gunman pulls out a box cutter and slices Spencer a few times." He added that the attacker "never said a word."


To Americans who remember Sept. 11, 2001, this kind of response — even down to the “let’s go” — echoes the story of Todd Beamer (https://unitedheroes.com/Todd-Beamer.html) and the passengers of Flight 93. It’s the right response, of course, to terrorists who threaten innocents.


As Brad Todd wrote (http://web.archive.org/web/20040103103416/http://216.111.31.12/details.asp?PRID=32) days after 9/11, it was the response of ordinary Americans on this flight that meant a repeat of the attacks was much less likely: “Just 109 minutes after a new form of terrorism — the most deadly yet invented — came into use, it was rendered, if not obsolete, at least decidedly less effective. ... <culink class="culinks" culang="en" href="http://curiyo.com/en/topic/United Airlines Flight 93" title="" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dashed; cursor: help; display: inline !important; float: none !important; padding: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(102, 102, 102) !important;">United Flight 93</culink> did not hit a building. It did not kill anyone on the ground. ... Why? Because it had informed Americans on board who'd had 109 minutes to come up with a counteraction. And the next time a hijacker full of hate pulls the same stunt with a single knife, he'll get the same treatment and meet the same result as those on United Flight 93. Dead, yes. Murderous, yes. But successful? No.”


Meanwhile, the expensive global security establishment failed to stop 9/11, and —despite having the French-train gunman flagged as a possible jihadist (https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/3-american-friends-tackle-and-hogtie-gunman-aboard-train-say-french-officials-families/2015/08/22/1c8cca20-48a1-11e5-8e7d-9c033e6745d8_story.html)— did nothing to stop this weekend's attack. And that’s a lesson.


Bureaucracies have their place, but they don’t deal well with diffuse threats such as terrorism. By the time “first responders” get there, it’s usually too late. But there’s one group of “responders” who don’t have to go anywhere, and that’s the group already on the scene. In conventional analysis, and in the terrorists’ hopes, those people are called “victims.” But as the three Americans on that French train demonstrated, victimhood isn’t the only response.


And there’s more. The purpose of terror is to terrorize. But responding appropriately has the opposite effect (https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/3-american-friends-tackle-and-hogtie-gunman-aboard-train-say-french-officials-families/2015/08/22/1c8cca20-48a1-11e5-8e7d-9c033e6745d8_story.html). The response of British businessman <culink class="culinks" culang="en" href="http://curiyo.com/en/topic/Chris Norman" title="" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dashed; cursor: help; display: inline !important; float: none !important; padding: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(102, 102, 102) !important;">Chris Norman</culink>, who helped subdue the attacker, illustrates this: “Norman said his first reaction was to hide," The Fiscal Times reported (http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2015/08/22/3-American-Heroes-Stop-Terrorist-High-Speed-Train-Paris). "But after he saw the Americans fighting the attacker, he said he went to help them.”


Fear is contagious. But so is courage. People should respond not like a herd of sheep but like a pack of wolves. When the follow-up report on the 2001 attacks came out, J.B. Schramm noted in The Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A62454-2004Jun22.html) that "on Sept. 11, 2001, American citizens saved the government, not the other way around.” <culink class="culinks" culang="en" href="http://curiyo.com/en/topic/Intelligence agency" title="" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dashed; cursor: help; display: inline !important; float: none !important; padding: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(102, 102, 102) !important;">Intelligence agencies</culink>failed. Air defense systems failed. But: “Requiring less time than it took the White House to gather intelligence and issue an attack order (which was in fact not acted on), American citizens gathered information from national media and relayed that information to citizens aboard the flight, who organized themselves and effectively carried out a counterattack against the terrorists, foiling their plans. Armed with television and cellphones, quick-thinking, courageous citizens who were fed information by loved ones probably saved the White House or Congress from devastation.”


<culink class="culinks" culang="en" href="http://curiyo.com/en/topic/Nevertheless" title="" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dashed; cursor: help; display: inline !important; float: none !important; padding: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(102, 102, 102) !important;">Nonetheless</culink>, when the government reacted, the money went into enriching and strengthening those bureaucracies instead of, as Schramm urged, educating and training American citizens. Perhaps this latest incident will serve as a reminder that there is another way. At the very least, it should remind citizens that while you can’t rely on the government to be everywhere you are, you yourself are always there.

[Voted4Reagan]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/08/23/americans-thwart-terrorist-france-column/32228597/

[/FONT][/COLOR][/h]

We saved France again??? Damn.... thats at least 4x I can think of!!

They may as well become our 51st state!

[NightTrain]

We saved France again??? Damn.... thats at least 4x I can think of!!

They may as well become our 51st state!


Well....

I think we have too many pussy socialists running around as it is without taking on a few million more of them.

