PARIS CITY OF LIGHTS, BOMBS AND TERROR

[KEND]

I read this morning of a terror attack in Paris, one at a concert hall featuring 'Eagles of Death Metal [extreme irony] assorted cafes etc were also targeted
What has happened to one of my favorite cities. When I lived there in the 70's there was some disaffection, the remains of the Algerian and 1968 watersheds but this, like 9/11 has taken it to a whole new level.
Predictable results, a swing to the right with the daughter of Le Pen becoming a serious presidential candidate, Europe in general moving to the right, a hard line on the refugees and immigrants, particularly if the terrorists are home grown or refugees, an easier passage for the surveillance law presently in the UK parliament.
In fact it will reverberate across the world, dividing and polarizing, obscuring other more important issues like global warming, pollution of the planet, a surveillance system that will intrude on everybody's life. Fanatics of all ilks, Moslem, Christian, Jewish, Hindu and , believe it or nort, Buddhists have always created these types of schisms, lets hope wiser heads will eventually prevail, but I wouldn't bet on it

[warriorprincess]

We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.
Albert Einstein

I fear things will get a lot worse.

[Doc Stier]

Unfortunately, no problem can be solved from the same state of consciousness that created it.

[Steve James]

This event might be ongoing as we speak, so it's really to early to assess cause or effect. Immediate reactions may be wrong.

I think these attacks show that IS (or whoever) is getting desperate. Though I don't believe that one can bomb away an idea, I'm sure that there'll be a heavy price to pay.

In terms of strategy, I think that this creates a coalition among enemies that will be devastating. This is an organizational error of waging a war on too many fronts, in this case political, ethnic and religious. I'm sure there were some Muslims killed in the Paris attacks, and perhaps some acts of individual Muslim heroism. Those are things that may emerge in time. However, the attacks in Lebanon, Iraq and Turkey are creating a massive coalition of Muslim countries who are pissed off at IS, and that's not even considering the Kurds. If nothing else, it seems that these attacks will eventually bring together an unlikely crew. Ironically, it may also lead to the creation of a relatively unified Islamic world, unified against IS.

[KEND]

One of the gunmen was a 'refugee',with elections c coming up Hollande will likely take a hard right approach

[Steve James]

Apparently, one came through Syria or with refugees. But, then again, one was a French national. It's likely that Hollande will take a hard line, but even stopping the flow of refugees completely wouldn't have foiled the other 6, 7 or more terrorists. The US has taken in few Syrian refugees, but what happened in Paris could happen here (or in London) anytime. Almost nothing can prevent someone committed to suicide from taking others with him.

The biggest problem is the way IS attracts new recruits. Hollande's (and the West's) reaction will certainly affect that. Well, we know that the "legion of strangers" will be going to work, and they'll be brutal.

[KEND]

I noticed in the news that although people in the USA are generally sympathetic to the Paris massacre there is a small element saying 'I told you so' and repeating the 'French fries' slogan. May I remind them that, although the causes are complex and in some cases go back a millennia the Bush/ Blair instigated Iraq war was a factor in the present global terror campaign and maybe the French were right. Being on the spot rather than in bunker in Washington clarifies the mind mightily
The media bias incidentally was clearly demonstrated in recent day, massacres in Nigeria, Beirut, and Kenya[which had a larger number of casualties] received much less space.

[chud]

ISIS Claims Responsibility, Calling Paris Attacks ‘First of the Storm’: - http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/15/world/europe/isis-claims-responsibility-for-paris-attacks-calling-them-miracles.html?_r=0

From the article:

"The statement was released on the same Telegram channel that was used to claim responsibility for the crash of a Russian jet over the Sinai Peninsula two weeks ago, killing 224 people."

[yeniseri]

ISIS is adept at using the sources of propaganda and they do not have to pay for it.
They just have to call a major new organization and say they did it and the Western news media will run with the 'bleeding' and the mayhem. There is no doubt that evil comes under all names regardless of geography. They are some evil sons of bitches!

[windwalker]

US-led strikes destroy 116 IS fuel trucks in east Syria

http://news.yahoo.com/us-led-strikes-de ... 17625.html

A spokesman for the coalition told AFP the strikes were not the first against IS fuel trucks, but added "it's the first time that we've hit so many at once".

The trucks had been parked at the time of the strikes, and were "getting ready to either be filled or moved to sell whatever they had in them," he said.

IS reportedly makes millions of dollars in revenue from oil fields under its control, and the US-led coalition has regularly targeted oil infrastructure held by the group.

"Our spokesperson Colonel (Steve) Warren previously stated that we were going to start going after ISIL's financial abilities," the spokesman said.

