France bleeds: French Islamophobia and simmering radicalization
The ISIS group claimed responsibility for the truck attack that killed 84 people in Nice on France’s national holiday, a news service affiliated with the terrorists said on Saturday. Amaq quoted an ISIS security source as saying one of its “soldiers” carried out Thursday’s carnage “in response to calls to target nations of coalition states that are fighting (ISIS)”. n an online statement by the terror group’s media agency Amaq and circulated by its supporters, it said the person behind the attack is an ISIS “soldier.” Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, 31, drove a truck through crowds on the beachfront Thursday, killing dozens and injuring more than 200 people. The rented, refrigerated truck weighed about 20 tons. French authorities detained five people Saturday. They include the ex-wife of attacker Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, the Paris anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office said. The other four are men. France has not indicated whether the attack stemmed from a sympathizer taking direction from ISIS or an ISIS member sent to attack. The Bastille Day parade was a natural soft target. And a country in a declared state of emergency – because it came under ISIS attack – security arrangements were woefully inadequate. The driver was able to crush people for more than two kilometers before the police finally took him out. Two, continental Europe, which is no better placed than France itself when it comes to preempting – or dealing with – terrorism, needs a new, wholesome policy. Three, the attack has not yet been claimed (by ISIS or al Qaeda), but it presents an instructive novelty in the nature of terrorist attacks. The truck idea, it turns out, was almost ingenious from the enemy’s point of view. It needed no ammunition or explosives, hence left no security or money trail. It shows how the enemy is constantly evolving as the coalition against it is expanding. And four, the international security landscape has changed dramatically in the last few months. Only recently ISIS was on the run after the Russian intervention finally turned the war around in Syria. Then, quite suddenly, it came to Europe, Saudi Arabia, and even Bangladesh.French President has announced, yet again, that France is “at war” with the threat of Islamist terrorism. By doing so he raised the multiplier impact of the terror and fear in the country and also raised public expectation that “something can be done” to protect the people from it. The fact of the matter is that such responses may comfort the families of the victims of the Nice attack in their current state of shock. But there is no force on Earth that can defend a crowd from a madman in a truck. France will not ban lorries, much like America will never ban its guns. The more sensible response is to accept the degree of risk that such elements will always pose in today’s world, and not pretend that it can be prevented altogether. The insinuation that leaders can somehow prevent such attacks by heightening security and deploying more armed forces is a total farce, only to appease the scared and vulnerable. Furthermore, it is a distraction from the intelligence and police work that might at least diminish their occurrence. The victims of this massacre deserve sympathy and expression of solidarity from their government. To create an atmosphere of terror and fear by institutionalising the feeling of being under constant attack, will only serve to hinder the recovery of the victims from this profound loss and shock.
pk.shafaqna.com
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