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by Prof. Michel Chossudovsky
November 14, 2015
from
GlobalResearch Website
Terrorist
attacks have been carried simultaneously in
several locations in the Paris metropolitan
area, according to early report.
According to reports (at the time of writing)
100 people were killed in the Bataclan Concert
Hall, when terrorists opened fire with automatic
weapons. Another 15 were killed at the Stadium
of France outside Paris.
Official reports at the time of writing (21.00
ET) point to more than 140 deaths.
Our
thoughts are with the family members of the
victims, who have lost their loved ones.
Within minutes following the attacks, which were launched
simultaneously, and prior to the release of a preliminary report by
the police, France's media went into overdrive.
News commentators and intelligence
analysts on France's network TV stated with 'authority' that the
attacks emanated from Syria and Iraq.
The media coverage of these tragic events was casually linked up
with the
war in the Middle East,
highlighting France's commitment - alongside its allies - in waging
a "humanitarian war" against the terrorists.
The Islamic State was identified as the architect of the attacks.
The attacks were described without evidence as an act of revenge and
retribution against France for having bombed ISIS strongholds in
Syria and Iraq as part of Obama's counter-terrorism air campaign.
Foreknowledge?
Paris Match on October 2nd predicted a
French Style 9/11, "un 11 septembre à la française".
The threat is real, according to Judge Trévédic in an
interview with Paris Match.
"The attacks in France will be on a
scale comparable to 9/11″ (see below)
None of the early news reports on November 13th,
mentioned the fact that a large scale and well organized terrorist
attack had been predicted.
The title of the media report below is:
"Intelligence services fear a 9/11
French Style"
Yet in a bitter irony the October report
stated that these forthcoming attacks were difficult to avoid:
"impossible a dejouer",
...suggesting that French intelligence
is inept and unable to prevent a forthcoming catastrophe.
France's president Francois Hollande no doubt was aware of
the October warnings.
He had been briefed by his intelligence
advisers.
Shortly before midnight local time on November 13, president
François Hollande announced drastic police state measures against an
alleged terrorist network operating nationwide.
It is highly unlikely, however, that Hollande took this decision
spontaneously in the evening of November 13, on the spur of the
moment in response to the attacks and prior to the holding of a
cabinet meeting.
The decision to enact a State of
Emergency had no doubt been envisaged in advance of the attack in
relation to a potential terrorist attack scenario.
As we recall, the last time a State of Emergency was enacted was in
May 1961 in response to the
Algiers putsch (Putsch d'Alger), a
failed coup d'état to overthrow President Charles de Gaulle's
government.
Hollande's midnight speech had the appearances of having been
scripted - i.e. with regard to the adoption of a State of Emergency,
a far-reaching political decision:
My dear compatriots,
As I speak, terrorist attacks of unprecedented proportions are
underway in the Paris area. There are dozens killed, there are
many injured. It is a horror.
We have, on my decision, mobilized all forces possible to
neutralize the terrorists and make all concerned areas safe. I
have also asked for military reinforcements. They are currently
in the Paris area, to ensure that no new attack can take place.
I have also called a cabinet meeting that will be held in a few
minutes. [the measures are announced before consultation with
the Cabinet]
Two decisions will be taken: a state of emergency will be
declared, which means that some places will be closed, traffic
may be banned , and there will also be searches which may be
decided throughout Ile de France (greater Paris).
The state of emergency will be
proclaimed throughout the territory (of France).
The second decision I have made is to close the borders. We must
ensure that no one enters to commit any crimes and that those
who have committed the crimes that we have unfortunately seen
can also be arrested if they should leave the territory.
This is a terrible ordeal which once again assails us. We know
where it comes from, who these criminals are, who these
terrorists are.
In these difficult moments, we must - and I'm thinking of the
many victims, their families and the injured - show compassion
and solidarity. But we must also show unity and calm.
Faced with terror, France must be strong, it must be great and
the state authorities must be firm. We will be.
We must also call on everyone to be responsible.
What the terrorists want is to scare us and fill us with dread.
There is indeed reason to be afraid. There is dread, but in the
face of this dread, there is a nation that knows how to defend
itself, that knows how to mobilize its forces and, once again,
will defeat the terrorists.
French citizens, we have not
completed the operations. There are still some that are
extremely difficult. It's at this moment that the security
forces are staging an assault, especially in a place in Paris.
I ask you to keep all your trust in what we can do with the
security forces to protect our nation from terrorist acts.
Long live the Republic and long live France."
France is under attack. We must defend
ourselves...
The political discourse is in some regards reminiscent of
the 9/11 attacks and the statements
of
George W. Bush et al.
