Why France?

[Renew Deal]

They are no more agressive than anyone else.

[Kurska]

1. On edit: just saw about the attacks. EOM

[still_one]

2. They are a Western power. We need more details, but there is no doubt this is a terrorist attack.

They were coordinated and synchronized.

Everything now is speculation, but what is in the back of many minds I am sure is this is an extension of middle eastern terrorism

[romanic]

3. France is a U.S. Ally

that's more than enough reason for these barbarians.

[Renew Deal]

4. But there are many US allies in the region.

So is it because France is an ally or there is some weakness there or something specific to France?

[Cal33]

19. The French used to have Arab countries as their colonies, and treated them badly -- which

Last edited Fri Nov 13, 2015, 07:45 PM - Edit history (1)

did not exactly endear the French to the Arabs.

[CTyankee]

29. You are right on. I have always said this. The French were horrible western colonialists

in Arab countries during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Ditto in West African nations in the 20th.

These are the sins of the fathers, big time.

[PufPuf23]

30. Syria was a French Mandate from th Fall of the Ottoman Empire in WWI

until 1943.

Also France has been one of the more involved NATO allies in Syria against ISIS and before that Libya.

[FLPanhandle]

32. Blame the victim mentality

The guys doing this are complete assholes and, no, the old French colonies are not an excuse.

[Cal33]

38. Are you, yourself, also as forgiving as you expect others to be?

[ffr]

45. Agree. The attackers didn't go after the government, they attacked innocents

What is the message behind killing unarmed men, women and children watching a play or having coffee on a Friday evening? Random hatred and the attackers happen to have access to more guns & munitions there (in Paris) than anywhere else? Why Paris and not Milan or any other big city in western civilization?

Baffling the logic.

[AngryAmish]

5. Large Islamic population, with IS calling for these attacks constantly

Many French citizens are fighting on all sides in Syria and Iraq.

[Johnny2X2X]

6. Terrible

ISIS is seeking revenge for the killing of Jihadi John. Paris is the easiest target.

[Yo_Mama]

16. This was pre-planned for some time, given the coordinated attacks.

No way is this a response to JJ's purported exit.

[Johnny2X2X]

23. Maybe

They had to have planned and trained, but could have been waiting for the right time and this gave them the excuse to go ahead.

[Yo_Mama]

34. Then it's not caused by JJ's reported entry into Paradise. These people just like to kill. n/t

[msrizzo]

27. MSNBC reporting that experts think it is al qaeda

But no one has claimed responsibility.

[applegrove]

7. They have disaffected muslim youth who have gone to fight with ISIS. Someone obviously sympathized

ISIS. 35 dead. Vibes.

[puzzledeagle]

8. Are you kidding me? France is a neocolonial power that still continues to rule its colonies

There's a reason why the French Foreign Legion still exists

http://www.e-ir.info/2011/06/11/the-ongoing-relationship-between-france-and-its-former-african-colonies/

[Renew Deal]

9. So according to you, they deserve it.

Is that correct?

[puzzledeagle]

11. Ask Libya and Gaddafi what they'd think

Gaddafi actually warned Europe of this, especially after France pushed hard to get rid of him. Take him out and he'd be replaced with someone much worse for France

[Renew Deal]

12. Got it. So according to you, 60+ civilians deserved to die.

[CTyankee]

33. Sins of the father, don't you get this? It's rooted in western European colonialism going way back.

This is a lesson for us. We should pay attention and not just say people deserved to die. There would be a price to pay for French colonialism.

It is history, Renew Deal. And payback is rough as you know...

[KittyWampus]

35. And there should be a "price" for the elite in Qatar & Saudi Arabia

[CTyankee]

36. Of course, again "payback".

We never learn...

[Yorktown]

18. Why? Qaddafi wasn't busy slaughtering his own population?

So it's OK if a local leader kills his own people,

and it's bad if a foreign country comes in to help the population?

What is your opinion on NATO's help to Bosnians in Sarajevo? Colonialism?

[joshcryer]

37. Yes, Gaddafi's racist shit sure is worth looking in to.

[Cal33]

47. It's not a question of deserve or not deserve. It's a question of the hatred which is there.

Can you imagine how you would feel if some foreign nation were to occupy us for 100 years,
making themselves rich off our natural resources, and treat us like dirt on top of it all?

Nobody would like it. Only a few saint-like humans could truly forgive something like that.
The rest of us would be full of hatred. And vengeance is often the result of this kind of hate.
Not that I'm saying it's right or wrong. Under these circumstances, hate just naturally follows.

I remember having read that Vietnam was a colony of France for 80 years before World War II
changed that. The Japanese took over Vietnam.

After WWII the French still tried to get back Vietnam as a colony!!! They didn't succeed, of
course. Haven't they learned anything at all from their own experience during WWII? How did
the French feel, when they were under German occupation for 6 years?

Another very human weakness: When we do something unpleasant to others, it's not so bad.
But when others do it to us, now that's a different story!

Wouldn't you agree that most of us are somewhat like that?

