Paris Attacked: Dozens Dead and Hostages Taken

Discussion in 'World Events' started by Tiassa, Nov 13, 2015.

  1. Tiassa Let us not launch the boat ... Valued Senior Member

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    Via CNN↱:

    [Latest developments, posted at 5:38 p.m. ET]

    -- At least 60 people have died in the attacks, CNN affiliate BFMTV reported.

    -- Counterterrorism officials around the United States have convened secure conference calls to try to gather information and to assess whether there is any indication of threats in the U.S, according to two U.S. counterterrorism officials. There is nothing to indicate any threat to U.S. cities so far. Immediate suspicion for the events in Paris falls to so-called returnees -- people who have traveled to Syria and Iraq and have returned, the officials said.

    -- At least six shootings took place in Paris and three explosions took place at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis late Friday, CNN affiliate BFMTV said. Two or three gunmen entered the Bataclan concert hall while opening fire on law enforcement, BFMTV reported. A source earlier told CNN there were six to eight hostage takers, citing a person they were talking to inside the venue.

    -- CNN's Jim Bittermann, who is based in Paris, reports a producer who is at the Bataclan tells him that police are firing at a rooftop position near the venue.

    -- President Francois Hollande was evacuated at halftime of the France-Germany soccer match.

    -- Hollande, Prime Minister Manuel Valls and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve are holding a crisis meeting at the Interior Ministry to address the attacks in Paris and the explosions in Saint-Denis, according to BFMTV.

    -- Paris police tell CNN there were three attacks. Attackers reportedly used AK-47 automatic weapons. There were one or two explosions at the Stade de France.
    ____________________

    Notes:

    Ellis, Ralph and Steve Almasy. "Paris attacks: 60 reported killed, hostage situation ongoing". CNN. 13 November 2015. CNN.com. 13 November 2015. http://cnn.it/1PGwtpb
     
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  3. Secular Sanity Registered Senior Member

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  5. Tiassa Let us not launch the boat ... Valued Senior Member

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    Mod Hat ― Merge note

    The curious order of this thread results from folding a prior thread into the better title. My apologies for any confusion this might have caused.
     
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  7. paddoboy Valued Senior Member

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    The count is 140 and rising. Over 100 executed individually in a concert venue.
     
  8. Bells Staff Member

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    This is bloody horrific.
     
  9. joepistole Deacon Blues Valued Senior Member

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    We will have to see how this all sorts out, but it might be time for NATO to put boots on the ground in Syria and implement a Marshall style reconstruction plan.

    This shit needs to stop.
     
    Last edited: Nov 14, 2015
    Russ_Watters likes this.
  10. Tiassa Let us not launch the boat ... Valued Senior Member

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    I'm still uncertain what to say, where to start. I mean, seriously, how about a joke for an icebreaker ....

    Too soon?

    Yeah.

    Paris is gonna be okay; they'll get through this. They know what to do. They have the world at their backs. They're gonna do just fine.

    No, seriously, I got nothin'.

    #ParisLives.
     
  11. paddoboy Valued Senior Member

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    My first irrational thoughts were nuc the rotten bastards! Then I just shook my head in disgust. I think what joe has said will most likely be undertaken.
     
  12. Bells Staff Member

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    It won't do anything.

    Like the Charlie Hebdo terrorist, they were probably radicalised in France. In schools and in prison, not to mention online.

    Authorities need to crack down on those doing the recruiting and radicalising young men. Families need to get involved in how their children are faring and keep a wary eye out for what they are reading and doing online, for example, who their kids friends are, where they are spending their time.

    These guys were trained and knew how to use firearms, how to build their bombs. So who is teaching it to them? Where are they getting these weapons? The recent attack on the accountant who works for the police here in Australia, was radicalised at school and online.

    Sure, putting boots on the ground might possibly destroy ISIS as an organisation, but it is the ideology and how that ideology is being spread to young men and women that is the issue. We've even seen young non-Muslim men convert and join their cause. How? Online recruitment. They seek out those who are vulnerable, weak and who are or feel alone. Such as young men in prisons who feel as though they have been abandoned by society, for example, young men in school who are living in low wage areas.

    As for whether Paris will recover? It will because it has to. My mother and I spent frantic hours trying to reach family who live in Paris, one of whom, a young university, who lives near the stadium. Thankfully he and the rest of my relatives were fine. Mentally? The young man who is studying at university is talking of changing schools and moving back home with his parents in the country, because he is afraid and he was close enough to hear the explosions. He told his mother, who is my cousin, that he was spending the night sleeping on the floor, behind his wardrobe, terrified to go near the windows of his apartment. His sister left dance school and moved back home after the Hebdo attacks because she was afraid. Her promising ballet career forgotten. My other cousin who recently moved back there after living abroad with her Parisian husband and their two small children sms'ed me this morning to let us know they were okay and mentioned that she never thought she would have felt safer living in Rwanda (they lived there for about a year a few years ago because of her husband's work) than she does living in Paris (they live in the center of Paris). Another cousin, also in the center of Paris is thinking of moving away from the area. Sure, they will recover, but the fear will always remain.

    But bombing and boots on the ground in Syria won't do anything.. It won't make the world safe again. Because the bastards aren't recruiting in Syria.
     
