New Tactics for Terrorists?

[Charles L. Cotton]

For twenty-three days in 2002, the Washington D.C. area was nearly paralyzed with fear, all because there was a "sniper" (turned out to be two) in the area killing people. Thirteen people where shot and ten died. People tried to hide behind their cars while pumping gas. Shoppers sprinted from their cars to the grocery stores, bought only what they could "run" with and headed back to their cars, often in a serpentine pattern. One 2-man sniper team terrified a large segment of the D.C. area and garnered extensive media coverage in the process. (Of course, this is a terrorist's prime goal.) If a car even backfired, people ran for cover and the sniper was credited with another attempt. All this fear and attention was caused by two men with no real training.

I have been surprised that terrorists bent on destroying the United States haven't learned from those events. Apparently they have learned and are training for just such attacks. There was a short report on the news last night dealing with captured video of terrorists training for "small operations" that involved two or three men entering a room and shooting anyone and everyone. They were practicing on cardboard targets that resembled IDPA or IPSC targets and they used standard entry-team tactics.

This is worrisome folks. Although the video revealed their training efforts, training isn't necessary when the shooter is suicidal. Terror organizations don't have to send operatives with specialized training or equipment from foreign countries; they can recruit, arm and train locals. Israel has had to deal with this type of terrorist activity for decades; it may be our turn soon.

Get your CHL, practice, carry your gun (a real gun) everywhere, practice, get your loved ones to do likewise, oh yeah, practice! Make it realistic practice; i.e. shoot on the move, shoot at moving targets, shoot at multiple assailants. Then pray you never have to use those skills.

Chas.

[Lumberjack98]

Get your CHL, practice, carry your gun (a real gun) everywhere, practice, get your loved ones to do likewise, oh yeah, practice! Make it realistic practice; i.e. shoot on the move, shoot at moving targets, shoot at multiple assailants. Then pray you never have to use those skills.

Thanks for posting this Charles. I actually had a very similar discussion with two coworkers a couple of days ago along these lines.

[Wildscar]

There was a short report on the news last night dealing with captured video of terrorists training for "small operations" that involved two or three men entering a room and shooting anyone and everyone.

Could you provide a link to where you saw? I believe you but if I forward this on tom some people I know they are just going to call me paranoid.

Get your CHL, practice, carry your gun (a real gun) everywhere, practice, get your loved ones to do likewise, oh yeah, practice! Make it realistic practice; i.e. shoot on the move, shoot at moving targets, shoot at multiple assailants. Then pray you never have to use those skills.

Chas.

[anygunanywhere]

I saw the report on Fox News this morning.

Anygunanywhere

[Wildscar]

Never mind I found one. However old but its still the basis of what you speak. Looks like its been around awhile.

New al-Qaida training tape shows another side of terror
Captured video reveals plans for home break-ins, killing police, drive-bys, golf course assassinations

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/artic ... E_ID=28819

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: September 04, 2002
1:00 am Eastern

By Joseph Farah
© 2008 WorldNetDaily.com

An al-Qaida training videotape, captured in Afghanistan, shows Osama bin Laden's terrorists are not only planning attacks with weapons of mass destruction but are preparing to kill Americans with drive-by shootings and home break-ins, through ambushes of law-enforcement officers and targeted assassinations on golf courses, WorldNetDaily has learned.

The videotape was produced, U.S. analysts believe, for al-Qaida's internal use and did not appear to be an external propaganda device.

U.S. intelligence considers the tape much more significant in what it reveals about al-Qaida's modus operandi than the highly publicized video purchased and broadcast last month by CNN. U.S. forces found a cache of 64 al-Qaida tapes while combing caves and hideouts in Afghanistan. Analysts were surprised by some of what they saw in the latest video and believe they employ terrorist tactics and techniques meant for export to America and other nations.

"None of these training scenarios depicts the type of fighting that al-Qaida engages in within Afghanistan," noted John Holschen of Insights Training Center, who produced a report on the tape for military and law enforcement officials.

