Horrible attacks in France

[TravelingBethelite]

No words. Just shock. 

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/paris-terror-attacks/french-police-report-paris-shootout-explosion-n463186

[xcellntbuy]

Our good friends in France will undoubtedly respond in some fashion.  Former French President Jacques Chirac's foreign policy was made clear in 2006, but he left office in May 2007.  President Hollande will have to make an agonizing decision on how he plans to defend his country.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/19/AR2006011903311.html

[Zeffy]

A current death toll of 153... it's sickening. Words cannot describe the sheer audacity of these attacks, coordinated to harm the lives of innocent people trying to enjoy a Friday's night out, attacks that took advantage of poor security and left hundreds dead with the attackers executing random civilians at will while feeling no remorse. Tonight, I give my condolences to the victims and their families.

The world is at a standstill. Intervention is needed to prevent tragedies like this from happening again. The only way to do that is to attack the source. I don't like war, but what else is left when more of these disgusting acts of violence committed under the guise of "religion" are happening each month, with the perpetrators originating from the same places each time?

[jakeroot]

President Hollande will have to make an agonizing decision on how he plans to defend his country.

In the mean time, he's shut the borders. Which seems like a total 180 in terms of policy, since the Hollande government has been very pro-immigration as of late.

[xcellntbuy]

President Hollande will have to make an agonizing decision on how he plans to defend his country.

In the mean time, he's shut the borders. Which seems like a total 180 in terms of policy, since the Hollande government has been very pro-immigration as of late.

Yes indeed and imposed martial law in France for the first time since the liberation from the Nazis in 1944. 

[Buffaboy]

I actually first heard about this when it wasn't a full blown attack yet at around 3:45 (via another forum/BBC). I thought there were like 4 or 5 people killed how it was described.

I go to CNN about a half hour ago and see over 150+ people are gone. Unbelievable, like 9/11.

[US 41]

Open borders in the EU needs to end immediately. Allowing hundreds of thousands of undocumented people from Syria into Europe was a horrible decision. It only took 5 bad people to cause this. Think of how many other bad people have already entered in the Schengen Area because of European nations not defending their borders. What is sovereignty if you can't even control your own borders? What happened was terrible, but even I was smart enough to see this coming if Europe didn't control their borders. Turns out Hungary was right after all. Now it appears that Slovenia, Austria, and France are following Hungary's lead.

[triplemultiplex]

Way too early to make a statement like that.  Just as likely to be homegrown.  It usually is in Europe.  Foreigners do not commit these acts in Europe; by in large it is people who have been living there most of their lives and they are radicalized in place.

I will eat my hat if it turns out to be recent refugees or immigrants.

[english si]

Way too early to make a statement like that.  Just as likely to be homegrown.

The January attacks were home-grown, though affiliated with Yemeni Al Qa'ida. I'd say it's more likely to be home-grown than not (though, actually, so do you) - for a start, it looks like they knew the city well enough to know where there's some serious soft targets (cf the 7/7 bombers, who thankfully didn't know what trains out of Kings Cross St Pancras had most potential for destruction).

[bing101]

Damn 150 People dead? RIP all the victims.

[bing101]

http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/14/world/paris-attacks/


http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34823938




Apparently ISIS did this latest French attack.

[Duke87]

I actually first heard about this when it wasn't a full blown attack yet at around 3:45 (via another forum/BBC). I thought there were like 4 or 5 people killed how it was described.

Yeah, I first heard about it from my girlfriend when she came by to pick me up after work. She was like "Oh, did you hear? There was a terrorist attack in Paris, a bunch of people got shot", and my initial impression was along those same lines. That it was some suicidal nut with a gun acting alone and that people were being all melodramatic calling it terrorism. Then I looked it up on my phone and saw that it was actually a serious huge thing.

It's an uncanny aspect of human psychology that we tend to react with disbelief to any major out of the ordinary occurrence and assume it must be somehow hyped or exaggerated. On 9/11/01 the initial word going around was that a small plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. And, if you watch the original CNN broadcast, for several minutes after the first tower collapses the news anchors keep replaying the footage confused, not sure what just happened.

[bing101]

http://ktla.com/2015/11/14/cal-state-long-beach-student-23-among-those-killed-in-paris-attacks/


One of the victims has been identified as a Cal State Long Beach student. But numbers of deaths has been changed to 128? Note all death numbers will change as investigations continues.

[jakeroot]

Looks like one of the attackers posed as a Syrian refugee:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/15/world/paris-attacks/index.html

[SignGeek101]

Looks like one of the attackers posed as a Syrian refugee:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/15/world/paris-attacks/index.html

I don't know if anyone knows this, but Canada wants to take in 25 000 refugees by the end of the year from Syria alone. That could be a security issue for Canada and the US.

They're going to have to be very careful and perhaps a little paranoid about that process. It just takes one bad apple in 25 000 ones to cause trouble.

[roadman65]

That won't stop one particular member of our government.  He will continue to let them in regardless of threat they pose on us.   Remember, one man in DC says just a few days ago, we have ISIS under control and that they pose no danger anymore like they once did.

[hotdogPi]

That won't stop one particular member of our government.  He will continue to let them in regardless of threat they pose on us.   Remember, one man in DC says just a few days ago, we have ISIS under control and that they pose no danger anymore like they once did.

I don't know who you're referring to. It could be any of over 550 people.

[roadman65]

That is true, it could be any or all of 550 in DC.

[AlexandriaVA]

If only fatal automobile accidents got as much press coverage as terrorist attacks.

[Brandon]

If only fatal automobile accidents got as much press coverage as terrorist attacks.

If they're big enough, they do.  But, let's be honest, usually only one dies at a time in such things.  Not quite as newsworthy as a bunch of terrorists doing a drive-by shooting in a major city, blowing themselves up at outside a soccer stadium, and holding hostages at a concert while shooting the place up and killing over 80 there.

[Pete from Boston]

If only fatal automobile accidents got as much press coverage as terrorist attacks.

I'm not sure I see your point.  Was your response to 9/11, "But so many more people die from smoking..."?

[jakeroot]

If only fatal automobile accidents got as much press coverage as terrorist attacks.

I'm not sure I see your point.  Was your response to 9/11, "But so many more people die from smoking..."?

His point is that (apparently) the sheer number of dead is not as important as the means in which they die.

Boston Bombing for example.  More people died last night in Chicago but it's obvious which one will get/had more coverage.

I don't necessarily agree with this viewpoint, but I understand the origin of the opinion.

[Pete from Boston]

We've come to understand auto crashes and street crime as accepted risks for certain activities. 

No one expects to be shot up at a rock show, watching a road race, or just showing up at the office.

[triplemultiplex]

And so the perpetual cycle of terrorism and war begins anew.

I'm getting pretty sick of this movie.

[Pete from Boston]

Let us also please note that the day before the horrible attacks in France were the horrible attacks in Beirut that killed dozens, with countless more saved by one citizen who gave his life by diving onto one of the bombers.  There seems to be an air of "those people in Beirut are used to it," but I know many wonderful people from that city and they are not, and they deserve their flag up on Facebook and world landmarks also.