The French police behaved well. I know that, down at the bar on the corner, there was a lot of talk about the RAID intervention group's methods, the way the siege was drawn out, the brutality of the assault. And I know there are armchair investigators, prophets after the fact, and self-styled tracking experts about the region of Toulouse who are surprised that the future assassin wasn't identified, even neutralized, before he went into action. Since France is a constitutional state and the possibility of committing a crime is not a misdemeanor, except in Philip Dick's Minority Report, we shall not waste time on the second objection. As for the first, it leaves out the fact that the police did all they could, at the risk of their own lives, to spare the perpetrator of the slaughter and decided to fire only at mortal extremes because he left them no other choice. That is the reality. All the rest is just talk, or, sometimes, irresponsibility.
The political class behaved well, with the exception of Marine Le Pen, who made a great "I-told-you-so" fuss on the air, and one extreme Left candidate who brought out the old song and dance about "the national union that plays into the hands of capital and its valets." All the other candidates for the French presidency immediately found the right words to decree a state of democratic exception. National tragedy, said Sarkozy. Suspend the campaign, François Hollande added. And both the one and the other found the happy medium of what was not meant to continue, for that might offer the assassin a sort of posthumous victory, for longer than a sigh, a moment of stupor, a shiver. Even better than the chosen words was the reflex. One judges not only a man, but a country by this type of reaction, by its capacity for revulsion when confronted with an eruption of horror. A moment of grace. The beauty of a commonly-shared sorrow. The prerogative of a great people.
Civil society behaved well. The vastness of the spontaneous demonstration that very evening was moving. School teachers who, the next day, observed the minute of silence in their classrooms, were perfect. The same can be said of Jewish institutions, the CRIF at their head, who, they too, found the right words to express their sorrow, their pity, their reserve. Imams in mourning. Fraternal Arab intellectuals. Associations for which there will never be adequate praise (I'm thinking of SOS-Racisme) for the role they have played for years now, both in anti-racist vigilance and anti-antisemitism, even anti-new forms of anti-Semitism (anti-Zionism in particular) -- they were present too. And what a relief at not having to hear too much the habitual tear-jerker about the difficult childhood of the assassin, growing up in the projects, unemployment that encourages crime -- in short, the eternal argument of the nauseating culture of excuses. At last!
Well, eight days have passed, and where are we? First of all, the investigation. We expect a real investigation that will establish what support the killer benefited from, beyond that of his older brother. Like everyone, I heard the police repeat, in a loop, that this was an "isolated" act, not part of the plan of any "network," the work of an "auto-radicalized" individual. Hmm. As much as I salute their effectiveness in neutralizing the criminal, I nonetheless find this assurance really lightweight. And the truth is that there is, at least, some misunderstanding concerning the actual word. If, by "network," one means "official" affiliation with al-Qaeda, or an al-Qaedist "franchise" in due form, obviously there isn't any network. But network in a new sense, network in the sense that the word has taken on since the death of bin Laden, network in the half-political, half-mafioso sense that from now on is implied in jihadism, of course there had to be one for a man who was apparently without financial resources to procure arms of war, learn how to use them, have several apartments at his disposition -- not to mention the Pakistani tribal zones I am somewhat familiar with and where, I can assure you, it is difficult, when training as a terrorist, to pass for a mere tourist...
And the second task at hand is for us to think about the thing itself. Not to excuse, but to think. And to break the double perverse effect it would have if the utter astonishment of the first hours continued on beyond a reasonable amount of time. It has been said: this man was a monster, a pure aberration, any resemblance with what I called, last week, "vile words" would be fortuitous and void. It's partially true, but it is partially false. For the crime being, like Durkheim's definition of suicide, a "total social act," one cannot escape the prudent but strict identification of all that, on the Internet, for example, or in Front National circles, has contributed for years to the creation of a putrid climate in our country -- favorable, even if it is in other political languages, to the formulation of the worst. Let us have no confusion, it has been said, Islamism is not Islam! And this brainless small-time hoodlum probably wasn't even an Islamist! Once again, it's true, absolutely and vitally true. Except that, if we remain there, we ultimately lose sight of the other truth, symptomatic, in a tragedy of this kind. Symptomatic of what? Of what good authors such as Abdelwahab Meddeb call the "sickness of Islam," and that one day we must, prudently again, resolve to treat without any of the usual cant. France and Islam. Better still: "French ideology" and what one should be able to call "Islamist ideology." For all of us, this is the hardest to hear. And yet it is the crux of the matter -- the double context of this tragedy.
Carly Loper: 'Bad Things Don't Happen Here': An American Student Witness To The Terror in Toulouse
The ideology of Islamism--the "sickness of Islam"--is in deadly conflict with the ideology of France.
