Explosions and shootings in Paris

[Unas]

Must have been like Christmas.

Yep! A toy weapon from Mattel under every tree. We were skeptical at first about the "plastic" stock and "tiny" ammo. But a couple of missions humping a much lighter weapon and more ammo made us converts.

 

[TLSnell1981]

It doesn't appear, that the threat(s) will be decreasing anytime soon

 

[Domo]

We seem to live in interesting times.

Would I trade them for the Blitz? Probably not.

 

[TLSnell1981]

My guess, as far as airports go, as well as many cities, is that heightened security has become "business as usual". And what that looks like today is a lot different than what it looked like fifteen years ago, as we've assimilated to the process.
"

Perhaps, they are conceding their "measures" are in place to make us "feel" more secure

 

[Domo]

Perhaps, they are conceding their "measures" are in place to make us "feel" more secure

Most security measures at airports are for show. If you are hellbent on attacking an airport, you could get a pistol that does not show up on X-Ray. As for the limited liquid rule, all you need is for a few of your mates to go through security, for you to mix the liquids up on the other side and ta-daa, instant bomb! There's more too, but you get the idea.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

OK, here's an interesting perspective - al Queda and ISIS: a rivalry!

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...-and-the-islamic-state-group/article27431738/

A look at the rivalry between al-Queda and the Islamic State group

"The attack on a Mali hotel claimed by al-Qaeda may have been partly aimed at asserting the global terror network’s relevance as it faces an unprecedented challenge from the Islamic State group for leadership of the global jihadi movement.

The assault on Paris was an implicit rebuke of al-Qaeda, which hasn’t carried off an attack on that scale in several years. If the Mali attack turns out to be a response of some kind, it could herald a new era of global competition between the two groups, each seeking to outdo the other with ever more devastating attacks."

 

[3 MEN AND A BOAT]

OK, here's an interesting perspective - al Queda and ISIS: a rivalry!

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...-and-the-islamic-state-group/article27431738/

A look at the rivalry between al-Queda and the Islamic State group

"The attack on a Mali hotel claimed by al-Qaeda may have been partly aimed at asserting the global terror network’s relevance as it faces an unprecedented challenge from the Islamic State group for leadership of the global jihadi movement.

The assault on Paris was an implicit rebuke of al-Qaeda, which hasn’t carried off an attack on that scale in several years. If the Mali attack turns out to be a response of some kind, it could herald a new era of global competition between the two groups, each seeking to outdo the other with ever more devastating attacks."

Well that's not good.
The last thing we need are 2 terrorist groups trying to out-do and one-up each other.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Most security measures at airports are for show. If you are hellbent on attacking an airport, you could get a pistol that does not show up on X-Ray. As for the limited liquid rule, all you need is for a few of your mates to go through security, for you to mix the liquids up on the other side and ta-daa, instant bomb! There's more too, but you get the idea.

No pistol is invisible to X-ray unless you've somehow managed to disguise it as some less scary object. And there are no polymer frames pistols with such low steel content that they'd pass through a metal detector undetected.

 

[bcla]

Most security measures at airports are for show. If you are hellbent on attacking an airport, you could get a pistol that does not show up on X-Ray. As for the limited liquid rule, all you need is for a few of your mates to go through security, for you to mix the liquids up on the other side and ta-daa, instant bomb! There's more too, but you get the idea.

There is no pistol that won't show up in an X-ray machine. Perhaps it could be in a shape that doesn't look like one, but the equipment used today analyzes the shapes of metal objects. And for whatever reason, several politicians have been caught with loaded weapons going through airport security.

However, I've been through several metal detectors without removing coins, my belt buckle, my metal glasses, etc. I could imagine someone possibly bringing in a tiny .22.

The whole liquid bomb thing is nuts. It would take a lot of liquid to make anything. I've heard of people experimenting with this stuff and losing fingers without it even exploding.

 

[luvsJack]

How legit is this hacker group, Anonymous? I read an article somewhere that listed some places that they found were targets.

 

[Domo]

No pistol is invisible to X-ray unless you've somehow managed to disguise it as some less scary object. And there are no polymer frames pistols with such low steel content that they'd pass through a metal detector undetected.

I believe it is a form of Glock. I'll look into it for you.

As for Anonymous, it's VERY real. It's basically a loose band of hackers spread around the world, but by gum they get things done!

 

[CPanther95]

I believe it is a form of Glock. I'll look into it for you.

