Daily Times

Paris is reeling from a series of simultaneous and coordinated terrorist attacks across the city on late Friday night, which have claimed the lives of more than 120 individuals and critically injured a further 180. The brutal assault targeted the French capital’s most popular districts of entertainment and arts and has been claimed by the Islamic State (IS) as its retribution for France’s involvement in the aerial campaign against the organization in Syria. Six different locations became targets of the shootings, bomb blasts and a hostage siege, with the deadliest attack occurring at the Bataclan Theatre where four attackers indiscriminately started shooting inside the sold out venue with assault rifles and massacred around 82 people. Official reports state that eight attackers were killed during the police rescue operation, with seven of them killing themselves via suicide bombing. Latest reports suggest that the terrorists were a mix of Syrian, Egyptian and French nationals. In response to the attacks, French President Francois Hollande has imposed an emergency all over the grieving country and has ordered the borders to be closed. Parisians have been advised to remain indoors while military personnel patrol the streets and operations are underway to apprehend the abettors of the terrorist attack.

The horrific attack is another reminder of the boundless cruelty and far reaching jihadist menace of the self-styled IS. Such attacks on innocent lives anywhere in the world are utterly devastating and words remain insufficient to condemn these ghastly acts. The IS and its ideology represent an existential threat to the forward march of civilization and the highly strategic targeting of spaces of joy and relaxation viciously underscore the intent of the group. The toxic appeal and the diffused, internationalised makeup of the organisation exponentially magnify its effectiveness and capacity to proliferate and escape the gaze of the authorities. The attack in Paris is feared to be just the start, as the gloating statement released by IS confirms its nefarious designs on other major European cities and the US itself. But while it is important to condemn the attacks and mourn the fallen, it is equally crucial to understand how this deadly group came to be and what attracts so many towards it; without acknowledging its own role in the creation of IS, the west cannot hope to defeat it. The fact remains that the IS emerged over the past few years as a direct consequence of the disastrous policies of the US and its allies in Iraq and Syria. By creating a debilitating power vacuum in these countries and then stepping back, the western powers ensured that space was created for the IS to spread its wings and recruit followers in droves by setting itself up as a ‘caliphate’ that would restore the position of Islam and Muslims in the world. After letting the opportunity to curb IS in its infancy was squandered, the US and its allies have only now started their campaign against the group and attacks like the one in Paris are an unfortunate but predictable blowback.

This attack in Paris is the second terrorist attack to hit the city this year, after the more specific targeting of the Charlie Hebdo office earlier. For a second and even deadlier attack to happen within months exposes the inadequacies of the French intelligence network but also points to the scale and complexity of the jihadist problem. The attack also highlights another systemic problem: the staggering failure of French policies to integrate its minority population, whose members remain on the margins, feeling unwelcome and hence prone to radicalisation. Reports suggest that some thousand French nationals are fighting under the banner of IS in Syria and many have returned to their country of origin with destructive ideologies and training. Serious efforts need to be undertaken to counter the appeal of this reprehensible organisation to ensure disenfranchised youth do not fall prey to its magnetic propaganda. Unfortunately, in the wake of such devastation, emotions run high and acts of blind retaliation and borderline fascist governmental policies take shape. The issue of refugees is being conveniently used by the right wing forces of bigotry as a scapegoat for this attack and such rhetoric will play right into the hands of the IS and its affiliates. France and other western countries have a careful and crucial balance to maintain: they need to streamline, coordinate and bolster their surveillance and intelligence capacities while simultaneously taking a tactful approach that embraces the minorities and prevents the seeds of radicalisation from taking root. If complacency and hatred are allowed to triumph, there will only be more doom and gloom. *