[CBGLuthier]

42. They treated the Vietnamese like shit too yet oddly enough the Vietnamese aren't blowing them up

or killing cartoonists.

[Cal33]

48. For one thing, Vietnam is an awfully long distance away from France. A better reason is

that most Vietnamese are Buddhists, and most Buddhists don't believe in killing.

Among the major religions, Buddhists are the only ones who never had a war in the name
of religion. There are several other religions with a small number of followers that are also
strict adherents of not killing. We can't say the same about Christians and Muslims, though.

[TheFarS1de]

50. Bullshit .

No religion is clean of violence . They may preach peace but like everyone else they are just as capable of being assholes . This noble savage idea is just getting ridiculous .

[Cal33]

54. I'm not saying that Buddhist individuals never fought in any war -- it would be wrong.

But, just name one religious war in which Buddhism was ever engaged. There isn't any.

[TheFarS1de]

56. There are plenty

Have a look for yourself .

[Shandris]

10. They had Unchecked White Privilege.

Why else? They were probably microaggressed by some bigoted, hateful coffee drinker and was justifiably upset at the oppression and lashed out in the only way possible, by magically teleporting an AK into his and several of his friends' hands out of thin air and blowing people up.

I think we need to be understanding about this. They're probably from a culture where killing others isn't considered something that you need a consensus for it to be okay like it is here in America.

((If this needs the sarcasm tag, might I recommend professional help.))

[Blue_Tires]

13. They do have the biggest muslim population in Europe,

and the country is full of soft targets...

[randys1]

31. Yeah, all in all this is real bad. Because you know Obama has to respond, so do others

I worry about that

[Yo_Mama]

14. They have a relatively large radicalized/criminally connected group of fanatics.

I think this is a matter of opportunity.

[NuclearDem]

15. Charlie Hebdo.

I'm sure a cartoon is responsible for this. Somehow.

[Lucinda]

44. YEP - The cartoon insulted the religion of radicals who became vengeful.

There was large support for the cartoon, which I believe painted a target on the city.

[Yorktown]

17. Simple answer: largest European country active against ISIS

Largest military budgets in the EU: UK and France, with UK inactive vs ISIS

(Germany's Constitution places curbs on the military budget and foreign intervention)
The UK is not currently striking ISIS targets (voted down at the House of Commons)

Add to the mix:
• the disaffected banlieue youths (unemployment rate = 30%)
• the lingering flavor of Charlie Hebdo

et voila: bombings, shootings, all in the name of religion (islamic state Daesh)

[ScreamingMeemie]

20. Paris is considered by most to be the pinnacle city of Europe.

[librechik]

46. yes, the icon of Western Culture which is decadent and evil according to fundamentalists

of many stripes. Clues, they hit cultural institutions including the Louvre.

Also, fantastic media coverage.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

21. At a wild guess, because that's where the perpetrators lived.

But we'll have to wait to find out for sure.

[Renew Deal]

26. That's the simple answer

And it makes sense

[LittleBlue]

22. US ally and millions of Muslims in the country, especially Paris

So it would be much easier to hide.

[gollygee]

24. Maybe because of their history as colonizers of Isalamic areas?

Or maybe it was just a convenient place?

It's so awful.

[FLPanhandle]

25. Simple answer: Religious extremists are total assholes

I hope for a long and painful death for all of them.

[rockfordfile]

43. I agree

I agree and we have right wing religious extremist here in America that think violence is the answer to everything.

[Cal33]

49. Uh-Oh! This, too, is vengeance. See what I mean by how easy it is for all of us to hate? You're

not doing the awful things physically, you're just wishing for it in your mind. Everything starts
in the mind first. You, of course are stopping it right there, and not carrying it further. Good
for you.

[smirkymonkey]

55. +1000

[Codeine]

39. Because France is chock-ful of Islamic extemists

and Islamic extremists are fucking murderous assholes of the first order.

[Cal33]

52. I've been in France many times, and I know with what contempt the Arabs are treated there.

This, naturally, also causes a reaction in the Arabs. And when it happens in one's everyday
living, sooner or later somebody, so filled with hatred, will lose his cool and the hatred boils
over.

This tit for tat is so human, and it can become so unpleasant - even deadly. Will it ever be
possible for all of us to learn to behave differently? For a few, yes. For all? Not likely. At
least, this is what I've observed thus far.

[MohRokTah]

40. Member of the EU, member nation of NATO, permanent member of the UN Security Council...

and probably the easiest target of all Western Nations.

[Blue_Tires]

41. Final answer: This explains it pretty well....

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/11701164/Why-has-France-become-a-target-for-recent-terror-attacks.html

[DFW]

51. Fairly easy to smuggle in weapons (2 coastlines) and has a ready base to hide them in

Notice the symbolism, too.

In New York, they attacked on 9/11. They had to have some people familiar enough with American culture to know that 911 was more than a random number to us.

They also had to know what Friday the 13th meant in most Western cultures, too. This was not organized overnight to avenge Jihadi John. This was months in the making.

[JonathanRackham]

53. It's classic Sun Tzu.

They were the easiest least protected target.