Towards contextualising the terror attacks in Paris - 11/13/2015

We will just have to wait a while for the facts to come out before we can truly judge what happened today in Paris although the US media - CNN and Fox - have already made up their mind - as well as those who jump in immediately and shout "false flag!" without knowing the details.

What is not open to doubt, however, in my mind, in these early hours is how this will be exploited,both in Europe and in the Pentagon.

Of all the initial commentary I've heard in these early hours these comments from Patrick Henningsen of 21st Century Wire made the most sense.

Our ears should be highly attuned to what is happening and we should be very alarmed.

Will NATO mobilize in wake of the Paris Attack?

Numerous reports are linking the devastating terrorist attacks in Paris, which left over 150 civilians dead in the French capital, to the Islamic State. But what would such a connection mean for France and, potentially, for NATO? Journalist and international analyst Patrick Henningsen talks with Sean Thomas about the global impact of the Paris attacks

Terror Attacks Hit Paris: 60 Dead, 100 Taken Hostage, Hollande Closes All Borders

21st Century Wire says…

Brace yourself. Here we go again…

Multiple terrorists attacks have hit Paris this evening in an incredibly coordinated tragedy.

At least one man opened fire at a restaurant in the 11th district and then three explosions occurred outside a bar near the Stade de France. These attacks have killed at least 45 people so far.

A further 100 people have been taken hostage at the Paris Bataclan concert hall.

People who were in the Stade de France are being held inside by French authorities.

French President Francois Hollande (photo, above) was inside the Stade de France at the timeof the explosions.

Just hours before the France-Germany match, the German national team was evacuated from their hotel in Paris after the hotel received a bomb threat. The hotel received an anonymous phone call with the tip.

Attackers are said to have shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’, yet we should remember this does necessarily make them Islamic terrorists.

Shortly after those first three attacks, another shooting has now been reported at Les Halles shopping mall near the Louvre art gallery.

Stade de France (Photo Credit: Liondartois)

This is a large scale, coordinated, well planned, and probably also well funded, attack. The coordination means it was probably planned months in advance. No one has yet taken responsibility.

What is the significance of this attack taking place in France and what will be the consequences?

If this is indeed blamed upon Islamic extremists, an attack of this immense scale could undoubtedly be used to justify a strong response; perhaps on the scale of the Afghan invasion that followed 9/11.

In his speech on the situation, President Obama directly compared it to 9/11 and said the US was ready to assist and respond with the French.

How will domestic policy change in France after this? With its proximity to the Hebdo events just last year, France may become a full blown police state almost overnight after this chaos.

Hollande has already ordered an immediate closure of all French borders, which will have huge consequences for the ongoing Refugee Crisis. It could also mean that other nations in Europe could follow suit, as they seek to avoid a similar terrorist situation occurring on their home soil.

France has also raised its threat level to ‘Red’ for the first time ever, essentially putting the entire nation on lockdown, and the military is now on the streets of Paris.

Will this only add fuel to the fire of rising nationalist sentiments in Europe?

We wish the people of Paris safety and will update you with a full analysis on the situation soon.

I'm not a great fan of Christopher Green and his AMTV, but I thought for an initial off-the-cuff response he probably wasn't far off the mark. I've noticed how most commentators have been in a hurry to say this has nothing to do with the refugee (sorry,migrant) crisis.

PARIS ATTACKS - Classic Hegelian Dialectic

At the same time as the simultaneous, deadly attacks in Paris this happened - at first denied and then confirmed

Calais ‘Jungle’ refugee camp on fire as Paris rocked by deadly attacks

A huge fire has broken out at the vast ‘Jungle’ refugee camp near the French port of Calais, just hours after a string of bloody attacks struck Paris, leaving over 100 dead. The Calais deputy mayor told RT that the authorities are trying to tackle the blaze.

This was of interest.

France is on the Verge of … What?

Counterpunch,
13 November, 2015



“Is France Ripe for an Authoritarian Regime?” What is remarkable about that Op Ed piece in the conservative Le Figaro newspaper, is that it was written not in the wake of today’s horrific terrorist attacks in Paris—but the day before.

As I write, it is still unclear how many have been killed in the French capital—the reported total has reached at least 140–but there is no question that the massacre could have a devastating impact on France’s already very shaky democratic institutions.

According to the Le Figaro, when asked by IFOP, a respected French poling agency, if they would accept a non-democratic form of government to bring necessary reforms to France, 67% of the French said they would opt for a government of non-elected technocrats. 40% percent said they would back a non-elected authoritarian regime.

Again, that survey was carried out the day before the bloody carnage in Paris. People may have poured out into the streets in an impressive show of unity earlier this year in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo killings, but that moment of attempted racial harmony was brief and the situation has been fraying ever since.

There is no question to my mind that in the wake of these Friday the 13^th horrors in Paris, the great majority of French would back the most Draconian of measures (just as Americans reacted following 9/11). France has the largest Muslim population of any country in Europe, and the danger of a fatal fracture—driven by hatred and suspicion and fear—is very, very real.