    Quantum Quack likes this.
  13. Quantum Quack Life's a tease... Valued Senior Member

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    Just an update (live) 7.47 pm 14-11-2015 Eastern Australia time:

    "At least 120 people have been killed in multiple attacks in Paris, police said.
    • At least 87 people have been killed at a Paris concert hall after a hostage situation. Meanwhile, gunmen and bombers also attacked busy restaurants and bars, and explosions were heard near a stadium.
    • Tasmanian woman Emma Parkinson, 19, has been injured in the attack and is recovering in a Paris hospital
    • Security sources say over 200 have been injured, 80 seriously.
    • Eight attackers in total were killed around Paris, including seven by their suicide belts.
    • French President Hollande has declared a state of emergency and has closed the borders."
    src: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-14/live-paris-france-attacks/6940758
     
  14. Tiassa Let us not launch the boat ... Valued Senior Member

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    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!


    Depressing reading:

    BBC↱ summary of Paris attack.

    BBC↱ photo gallery.

    Los Angeles Times compiled realtime coverage.

    New York Times overview.

    Reuters↱ offers its own valiant attempt.

    Reuters↱ photo gallery.​

    Earlier today I happened to endure a terrible interview on msnbc with a security expert of some sort who used his time to chastise the French for failing. After Maddow took the helm, she spent a few minutes with the rehabilitating Brian Williams, asking his reflection after having just reported the story for a couple hours. He suggested that a titan of journalism―I couldn't tell you if the subtext is Tom Brokaw―told him this new era of terrorism including Al Qaeda and Daa'ish is the new world war.

    Can I just stick with worrying about Paris for the time being? The City of Light will shine again.
    ___________________


    Image note: A blanket was placed over a body outside the Bataclan theater in Paris on Friday, 13 November 2015. A rock concert there became the scene of a hostage-taking. (Detail of photo by Jerome Delay/Associated Press)
     
  15. Kristoffer Giant Hyrax Valued Senior Member

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    Latest numbers I've heard were 128 dead, 200 injured with 80 of them being in critical condition.

    Don't know what to say about this shit.
    I'll just offer my condolences to those who lost loved ones.
     
  16. joepistole Deacon Blues Valued Senior Member

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    Yes it will, until the next time, and if nothing is done, there will be a next time.
     
  17. Quantum Quack Life's a tease... Valued Senior Member

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    Invading Syria is not going to stop a suicidal extremist seeking martyrdom.
    You will note that all terrorists ( 8?) in this event had suicide belts upon their bodies. All terrorists are deceased.

    If you have a solution that prevents people from committing suicide I'd love to hear of it...
     
  18. Quantum Quack Life's a tease... Valued Senior Member

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    There is also a possibility that the very recent USA assassination of Jihad John may have triggered a pre-planned response and there may be more to come...
     
  19. joepistole Deacon Blues Valued Senior Member

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    That's a huge stretch. That's as believable as Putin's little green men were not Russian. This was well planned. It took more, much more than 24 hours, to plan and organize this attack. Additionally, it makes no sense to attack France for something it didn't do. The US killed Jihadi John, not France. If it was a pre-planned response as you suggested, it makes far more sense to attack the US.

    And yes, I'm sure there is more to come, especially if nothing is done. This is the 3rd attack on France this year and these attacks are becoming increasingly violent and increasingly deadly.

    ISIS is now claiming responsibility and a Syrian passport has been found near one of the dead terrorists.
     
    Last edited: Nov 14, 2015
  20. joepistole Deacon Blues Valued Senior Member

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    Well, it would stop the funding and organized attacks like this one. By all accounts these attackers were well trained, supplied and organized. This isn't the lone wolf disorganized attack to which we have become accustomed. Well organized packs are far more deadly than a few disorganized lone wolves. And that's why this is different and disturbing.

    And based on reports, I find it difficult to believe there were only 8 Jihadists. Six locations were attacked. The number 8 isn't consistent with reports of multiple attackers at various locations. The number 8 is questionable. I don't think the French government believes that either. That's probably why France remains under lockdown.
     
    Last edited: Nov 14, 2015
  21. River Ape Valued Senior Member

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    Unless you know Paris you do not really understand the context of what has happened. Native French are now a minority in their own capital, though whites in general may still command a small majority. But a Parisienne of my acquaintance reckons that at least two thirds of births are to families of Arab or African descent. The north-eastern quadrant of Paris is no longer recognisably European apart from the street names, and most whites would not care to visit large parts of it. Google “banlieues” for some good descriptive writing about today's Paris in the New Yorker, etc.

    Whatever you think about ISIS, it has vitality, whereas Europe is effete, unable to face reality or to confront its problems. (The Greece/Euro problem well illustrates Europe's kick-it-down-the-road and pretend-it's-not-happening attitudes.) Many Muslims in France condemn what has happened, but many do not – especially the young whose instinctive allegiance is to their race. France has the same capacity to be a “failed state” as Syria or Iraq. Those of us who supported Jean-Marie Le Pen warned what was to come. Meanwhile, a Germany bent on self-destruction greets 750,000 new non-European immigrants.
     
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  22. Bowser Namaste Valued Senior Member

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    It seems to be a serious problem in Europe, a clash between two cultures. What is your take on the immigration policies in Europe?
     
  23. pjdude1219 The biscuit has risen Valued Senior Member

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    not really. it would make perfect sense to have people in sleeper cells with plans made months prior to recieve a signal to execute the plan. and joe the british and french were involved in the strike, france being the easiest target.
     
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