With every liberal democracy, in fact.
And you cannot fight something with nothing.
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One result of spectacular success. Liberal democracy has become the gold standard of social justice and enlightened governance since the fall of Stalinist communism.
For some in the West, that signaled the End of History and the triumph of good over evil--the utopian belief that everyone wants what we in the West have.
Islamists beg to differ.
We need to remember that we got where we are because we acted on what we believe.
Islamists sincerely believe that liberal democracy is wrong--and inferior to Sharia governance--and are acting on that conviction.
In order to halt this type of progress, what is required is to keep the female element of society very much suppressed, they should not be given education and should be kept away from decision making at any level. They should be kept apart and given no role in religious affairs. Of course they can be used for procreation purposes, but making sure that they remain covered up will stop them learning of the power their beauty could afford them. The natural physical advantage that men have over women can be exploited by beating misbehaving women and in extremes , family sanctioned murder.
The problem arises when the above society wants to move into the "developed" World and then resents the influence it may have over their traditionally raised women, the solution is to enforce their rules on us.
One of the best selling courses on WizIQ is http://www.wiziq.com/course/1887-french-language-for-english-speakers - some of the learners are Muslim and are learning perfectly fine. I do hope that the madness of imposing something that should be left to individuals is correct. But then again, I understand that in an environment where beliefs lead to violence, not having that belief is a position too. Unfortunately, I don't agree with it. Too much of a liberal I am.
Tax religion and use the proceeds to fund scientific inquiry!
Tell me you at least appreciate the irony of asking that question over the internet.
I know, because I was there. Hovering near the ceiling like some disembodied soul. Has it occurred to you Henners? That this individual’s claim to “know” the nature of reality was as causal to his actions, and as ill-conceived as your own?
"All the other candidates for the French presidency immediately found the right words to"
force this square peg of a personality into the round holes of their own renditions of what’s real.
"a sort of posthumous victory, for longer than a sigh, a moment of stupor, a shiver."
As each politician in turn, defecates on democracy’s grave. Sacrifice another serf to the EU godhead.
"Civil society behaved well."
Not daring to even rattle their chains.
"The same can be said of Jewish institutions"
Who didn’t hesitate to expel UN monitors from settlement land, in an act of supreme solidarity.
"I nonetheless find this assurance really lightweight."
Like reliance on an absentee deity.
"If, by "network," one means"
one universal understanding common to all those who claim it. Why, the questions of a child could reveal the ruse behind that.
"the second task at hand is for us to"
address the first task. Rather than keep hiding from the reality of that confusion.
"Let us have no confusion, it has been said"
So, when do we start confronting certainties with inconvenient questions?
"For all of us, this is the hardest to hear."
Evidence of our own fallibility.
Who didn’t hesitate to expel UN monitors from settlement land, in an act of supreme solidarity."
Which "Jewish institutions" do that?
or the sickness of Catholics
or the sickness of Guantanamo
or the sickness of Austrians with basements...
Classy.
Here's a fact - Muslims do not not believe in cause and effect. throw and apple up in the air, it falls and hits you in the head, no it's not gravity. It's Allah.
Here's another fact: Islam has issues.
http://napoleonlive.info/did-you-know/facts-about-islam/
http://napoleonlive.info/see-the-evidence/islam-in-europe-2/
The current invasion is a lot more subtle but equally far reaching, we all have growing Muslim communities all demanding radical changes to all of our ways of life.
Osama Bin Laden was denounced by a Muslim cleric after 9/11, not for the slaughter of innocents, but for attracting attention to the Islamic immigrants that were achieving their conquest of the West using "the womb, not the bomb".
Unfortunately, there will be another waiting in the wings to take Merah's place. The only way this is going to stop is if the society in which these kil--lers are bred, provides swift and public punishment to the perpetrators and ANYONE aiding and abetting them. In this case, guilty by association, and punished for that association will prevent others from taking their cue from these misguided cretins.
The French authorities were tracking this guy for years, they knew of him and about him. They failed to prevent an act they most likely had already profiled him as capable of attempting.
He was able to amass an arsenal of weapons — including an Uzi sub-machine g-un — and rent a car, despite having no clear source of income. Did he have accomplices? Sure sounds like it.
But anybody who denies such an operation was necessarily is simply against the idea of a jewish state defending itself whatsoever, a (at the minimum) borderline anti-semitic belief.
There is no doubt that the recent events in Toulouse, France were acts of terror. But is the official story the whole truth and nothing but the whole truth?
- http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=29966
- http://www.infowars.com/french-terror-attack-all-the-hallmarks-of-an-intelligence-psy-op-and-false-flag/