An x-ray will still spot any gun. You might be thinking of passing through a metal detector undetected - but even that is false. You might be thinking of the fictional Glock mentioned in Die Hard 2.

... that's without even considering the fact that the rounds you need would also trigger either.

 

[bcla]

I believe it is a form of Glock. I'll look into it for you.

As for Anonymous, it's VERY real. It's basically a loose band of hackers spread around the world, but by gum they get things done!

A Glock has plenty of metal. The slide itself is almost completely metal, although I recall it was redesigned from the first generation that was a mostly plastic slide. Here's a guy selling art prints of an X-rayed Glock 17:

http://fineartamerica.com/products/glock-g17-ray-gunz-art-print.html

Heck - plastic will show up on X-rays, and there's more than enough metal just from the slide to trip a metal detector (even the first generation with the plastic slide had enough metal in the barrel and hammer). Whoever wrote the script for Die Hard 2 didn't have a clue.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

A Glock has plenty of metal. The slide itself is almost completely metal, although I recall it was redesigned from the first generation that was a mostly plastic slide. Here's a guy selling art prints of an X-rayed Glock 17:

http://fineartamerica.com/products/glock-g17-ray-gunz-art-print.html

Heck - plastic will show up on X-rays, and there's more than enough metal just from the slide to trip a metal detector (even the first generation with the plastic slide had enough metal in the barrel and hammer). Whoever wrote the script for Die Hard 2 didn't have a clue.

IIRC, they claimed the gun was made of porcelain in DH2. Um, no LOL! But yeah, in addition to being obvious on an X-ray, even a sub-compact Glock will have as much steel as a 5-shot, .38 snub nose revolver.

 

[Domo]

Well, I might be wrong - who knows? I wonder, do pistols made on 3D-printers show up on X-Ray? Extremely few parts are made of metal.

 

[bcla]

Well, I might be wrong - who knows? I wonder, do pistols made on 3D-printers show up on X-Ray? Extremely few parts are made of metal.

This is a disassembled Glock:

The slide is almost completely metal, although the first generation was plastic. That's a heck of a lot of metal unloaded. And the ammunition will most definitely be detected by an X-ray machine and/or metal detectors.

As for the supposed 3D printer gun, the one I heard of exploded after several uses and was only single shot. There are some reliable versions made with 3D metal printers.

 

[NHdisneylover]

I find the whole conversation about whether the guns are metal or not sort of irrelevant--most airports use the full body scanners these days (or at least both metal detectors and full body scanners and you don't get to choose which one that I have seen--you can opt out of both for a pat down, but not just choose in my experience). Full body scanners can spot non metal items

 

[Domo]

I find the whole conversation about whether the guns are metal or not sort of irrelevant--most airports use the full body scanners these days (or at least both metal detectors and full body scanners and you don't get to choose which one that I have seen--you can opt out of both for a pat down, but not just choose in my experience). Full body scanners can spot non metal items

Interesting... I didn't know that.

 

[bcla]

I find the whole conversation about whether the guns are metal or not sort of irrelevant--most airports use the full body scanners these days (or at least both metal detectors and full body scanners and you don't get to choose which one that I have seen--you can opt out of both for a pat down, but not just choose in my experience). Full body scanners can spot non metal items

Doesn't really matter. There was one full body scanner manufacturer that used X-rays, although they're not currently in use. X-rays get blocked by different materials. Metal just happens to be among the best materials at blocking X-rays.

Modern X-ray security equipment has software that can detect different density materials and outline them with different colors.

Here's a blog on security:

http://snallabolaget.com/?page_id=666

Blue is for hard materials, and hard plastics will be marked the same color as metal. Plastics mostly show up as green. So there won't be a case where something simply won't show up.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Some details filtering out now about intelligence relating to the Paris terrorists.

According to this CBS article, it sounds like Turkish authorities notified Belgian authorities at least a couple of times that some of them had ISIS ties, but they were let go. Additionally, one had his passport taken away, but was issued another.

They are saying that one of the terrorists was the same one that planned the attack on the train in which the shooter was taken down by three American men and a French man back in August.

" Apparent red flags before Paris attacks piling up

While not all of the attackers in the Paris attacks are known, the few names that have been made public are leading to a startling realization for many observers: there were a lot of red flags that appear to have been missed by French and Belgian authorities in the run-up to the terrorist assault.

Below is a partial list of some of the incidents with the known attackers that might have given a better indication of the coming carnage in the French capital.

