July 9, 2008: Terrorists start firefight outside US Consulate in Istanbul

ISTANBUL, TURKEY – Even terrorist groups sometimes come up with really weird names!

I am pretty sure I have mentioned Dave Barry to you on several occasions. This Miami Herald columnist/humourist is one of my favourites. I actually laugh out loud when I read his stuff!

One semi-regular feature he had was to use a phrase in a column and then write “Wouldn’t that be a great name for a band?” Some examples follow:

• Drawers Full of Slugs
• Groping for Elmo
• The Pig-Stinging Jellyfish
• Fugitive Squirrel and the Clearly Disturbed Beavers
• The Mighty Shaking Wattles

If you want to see more of these go here!

Sometimes terrorist groups opt for really cool names too (and then again some are really stupid – check out Borealis‘ Top Ten Worst Terrorist and Far Right Terrorist Group Names). Then again, some don’t. In this vein I give you the Great Eastern Islamic Raiders Front.

On this day in 2008

Members of this terrorist group, which some believe may have ties to Al Qaeda (AQ), engaged in a firefight outside the US Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, and killed three people (all three terrorists died as well). Another three were injured in the attack.

A vehicle moved back and forth. Then I heard several gun shots. I saw that three people jumped out of the car. One of them approached a policeman while hiding his gun and shot him in the head. The other assailant fled with the car.

Eyewitness

Great Eastern Islamic Raiders Front? I am not sure what to think. What makes them ‘great’. Why ‘eastern’? Is there a ‘western’ rival? And what’s with the ‘Raiders’? I don’t know about you but my mind immediately goes to a US football team (the Oakland, oops!, I mean LA, shit, no! Las Vegas Raiders).

I think your name needs some work gentlemen. Just sayin!

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