The media immediately started comparing the November 13 attacks in
Paris to 9/11, intimating that France was at war and that the
alleged Islamic State attack was from abroad, i.e. the Middle East.
Police State
Measures
President Hollande had ordered by decree without debate or
consultation with France's National Assembly the enactment of a
State of Emergency throughout France, coupled with the closing of
France's borders allegedly to prevent terrorists from coming in, and
from terror suspects from leaving the country.
The measures also included procedures which enable the police to
conduct arbitrary arrests and house searches without a warrant
within the Paris metropolitan area opening up the development of a
potential hate campaign directed against France's Muslim population.
These drastic police state measures (including the repeal of
habeas corpus) ordered by president
Hollande were decided upon prior and in the absence of a police
report. Initial reports confirmed the involvement of half a dozen
terrorists.
There was no evidence of a nationwide
terror network.
But as we mentioned above, Hollande had no doubt been briefed by
French intelligence which had, according to reports, "predicted" the
possibility of a 9/11 style attack. (October 2 media reports).
France had been heralded in Paris Match, October 02, 2015 as
the Number One Target of the Islamic State,
"a terrorist army with unlimited
potential…"
"The threat and diverse forms it can
take suggest that our counter-terrorist abilities are no longer
effective as they used to be"
President Hollande assumed that jihadists were behind the attacks,
but when he made his speech, there was no evidence from police
sources to support his statements.
Moreover, with regard to the Bataclan Concert Hall where there were
more than one thousand people at a Rock concert, the reports
confirmed that there were four kamikaze terrorists, all of them were
killed.
As in the case of Charlie Hebdo and the
Kosher Grocery Store terrorist attacks in January 2015, the
terrorists were killed rather than arrested and indicted.
Was there an attempt on the part of the police to capture them
alive?
Moreover, the media was held at bay, they were not allowed to report
what was happening within the Concert Hall, they were prevented from
talking to the witnesses underlying this tragic event.
Meanwhile a curfew was imposed.
President
Obama made a declaration early
in the evening (ET) largely sustaining the "war
on terrorism" narrative:
THE PRESIDENT:
Good evening, everybody.
I just want to make a few brief
comments about the attacks across Paris tonight.
Once again, we've seen an outrageous
attempt to terrorize innocent civilians. This is an attack not
just on Paris, it's an attack not just on the people of France,
but this is an attack on all of humanity and the universal
values that we share.
We stand prepared and ready to provide whatever assistance that
the government and the people of France need to respond. France
is our oldest ally. The French people have stood shoulder to
shoulder with the United States time and again.
And we want to be very clear that we
stand together with them in the fight against terrorism and
extremism.
…
We're going to do whatever it takes to work with the French
people and with nations around the world to bring these
terrorists to justice, and to go after any terrorist networks
that go after our people.
We don't yet know all the details of what has happened. We have
been in contact with French officials to communicate our deepest
condolences to the families of those who have been killed, to
offer our prayers and thoughts to those who have been wounded.
We have offered our full support to them.
The situation is still unfolding.
…
This is a heartbreaking situation. And obviously those of us
here in the United States know what it's like. We've gone
through these kinds of episodes ourselves. And whenever these
kinds of attacks happened, we've always been able to count on
the French people to stand with us.
They have been an extraordinary
counterterrorism partner, and we intend to be there with them in
that same fashion.
Obama is committed to helping the
French people, in going after the terrorists.
France is a partner of Obama's bombing
campaign initiated in August-September 2014 which theoretically is
directed against the ISIS.
Hollande is described by Obama as an "extraordinary counterterrorism
partner". In turn, Hollande referring to the Islamic State says
"We know where [Syria, Iraq] it
comes from, who these criminals are, who these terrorists are".
The clash of civilizations is implicit
in Obama's statement:
"this is an attack on all of
humanity and the universal values that we share."
Who is Behind
the Terrorists?
What the French media in its coverage of these tragic events fails
to mention is that both the US and France, not to mention Britain,
Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Israel are covertly supporting
various Al Qaeda affiliated terrorist formations in Syria and Iraq
including al Nusrah and the Islamic State.
France is the victim of the Islamic State, but at the same time the
US and its allies including France are "State sponsors" of the
Islamic state which is an Al Qaeda affiliated entity.
Lest we forget, the US has supported Al Qaeda and its affiliated
organizations for almost half a century since the heyday of the
Soviet Afghan war.
CIA training camps were set up in
Pakistan. In the ten year period from 1982 to 1992, some 35,000
jihadists from 43 Islamic countries were recruited by the CIA to
fight in the Afghan jihad.
Since the Reagan Administration,
Washington has supported the Islamic terror network.