The training video shows al-Qaida operatives practicing the following kinds of assaults:


using pickup trucks with shooters concealed in the bed of the trucks;
using motorcycles as a shooting platform for drive-bys and assassinations;
execution of prisoners;
ambushes of law-enforcement officers;
residential assassinations;
assassination on a golf course using a rocket-propelled grenade and rifle fire;
drive-up kidnapping of target walking on a street;
use of tunnels, storm drains and sewers for infiltration during urban raids;
rappelling from rooftops of buildings to make entry on upper floors;
use of motorcycles for grenade attacks; and
raids on buildings with large numbers of occupants – perhaps schools or office buildings.
Analysts point out that all scenarios involving prisoners and hostages ended in execution. None included plans for negotiated settlements for escape by terrorists.

"They plan to kill the prisoners and die in place," wrote Holschen.

The "perfect day" as seen by al-Qaida would combine attacks designed to produce a maximum number of casualties with attacks that would give them the opportunity to get "face time" on the news channels to deliver their rhetoric, explained Holschen.

"The major take-home lesson here is that although the enemy is known to be seeking the ability and opportunity to use weapons of mass destruction and of an unconventional nature, such as hijacked airliners, they are also spending a lot of time training to carry out attacks the old-fashioned way – attacks executed by small groups of dedicated personnel equipped with little more than small arms," explained Holschen.

Hostages, prisoners and anyone else identified as a target or problem by al-Qaida terrorist operatives will be killed, say those who viewed the tape. There is no point in complying with orders, they say. Those who do not resist ultimately will be rewarded with ritual execution in front of television cameras, according to the tactics and techniques captured on this video.

In one scenario on the video, terrorists pretend to be stranded on a six-lane highway, their vehicle disabled. When a police officer stops to assist, the driver blows his horn. Another occupant of the vehicle opens fire on the police officer with a rifle. In other scenarios, shooters were concealed in the trunk of the car. When the terrorists were picked up by accomplices in a getaway car, the original vehicle was blown up, apparently to destroy evidence.

In another scenario, an innocuous-looking terrorist knocks on the door of a residence, standing in view of the resident and answering questions through a closed door. When the resident opens the door, the terrorist immediately draws his weapon and fires, emptying his weapon into the victim.

In the golf course assassination, the target was on the green, near the hole. A rocket-propelled grenade is fired at a vehicle adjacent to the green, perhaps a security detail. Then the target of the assassination is killed with rifle fire.

When asked if these techniques are intended for use in the U.S., one military intelligence operative said without hesitation, "Yes."

[Wildscar]

I belive I found the story yall are refering too
http://www.foxnews.com/video/index.html ... d=playlist

[MBGuy]

And they should really have an easy time at it once Obama Hussein disarms everyone......

Seriously though, I eat at a mall food court sometimes that's full of people at lunchtime. I've always wondered what keeps one of these cowards from doing this. It surely isn't the unarmed "security" guards we have here. So most of the time, I take my food up to my office.

[thankGod]

Violent crime can happen anytime, anywhere. Be it terrorist, or just some maladjusted idiot. However, a continual sniping from several terrorist groups would put people in a panic. These kinds of people have many low tech ways to bring fear into our lives if they choose to do so. It would be very hard to stop this kind of activity prior to it starting.

[The Annoyed Man]

I'm actually surprised that terrorists haven't tried the DC sniper tactics yet. As a weapon of terror, I think it is far more terrifying than one single horrible spasm of violence like entering a room and killing everyone in it. I can't remember if it was Carlos Hathcock, or one of the other great snipers of the Vietnam War, who alone with his spotter, paralyzed an entire NVA battalion over the period of day or so, finally causing the remaining survivors to retreat in disarray from their position.

First of all, the sniper team killed far more than a handful of people in a room; but even more importantly, they neutralized a large force of several hundred armed men and destroyed their combat effectiveness. And those were trained soldiers. A terrorist team of sniper and spotter, trained to delay their entry into paradise until unavoidable, could paralyze a much larger geographical area and kill far more people than a couple of pistol packing gunmen raiding a McDonalds.