Brahim Abdeslam apparently attempted to join ISIS in Syria in January of 2015

The brother of the main suspect in the attacks still at large, Turkish authorities arrested Brahim Abdeslam at Turkey's border and deported him to Belgium, where he has lived with his brother and a few other Paris attacks suspects, in January of this year.

Brahim Abdeslam is believed to be among the leaders of the attackers on various cafes and restaurants in the terrorist assault. He blew himself with a suicide vest.

Turkish authorities told Belgian police at the time that Abdeslam had been "radicalized" and was suspected of wanting to join Islamic State in Syria, a Turkish security source told Reuters.

During questioning in Belgium, Brahim Abdeslam denied any involvement with militants and was set free.

His brother, Salah Abdeslam, who is still at large, was also questioned by police and released.

Turkish authorities say they warned the French about Omar Mostefai

Omar Mostefai is believed to have the led hijackers in the Bataclan theater assault that killed over 100 people before he blew himself up with a suicide vest.

Although he had eight convictions as a petty criminal, Mostefai apparently traveled back and forth from Syria without being spotted by authorities.

He had been put on an S-Card watchlist for radicalization in 2010. S-Card or Fiche S is basically a classification used by French law enforcement to flag an individual considered to be a threat to national security and possibly requiring surveillance or monitoring.

Le Monde newspaper reported that Mostefai may have stayed in Syria for several months in the winter of 2013-14, adding that investigators had traced a visit to Turkey.

Ankara wrote to Paris about Omar Mostefai on two occasions; In December 2014 and in June 2015, a senior Turkish government official has said. Turkish police said he was a terror suspect with links to ISIS.

The warning went unheeded. Paris only replied to the letter last week.

Mostefai's brother, who turned up at a local police station the night of the attacks to say he was shocked to learn Mostefai may have been involved, said as far as he knew his wayward sibling had left to Algeria with his wife and little daughter several years ago.

Samy Aminour missed four check-ins with French police in 2013

Another of the suicide bombers in the Bataclan assault, Samy Amimour was supposed to have weekly check-ins with French police, but missed four in November 2013. Yet he apparently still managed to go to Syria and come back.

He managed to get issued a new passport after authorities stripped him of his first passport in 2012. His parents said he simply reported his passport stolen, and was issued with a replacement one.

He was detained, questioned and indicted on October 19, 2012, for being part of a criminal association with links to terrorism. He along with others had been trying to leave for Yemen. He was not jailed, but placed under judicial supervision.

Authorities issued an arrest warrant for him in 2013. By that time he had left the country to Syria. His tracks were picked up a year later, in December 2014, when his father gave an interview to French daily Le Monde describing how he had travelled to Syria but failed to convince his son to return.

Bilal Hadfi was under surveillance

One of the soccer stadium suicide bombers, Bilal Hadfi was under surveillance in Belgium after his return from Syria in February 2015. The 20-year-old French national returned to Europe by an unknown route and evaded police even though the Belgian Justice Ministry said microphones had been placed at the house where he was thought to be staying.

Abdelhamid Abaaoud did nothing to hide in Paris after attacks

The alleged mastermind of the Paris attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud was tracked down in Greece and Turkey just a week after a series of counter-terrorism raids in France in January 2015 through intercepted phone calls to some accomplices in Molenbeek, the Brussels neighborhood were a few of the apparent attackers are from.

Additionally, an interview published in ISIS' Dabiq magazine indicates he may have entered and left ISIS territory in Syria on more than one occasion after becoming known to European officials as a likely terrorist operative.

On November 16, just days after the Paris attacks, French authorities get a tip off from Moroccan intelligence that Abaaoud was still on French soil. This eventually led to the raid on the flat in Saint-Denis, where he was killed along with his cousin and another unidentified man.

Neighbors said Abaaoud did not seem at all like a fugitive. He was moving freely, often hanging out in the street with the lads from the neighborhood.

Additonally, earlier this year, he was named as the suspected ringleader of a plot to kill police in Belgium. Abaaoud also is suspected of overseeing two thwarted attacks earlier this year on a Paris church and a Paris-bound train. The latter attack was stopped by American passengers who restrained a gun-toting man before he could open fire.

In 2014, grim footage emerged of him and his friends in Syria loading a pickup and a makeshift trailer with a mound of bloodied corpses."

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/apparent-red-flags-terrorists-before-paris-attacks-piling-up/