[Kathianne]

an American living in France for decades. He's the one that was shot:

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/american-professor-mark-moogalian-rushed-train-gunman-was-shot-n414786?cid=sm_twitter_feed_world


American Professor Mark Moogalian 'Rushed' Train Gunman, Was Shotby F. BRINLEY BRUTON and NIKOLAI MILLER

A French-American professor who was hailed by President Francois Hollande for his "courage" was shot while trying to to disarm a gunman wielding an AK-47 aboard a high-speed train, according to his wife.


Mark Moogalian, who is reportedly a 51-year-old academic originally from Midlothian, Virginia, spotted a suspicious passenger while traveling on the Amsterdam to Paris train Friday.


"My husband told me that he had seen someone strange because he had entered the toilets with his suitcase and it lasted a long time," Moogalian's wife Isabelle told Europe1 radio Monday (http://www.europe1.fr/faits-divers/thalys-mon-mari-a-cru-que-cetait-fini-quil-allait-mourir-2504887). "A little while later the guy came out and that's when he saw that the guy was carrying a gun."


Isabelle Moogalian, who was also aboard the train, said her husband spotted the gunman "being grabbed from behind by a different person" — thought to be a 29-year-old French banker who has chosen to stay anonymous.


Mark Moogalian told his wife to "go" and then "rushed towards the gunman to remove ... the Kalashnikov."


She added: "I did not see my husband get shot, it happened too quickly and I was pretty much hiding behind seats. But I look at my husband through the seats at an angle and he looked straight at me and said, 'I'm hit!' ... There was blood everywhere. I ran towards him and I could see that he a wound on his back, I then saw another wound by his neck."

...

[Kathianne]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/08/23/americans-thwart-terrorist-france-column/32228597/

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Related:

http://www.strategypage.com/on_point/20150825221115.aspx


Terror and Surprise on the Paris Express
by Austin Bay (http://www.austinbay.net/)
August 25, 2015

...

Khazzani passed as peaceful. He intended to surprise the train passengers, and he did, sort of. Reliance on surprise makes terror attacks a type of ambush. By definition, in an ambush, attackers strike from concealed positions. In a military ambush, where soldiers ambush soldiers, the attackers must remain concealed until the second they trigger the ambush. If surprise is lost and the ambush is discovered, the ambushers lose their advantage.


Khazzani muffed the transition from concealment to attack. A French banker, identified as Damien A., saw him in a lavatory with his weapon. He grabbed at Khazzani. Khazzani ran into the rail car where passenger Mark Moogalian (an American living in France) accosted him.


Now Khazzani is targeting unarmed civilians. Blown ambush? Shouting? No problem. He has firepower. He shot Moogalian.


But other passengers had more surprises. Instead of cowering, they responded heroically. First one, U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Spencer Stone, got to Khazzani, and then a second, and then four were on him. He could not aim the weapon. In the hand-to-hand struggle, he pulled a pair of box cutters and wounded Stone. He drew a pistol. But Stone's friends, Oregon Army National Guard Specialist Alek Skarlatos and California college student Anthony Sadler, kept battering him. British businessman Chris Norman joined the fight. They disarmed and pinned Khazzani. To emphasize his disapproval, Skarlatos used the AK's muzzle to make repetitive metal impressions on Khazzani's head. Did the message get through? Khazzani was a finger twitch from eternity.


The en masse quick physical assault on Khazzani was somewhat like a tactic the military calls an instantaneous counterattack on a close-in ambush. In the ambush's kill zone, the defenders have little chance, and so they instantly turn and assault the ambushers. Penetrating the ambush positions brings the battle to the ambushers. In the resulting melee, the ambushers lose the advantage of surprise.

...

Can you train people to respond en masse to a terrorist attack? Sure. Group action by unarmed civilians can stop a lone gunman. A suicide bomber is another matter. Best be in a state that allows people to carry personal firearms. But an effective group response to any threat requires leadership, and in most situations, that means leadership by example. On the Paris express, I count five examples of leadership. One leader jostled in the lavatory. One gave warning. Three struck in a pack. Norman had the guts to follow. Free people in free societies can surprise you.

[Gunny]

Honestly!

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/france-3-people-wounded-in-shooting-on-high-speed-train/

None of them were Marines. US servicemen nonetheless. They did exactly the right thing. Ooh-rah to them. :salute:

[Kathianne]

None of them were Marines. US servicemen nonetheless. They did exactly the right thing. Ooh-rah to them. :salute:

That eventually did become clear: http://www.debatepolicy.com/showthread.php?51259-US-Marines-Heroes-Again&p=758336#post758336

[Gunny]

That eventually did become clear: http://www.debatepolicy.com/showthread.php?51259-US-Marines-Heroes-Again&p=758336#post758336

I know the story. I never suspected Marines. The asshole came out alive. While we might bicker among each each other, we'll close ranks in a heartbeat if you piss us off.

That was good recognizing when he dropped a clip to attack. Even for a zoomie.

Notice not ONE FUCKING WORD from Obama about it. He can comment on a criminal being shot by a cop that led to a town being destroyed, but fuck the military for saving a trainload of passengers, right? No mention.