Knife attack in London called a terrorist attack. Reuters.

Police investigators at the scene of the stabbing. Reuters. 

A knife attack in London where three people were injured is being called a terror attack. Reuters. The suspect reportedly screamed "This is for Syria" as he slashed a person riding in the subway. The victim had critical injuries while two other people reported minor injuries. The suspect was captured alive when British police used a tazer to subdue him. Reports are that the man was retaliating against Western airstrikes in Syria, which the UK has just joined. The attack is similar to the one that killed Lee Rigby, who was hacked to death by two terrorists two years ago. It is unclear if the attack is connected to any terrorist organization, but ISIS has encouraged "lone wolf" attacks throughout the world. 

My Comment:

Well, it looks like the wave of lone wolf terror attacks I predicted has begun. These kinds of low tech, low preparation attacks are extremely hard to defend against. Even in an extremely strict and, quite frankly, oppressive country like the United Kingdom, people are able to get weapons. You can't control knives, even though the United Kingdom is trying very hard to do so. Lone wolf attacks are pretty much unpreventable and given that this attack made international news, they are very effective at what ISIS and other terrorist groups want to accomplish. 

Quite frankly, this attack could have been much worse then it was. It's fairly easy to kill someone with a knife, but this guy wasn't able to kill anyone. Had he been a bit more professional or determined he could have done more then just injure three people. He also could have hurt or killed the police that came to arrest him. Tazers and stunguns aren't 100% effective and he may have been able to shrug off the attack that was meant to put him done. Given the threat, I think that the cops in the UK should carry guns.

Of course, I think everyone should carry guns right now. Or at least a knife or other weapon instead. That's obviously not an option in the United Kingdom but it is an option in many places. It's clear that there is going to be a wave of these kinds of attacks and people need to be able to defend themselves. Even though the cops did good in this case, they still didn't make it in time to prevent someone from getting stabbed. Someone with a concealed firearm, or even a knife of their own, could have prevented anyone from getting hurt. Other then the terrorist of course... 

These kinds of attacks are nothing but good news for ISIS. Not only do they get to reap the rewards of pulling off a terror attack, they can do so with absolutely no risk whatsoever. By inspiring these attacks, ISIS is going to do a lot of damage. ISIS is very skilled at propaganda and it is clear that it is starting to pay off. These kinds of minor attacks probably won't have much of an impact, since most of these lone wolves seem rather incompetent, but it's still a threat. What ISIS wants is for people to go through there lives not sure if they are going to get shot or stabbed by that Muslim that's on the subway with you. This attack will accomplish that, for the people of London at least, if they weren't already thinking that. 

The attack is supposedly a reaction to the United Kingdom joining the war against ISIS in Syria. If so, then it is a huge overreaction. The forces that the UK are deploying to Syria are a joke. The United Kingdom has slashed their military budget that they can barely deploy their forces at all. Only a few fighter bombers are going to be deployed and will accomplish next to nothing in terms of long term damage to ISIS. The United Kingdom's lack of military strength is a much larger factor on the size of their military deployment then any attacks pulled off by these lone wolf attackers. 

That isn't to say that the United Kingdom's help isn't appreciated. The fight against ISIS is going to need all the help it can get, and even a minor contribution is welcome. It's just not going to be enough to turn the tide. Right now, nobody seems to be interested in attacking ISIS, despite a massive string of major terrorist attacks, mass shootings and, now, copycat lone wolf attacks. Perhaps something will change, either after the latest attack in America, or after the next major terrorist incident. It's pretty sad that an incident where three people got stabbed or slashed doesn't even rate as a major terrorist attack...

EDIT: Here's video of the UK police taking this guy down. I personally would have shot him, but whatever, the UK cops do things differently.