Will We See Homicide Bombers in America?

Years ago, when I lived in England, it used to be said that what started in America would eventually happen in England. There's some truth to that, of course, but it works the other way too.

A few days before the Easter holiday, British police in Manchester, England nabbed twelve men, eleven of whom are Pakistani nationals who police believed were plotting a series of homicide bombings in Manchester over the upcoming holiday. (As reported by the London Daily Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/5133934/Police-to-continue-questioning-terror-suspects-over-Easter-spectacular-bomb-plot.html )

As we've seen for years in the middle east, homicide (previously referred to as suicide) bombers have been very effective at murdering and maiming innocent people, and promoting their political agenda and terrorist goals through the indiscriminate use of explosives.

But until recently, this particular form of terrorism has been generally regarded as something that only happens "over there" in the middle east. Now, as many of us have expected, it looks like these tactics are going to appear in Europe, and, by extension, may soon be coming to the U.S.A. Of course, the Brits have experienced bombing of innocent civilians before. The Irish Republican Army launched a campaign of blowing up public places both in Northern Ireland and the British mainland back in the 1970s. But leaving a car bomb outside Harrod's department store in London is one thing; walking into a crowded shopping center wearing a vest of high explosive and triggering it at the most opportune moment is much more like launching a guided missile--literally a smart bomb.

Much has been written about the best way to detect a homicide bomber a few moments before they trigger their attack, and the Israelis have developed some good methods to take them down by shooting them. But the Brits don't have as much chance to defend themselves like this because their government doesn't permit them to carry personal firearms; that is verboten. So instead they must rely on the slim chance that an armed police officer will be there, and able to thwart the attack.

God forbid that our terrorist enemies will ever launch homicide bombers on american soil, but with 48 out of the 50 states allowing some form of concealed carry of a handgun for its citizens, the chances are a bit better over here that such a despicable attack might be foiled.