"This strike was part of that strategy to start degrading their financial ability."

why now, why not before

[Steve James]

Same reason Russia didn't start bombing IS in earnest until a few weeks ago. Same reason France launched airstrikes 16 hours ago http://www.cnbc.com/2015/11/15/financia ... syria.html

[Michael]

why now, why not before

One theory is that after Obama formed the 60 nation coalition and appointed Gen. Allen the "ISIS CZAR" or special envoy to the coalition, that Allen, under the direction of Patraeus, prevented the military coalition, primarily USA Air Force, from doing anything meaningful against ISIS because the faction of Patraeus created or allowed ISIS following Patraeus creation of the Anbar awakening 2006 Iraq, which was a ploy of using terrorists in Iraq to manipulate the Shia-Sunni conflict, and that ISIS is useful to factions within the USA, the same as Al Queada was. The theory includes an accusation that Allen was working with Ergodgan of Turkey to supply and support ISIS because Erdogan had committed to the demise of Syria by allowing terrorists to come from Libya through Turkey and into Syria. Also included is the accusation that Erdogan and Saudi Arabia did the Ghouta gas attack to force the USA to honor Obama's ridiculous red line and get him to destroy Assad.

Obama was too weak to force Allen to attack ISIS, partly because Obama had a higher priority to make the Iran deal succeed, and the schism continued for a year until Allen illegally declared a no-fly zone in northern Syria around July 24 this year when Obama went traveling, which Obama admin refuted immediately, and this was the beginning of the end for Allen. Secondly, Russia's real attacks on Syrian terrorists (however one wishes to distinguish them) forced a choice between really attacking ISIS or allowing Russia to strengthen its position militarily and in terms of geopolitical and popular public relations, because anyone with eyes to see that somehow hadn't realized the USA 60 nation coalition was not attacking ISIS, lol, as if it was anything but USA unilateral action, the coalition's military strikes were a joke until they finally helped the YPG Kurds take back Kobani, they could recognize in the USA newspapers and govt reports in their many complaints against Russia, that the Russian military was doing in one week more than what the USA had done in one year against terrorists in Syria.

Sorry that's so badly written, it's late here. Time for bed.

[HaraldH]

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/17/opinion/the-attacks-in-paris-reveal-the-strategic-limits-of-isis.html

Good article with some analysis of objectives in Syria and Irak

[Steve James]

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/17/opinion/the-attacks-in-paris-reveal-the-strategic-limits-of-isis.html

Good article with some analysis of objectives in Syria and Irak

The attack against Hezbollah in Beirut, the attack against the Russians in Sharm el Sheikh and the attacks in Paris had the same goal: terror. But just as the execution of the Jordanian pilot sparked patriotism among even the heterogeneous population of Jordan, the attacks in Paris will turn the battle against ISIS into a national cause. ISIS will hit the same wall as Al Qaeda: Globalized terrorism is no more effective, strategically, than conducting aerial bombings without forces on the ground. Much like Al Qaeda, ISIS has no support among the Muslim people living in Europe. It recruits only at the margins.

The question now is how to translate into action the outrage sparked by Friday’s attacks in Paris. A massive ground operation by Western forces, like the one conducted in Afghanistan in 2001, seems out of the question, if only because an international intervention would get mired in endless local conflicts. A coordinated offensive by local powers seems unlikely, given the differences among their goals and ulterior motives: It would require striking a political agreement among regional actors, starting with Saudi Arabia and Iran.

[Michael]

After NATO and primarily France violated the UN security council resolution for a no fly zone in Libya in 2011 and used it as a cover to destroy the country's govt, sending it headlong into chaos, Russia and China later vetoed efforts by NATO to do the same to Syria. Since then, there have been provocations, such as the Aug. 2013 gas attack, seeking to manipulate the USA to destroy the Assad government, at that time under the pretext of Obama's red line and chemical weapons.

It is likely the ISIL attacks last week on Russia, Paris, Lebanon, etc., will be used as a justification for a new military attack in Syria, while even now France and the USA illegally conduct military operations there. If Russia and/or China block a sec. council resolution for a military plan that can be utilized by NATO to destroy the Syrian govt as was done in Libya, since that is still the position of the French and USA govt's, that Assad must go, it might look to some blind people that Russia was assisting ISIS; not really sure how they could spin that against Russia, but who knows.

Now that France is attacking terrorists in Syria as retribution for ostensibly ISIS attacks in Paris and elsewhere—who cares about the 200,000 already dead in Syria—how does that make France look after four years of effectively helping ISIS by attacking Assad? They refused to attack ISIS before, preferring to attack the only army and government in the world who were fighting ISIS, and now ISIS has attacked Paris, but Hollande has not changed his policy toward Assad. Ridiculous.