That being said, I wouldn't say that CHLers carry a special burden of vigilance, because I think that ALL citizens should be vigilant, armed or not. But, those of us who are armed should be ready and able to use our arms if it will make a difference.

[Excaliber]

Analysts point out that all scenarios involving prisoners and hostages ended in execution. None included plans for negotiated settlements for escape by terrorists.

Something you should all be aware of:

Some of this training reportedly includes the expectation of sporadic armed resistance from either LEO's or CHL holders, and tactics that focus on concentrating overwhelming firepower on these folks until resistance ends.

[The Annoyed Man]

Analysts point out that all scenarios involving prisoners and hostages ended in execution. None included plans for negotiated settlements for escape by terrorists.

Something you should all be aware of:

Some of this training reportedly includes the expectation of sporadic armed resistance from either LEO's or CHL holders, and tactics that focus on concentrating overwhelming firepower on these folks until resistance ends.

So, if you run into them in real life, what recourse do you have? If they are going to kill you anyway, and if they are not going to negotiate, and if you are armed and able to resist, even for a short time, then wouldn't the best thing you could do be to try and take some of them with you on the hope that the distraction you cause to them might provide an opportunity for armed responders to execute some kind of tactics?

[HankB]

I believe that the reason a massive, orchestrated wave of "small operations" hasn't happened - at least not yet - is that the terror masters know there will be a backlash against Moslems and mosques in the USA that no amount of governmental condemnation will be able to quench. Especially if the terror acts go on . . . and on . . . and on.

If the bad guys decide the inevitable backlash is acceptable, things will get ugly, on a variety of levels. What worries me is that the government may very well take exactly the wrong action, such as banning CHL and otherwise clamping down on the potential victims. Politicians have a history of making a bad situation worse . . . and the bad guys may actually anticipate this and count on our "leaders" doing more of their dirty work for them.

[Excaliber]

So, if you run into them in real life, what recourse do you have? If they are going to kill you anyway, and if they are not going to negotiate, and if you are armed and able to resist, even for a short time, then wouldn't the best thing you could do be to try and take some of them with you on the hope that the distraction you cause to them might provide an opportunity for armed responders to execute some kind of tactics?

That would be a reasonable position that is best considered now rather than during an incident.

In light of the information shared here, some folks may want to do some tactical planning on how to conduct themselves during this type of situation beforehand (e.g., selectively engaging hostiles who can keep you from reaching an exit). Others may want to reconsider their choice of carry weapon, caliber, and routinely carried backup ammunition supplies. There are implications here for all of those areas, and many more as well.

[Charles L. Cotton]

The "walk in and shoot everyone" tactic was used in Israel for a while, but when the armed Israelis started shooting the snot out of them, they switched to timed or remote control bombs, then to suicide bombers. Bombs haven't been used in the U.S. yet for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that the material is harder to get here. (I'm talking about efficient explosives that are suitable for vests, briefcases, etc.) I hope this "plan" isn't put into action, but they aren't training for nothing and someone in the terrorist training camps must have taken notice of the impact of the "D.C. Sniper."

Chas.

[flintknapper]

The "walk in and shoot everyone" tactic was used in Israel for a while, but when the armed Israelis started shooting the snot out of them, they switched to timed or remote control bombs, then to suicide bombers. Bombs haven't been used in the U.S. yet for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that the material is harder to get here. (I'm talking about efficient explosives that are suitable for vests, briefcases, etc.) I hope this "plan" isn't put into action, but they aren't training for nothing and someone in the terrorist training camps must have taken notice of the impact of the "D.C. Sniper."

Chas.

Yup,

They are not so much "a nation of cowards" over there (as seems to be the case here in the U.S).

It is easy to find dozens (if not hundreds) of accounts of ordinary citizens who have stopped/thwarted terrorist attacks.

They just don't "put up with it" over there, and I congratulate them for it.

Here are just a couple of accounts:
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340 ... 10,00.html
http://www.learnaboutguns.com/2008/07/2 ... terrorist/