The next moves are up to President François Hollande, which is not at all reassuring.

Since he took office, he has been totally incapable of coping with France’s huge and varied problems.  He is one of the most unpopular French president’s ever.
And now he faces his greatest challenge.

For France, and its peoples, these are very perilous times.

BARRY LANDO is a former producer for 60 Minutes. He is the author of The Watchman’s File. He can be reached at: barrylando@gmail.com or through his website.

This is Alex Jones' Info Wars NOT jumping on the False Flag bandwagon

French Foreign Policy Responsible for Paris Attack

French people opposed Hollande's military intervention in Syria

From the same source I found this interesting. I would not be at all surprised if the Climate talks do not happen or if they do they will in the context of Martial Law and no protest against the official line will be allowed.

The borders will, no doubt be reopened, but only partially.

France Restricted Border For Climate Summit, But Not Migrant Crisis

French officials previously only willing to close border to protect U.N. personnel

http://www.infowars.com/france-restricts-border-for-climate-summit-but-not-migrant-crisis/

Before France’s decision to seal its borders Friday in response to the Paris terrorist attacks which killed at least 160, the country was only willing to enact border control to protect politicians attending a U.N. “climate change” summit.

“France will impose border controls for one month from 30 November for the UN Conference on Climate Change in Paris,” the BBC reported Nov. 6. “French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said it was a precaution ‘because of the terrorist threat or risk of public disorder.'”

Notice, however, that French politicians didn’t consider imposing border controls to protect French citizens from Muslim extremists pouring into the country as part of the months-long migrant crisis.

In other words, the elite will erect walls to protect themselves from radical Islamic terrorists, but they’ll let the population fend for themselves.

And unfortunately, this very attitude created the conditions the terrorists needed to launch multiple attacks in Paris.

There were at least seven separate attacks which were apparently planned to strike public events with a large number of people.

“Paris officials tell Reuters that around 100 people were killed at the Bataclan concert hall during a hostage siege,” Reuters reported. “At least another 40 people have died in other places around Paris.”

Police arrested one terrorist suspect who told them he was with the Islamic State and reportedly from Syria.

Although it’s likely the U.S. and NATO will use the Paris attacks as an excuse to launch military operations in Syria, the Pentagon admitted in 2012 that NATO was backing Islamic extremists in a proxy war to topple Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.

“The Salafist [sic], the Muslim Brotherhood and AQI [al-Qaeda in Iraq] are the major forces driving the insurgency in Syria,” the Pentagon document stated. “The West, Gulf countries, and Turkey support [this] opposition, while Russia, China and Iran ‘support the [Assad] regime.’”

ISIS grew directly out of al-Qaeda in Iraq when the latter gained territory in Syria in 2013.

“On April 8, 2013, the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) – Al-Qaeda in Iraq – released a recorded audio message by its leader, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, in which he announced that the Syria jihadi group Jabhat Al-Nusra (JN) has been merely an extension of ISI [Islamic State of Iraq] in Syria,” the Middle East Media Research Institute reported. “…Al-Baghdadi announces that the names ISI and JN are not to be used anymore; instead, he declares the official merging of the two groups under the name ‘Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham’ [also known as ISIS].”

In the meantime we should cast our minds back to the following (for those wondering, why the French?):

France Grants Its Recognition to Syria Rebels

13 November, 2013



PARIS — France announced Tuesday that it was recognizing the newly formed Syrian rebel coalition and would consider arming the group, seeking to inject momentum into a broad Western and Arab effort to build a viable and effective opposition that would hasten the end of a stalemated civil war that has destabilized the Middle East.

The announcement by President François Hollande made France the first Western country to fully embrace the new coalition, which came together this past weekend under Western pressure after days of difficult negotiations in Doha, Qatar.



France funding Syrian rebels in new push to oust Assad
Money delivered by French government proxies across Turkish border has been used to buy weapons and ammunition



France has emerged as the most prominent backer of Syria's armed opposition and is now directly funding rebel groups around Aleppo as part of a new push to oust the embattled Assad regime.



Large sums of cash have been delivered by French government proxies across the Turkish border to rebel commanders in the past month, diplomatic sources have confirmed. The money has been used to buy weapons inside Syria and to fund armed operations against loyalist forces.



The French moves have stopped short of direct supply of weapons – a bridge that no western state has yet been willing to cross in Syria. But, according to western and Turkish officials as well as rebel leaders, the influx of money has made a difference in recent weeks as momentum on the battlefields of the north steadily shifts towards the opposition.

Lawmakers in France Move to Vastly Expand Surveillance

5 May, 2015

At a moment when American lawmakers are reconsidering the broad surveillance powers assumed by the government after Sept. 11, the lower house of the French Parliament took a long stride in the opposite direction Tuesday, overwhelmingly approving a bill that could give the authorities their most intrusive domestic spying abilities ever, with almost no judicial oversight.

The bill, in the works since last year, now goes to the Senate, where it seems likely to pass, having been given new impetus in reaction to the terrorist attacks in and around Paris in January. Those attacks, which included the offices of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and a kosher grocery, left 17 people dead.