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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhy ISIS would attack Paris, according to an expert
Worth reading, although much of the answer seems to be "we don't really know," and "we shouldn't act until we're sure we know why they did it." ISIS has lost 25% of its territory in recent months. They're already losing, or at least stalled. It's most likely this is lashing out to try to exact a price on those who have been supporting their enemies. If they're already losing, a significant change in strategy could be a mistake, and so we should be wary of doing so.
http://www.vox.com/world/2015/11/14/9735512/paris-attacks-isis-why
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)And the righteous response of the French will almost certainly be terrible to behold, though I doubt it will be loudly publicized.
6chars
(3,967 posts)underahedgerow
(1,232 posts)the ring leader was a total yob, constantly in trouble with the law, in and out of jail for drugs possession and dealing, petty theft, often drunk and a total fucking loser. These guys might 'be' muslim but they are not religious, they are not following a higher calling. They're psychotic nuts and have to be treated as such. Anyone can shout allah akabar or whatever that is. Doesn't make them a flipping holy man.
These guys didn't 'plan their attack' with any hugely particular intel or recon, they simply took advantage of opportunities. A sports venue hosting France and Germany, a small concert hall with an American band, a nearby restaurant. They had few resources and were just feet on the ground. All they needed was watches, backpacks, bombs and guns.
These homegrown thug wanna be terrorists had nothing else to do with their time and sought only to be the lowest form of the human order. Negative attention seeking losers, that's all these wanna-be terrorists were. They wanted to be in a club, to enjoy a feeling of belonging. Like the freak in Oregon who wanted everyone to know his name because he shot up a bunch of kids in a University.
Military has cut off the head of the snake. Jihadi John is dead, and his henchmen have been picked off little by little in recent weeks, so yes, the west IS winning. EU is swooping in on the local people who have been on the radar, these guys are too stupid to keep quiet and they're on the run.
Putin is slowly and quietly getting more and more boots on the ground in the ME. He's not bragging, he's not shooting out PR releases, but the defense info is there if you know where to look for it, and Russia is quietly building up their presense in the ME.
I'll speculate that without Jihadi John and his motivation that their order will descend into chaos as the freaks freak out and internal power struggles erupt. These aren't intelligent & educated people; they are thugs, low life crooks and illiterate losers. The deader they get without any trials and attention, the better.
I'm in Paris at the moment and just stayed in my house. The streets are quiet, there is active police and military presence everywhere, and it's now relatively safe.
The open borders are a problem, and those gates have been closed. Hopefully all the 'refugees' are being contained and monitored, germany has a long history of being able to do that pretty well, if you know what I mean. Hopefully Merkel will react appropriately, but I haven't seen any word from Italy or Greece who were handing out visas like fucking popcorn. (one of the perps entered via Greece on 3 October)
The EU needs to form a big ass plan to deal with the refugee crisis. The boats have slowed down due to weather lately but they seriously need to just turn them around and send them back, and throw anyone acting as coyotes into jail and destroy the boats. I don't care where the people get send back to, that's their problem.
Sorry, I'm a little pissed off. Rant over.