Discussion for article #242955
The official, who was not authorized to be publicly named according to police rules but is informed routinely about the operation, said scores of police stormed the building and were met with unexpectedly violent resistance.
“It was continuous. It didn’t stop,” he said. "It lasted from 4:20 until 5:30. It was a good hour. I couldn’t say how many shots were fired, but it was probably 500. Hundreds, definitely. There were maybe 10 explosions."
These fanatic religious terrorists are either getting smarter or they were lucky this time. I hope this is not the new norm.
If international intelligence agencies had been tracking Abaaoud for months as a cell leader, the raid had to include more than a local SWAT team. Hopefully he was taken alive.
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Interesting that they all of a sudden seem to have people and places that they know about to attack. Have they been watching them all along and just didn’t think they could legitimately act without proof and now they have taken the attack as a reason to go after any and all leads, legitimateness be damned?
France is under an official State of Emergency. The French Constitution gives the government almost dictatorial powers during the SoE. All legal “niceties” are suspended.
More detailed coverage here:
Once the raid turned violent, the best strategy is to back off, evacuate the area, engage them from a distance and let them deplete their ammo, then let fatigue set in. Much better chance of making a live arrest, which is obviously the primary objective of all armed police encounters, excepting in the US of course.
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You go, France!
Cell phones on the attackers provided many leads to follow up quickly. Raids led to more phones and more leads. It is reasonable to assume some were already known to the security services and some where not known or assessed as low priority. France will have several thousand people on watch lists, but it is impossible to track that many people all of the time. Once the raids start and people start warning others, they have probable cause. If you send a warning message to someone as the police are battering down your door, that person becomes the next legitimate high-priority suspect.
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The conundrum is the set of multiple ideas and practices like:
(1) Multiculturalism
(2) Assimilation
(3) Syncretism
(4) Pan Ethnicity
(5) Transnationalism
These above five concepts are, themselves, NOT dangerous or demeaning to anyone.
The conundrum? The clash of “West” versus the people causing these deaths entail people who have chosen not to participate, recognize or respect the above concepts. Incidentally, all of these concepts are as American as Apple Pie.
An Italian American (or a Mexican American) can practice all of the above…and be a loyal, patriotic American
(1) Means acceptance of Americans of differing cultural values, so long as those values do not demean other Americans.
(2) Means acculturation and participation in the American experience, including learning the language (as I have).
(3) Means A + B = C A being the culture of one’s country of origin, B being the culture(s) encountered in the United States and C being the melding of the two. Italian Americans are not Italians nor are Mexican Americans Mexicans
(4) Means the occasional warmth and feeling of similarity when encountering people from similar countries of origin…like an Italian-American encountering a person of Italian-Swiss origin or a Mexican-American encountering a person of Guatemalan origin.
(5) Means the feeling of belonging when in the presence of people from (in these cases) Italy or Mexico AND/OR when VISITING Italy or Mexico.
NONE of the above has the least to do with terrorism.
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OK so somewhat acting more aggressive and somewhat just more trackable activity. Thanks!
Kamikazees without planes, that’s what these suicide bombers are.
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Effective, easily “made” and cheap. Asymmetric terrorism = warfare by any means necessary = politics by other means.
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