In recent developments in the Middle East, the terrorists are
recruited and trained by the Western military alliance. NATO and the
Turkish High Command have been responsible for the recruitment of
ISIS and Al Nusrah mercenaries from the outset of the Syrian
insurgency in March 2011.
According to Israeli intelligence
sources, this initiative consisted in:
"a campaign to enlist thousands of
Muslim volunteers in Middle East countries and the Muslim world
to fight alongside the Syrian rebels. The Turkish army would
house these volunteers, train them and secure their passage into
Syria."
(DEBKAfile,
NATO to give rebels anti-tank weapons,
August 14, 2011.)
There are Western Special Forces and
Western intelligence operatives within the ranks of the ISIS.
British Special Forces, and MI6 have been involved in training
jihadist rebels in Syria.
The Islamic State (ISIS), the alleged architect of the Paris
attacks, was originally an Al Qaeda affiliated
entity created by US intelligence
with the support of,
-
Britain's MI6
-
Israel's Mossad
-
Pakistan's Inter-Services
Intelligence (ISI)
-
Saudi Arabia's General
Intelligence Presidency (GIP),
Ri'āsat Al-Istikhbārāt Al-'Āmah
( رئاسة الاستخبارات العامة)
The ISIS brigades were involved in the US-NATO supported insurgency
in Syria directed against the government of Bashar al Assad.
Since August-September 2014, they are
the object of Osama's fake counter-terrorism
campaign. The evidence, however, amply confirms that ISIS is
protected by the Western military alliance.
With regard to France, a Washington Post 2011 report entitled
"France sent arms to Libyan rebels," confirms the role of the French
government in support of the Al Qaeda affiliated Libya Islamic
fighting Group (LIFG).
French officials announced Wednesday
that they had armed rebels in Libya, marking the first time a
NATO country has said it was providing direct military aid to
opponents [LIFG]…
According to Tony Cartalucci:
While Hollande's predecessor, former
French President Nicolas Sarkozy would be the one to set foot in
decimated Libya in the wake of NATO's intervention there - which
included in addition to French arms sent to terrorists, French
planes providing these terrorists air cover as they carried out
atrocities and genocide - Hollande would continue policies
enacted under Sarkozy, both in Libya, and currently in Syria.
(Global
Research: January 8, 2015)
In early 2013, France joined its
coalition partners in sending weapons to jihadist rebels in Syria
including the Al Qaeda affiliated Al Nusra Front which France's Le
Monde identified as "moderate":
The UK Foreign secretary William
Hague, and his French counterpart Lauren Fabius, are
leading an isolated charge within the EU to lift a supposed arms
embargo to self-described 'rebels', hitherto destroying Syria
for over two years.
Several underlying factors need to
be addressed before these diplomatic (some would say military)
maneuvers are put into context.
Firstly, the most obvious issue with allowing the UK and France
to freely arm 'rebels' of their choosing inside Syria is that
this policy is against all international law, and will, as
proven already to be the case, continue to vastly exacerbate the
growing death toll and displacement in Syria.
As the head of arms control at Oxfam
noted:
"Transferring more weapons to
Syria can only exacerbate a hellish scenario for civilians.
If the UK and France are to live up to their own commitments
- including those set out in the new arms trade treaty -
they simply must not send weapons to Syria."
In recent developments, the ISIS and
Al Nusrah have joined hands.
(Philip Greaves,
Under the Disguise of The "Battle against
Terrorism": The U.S., Britain and France Support "Al Qaeda in
Syria", Global Research, May 28, 2013)
The evidence amply confirms that while
Russia is targeting ISIS strongholds in Syria, the Western military
alliance is supporting the Islamic State terrorists.
The notion that the Paris attacks was an act of retribution and
revenge directed against France is questionable and contradictory
inasmuch as the evidence confirms that France has been channeling
weapons to jihadist rebels in Syria including Al Nusrah and ISIS.
Concluding
Remarks
On November 13, France was the victim of a carefully organized
terrorist attack in different locations in the Paris metropolitan
area, resulting in more than 140 deaths.
The Islamic State was identified as the
architect of this criminal undertaking. What is intimated in the
media reports of these tragic events is that the jihadists are
attacking France.
But at same time, the countries which claim to be the victims of
terrorism including France are involved through their intelligence
services in supporting terrorist organizations in the Middle East.
It's called America's "Global War on Terrorism".
This contradiction has to be meaningfully addressed at the
political level. The Global War on Terrorism is a lie
which provides legitimacy to police state measures.
The state of emergency gives the police a green light to arrest on
mere suspicion throughout France.
A telephone hotline is opened. Citizens are invited to call and
report anything which they consider suspicious. Civil rights have
been suspended. Arbitrary arrests are occurring in Paris without
warrant.
The attacks could potentially contribute to a new wave of
Islamophobia...
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