Graeme Wood
The man who murdered at least 15 people with his truck on Bourbon Street, in New Orleans, last night was flying the black banner of the Islamic State from his truck, according to the FBI. Police shot 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar dead at the scene. So far little else is known about the suspect, but given that ISIS flags are not a standard option on a Ford F-150, it is reasonable to presume that the driver—a U.S. Army veteran—committed mass murder as an homage to the Islamic State.
President-Elect Donald Trump famously lamented that Mexico was “not sending their best” to the United States. After contempt for the New Orleans killer, and sadness for the dead and 35 wounded, my reaction to this attack is relief that for the past decade the Islamic State has been sending its best, and its best remain verminous incompetents whose most ingenious plots involve driving trucks into crowds. Jabbar is said to have brought along explosives, and to have set his Airbnb on fire, but either his bombs didn’t work or he did not live long enough to set them off. In 2014, the Islamic State regarded its string of early victories as a sign that God favored it. Now I wonder whether it has noticed that God has seemingly capped the IQs of its operatives, and taken the hint about what that might say about its continued divine favor.
In 2014, the group’s spokesman, Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, kicked off its campaign of terror in Europe by urging followers to improvise weapons. “If you are not able to find an IED or a bullet,” he said, “smash the American or European’s head with a rock, or slaughter him with a knife, or run him over with your car.” Some horrific attacks ensued, including a truck-ramming in 2016 that killed 86. But consider the number of Islamic State supporters of European origin—probably in the tens of thousands—and the easy availability of rocks, knives, and cars. Few have taken Adnani up on his offer, and those who have tend to be (if the jihadists will pardon the expression) ham-handed.
No comments:
Post a Comment