Paris Attacks Remind Us the Free Is World at War with Brutal Terrorist Groups

From Nile Gardiner, at the Daily Signal:

Tonight’s horrific series of terrorist attacks throughout Paris have sent shockwaves across Europe and the world.

According to media reports, dozens of people have been killed so far in multiple attacks on several locations in the French capital, including a restaurant near the Place de la Republique, and the Stade de France, home of the French national soccer team. Some of the attacks are reported to have been suicide bombings.

In addition, up to a hundred people were taken hostage by terrorists at the Bataclan concert venue. The French government has declared a state of emergency, deployed troops to the streets of Paris, and has closed the country’s borders.

In terms of sheer scale, this could be the largest terror attack on Western soil since the 9/11 attacks on the United States in 2001.

While it is too early to determine the exact identity of the terror group responsible for these atrocities, the attacks are consistent with the kind of mass casualty attacks that have been carried out in the past by Islamist terrorists in London, Madrid, Istanbul, and most recently in Paris itself, with the Charlie Hebdo massacre in January this year.

It also comes in the wake of last week’s explosion on board a Russian airliner flying from Egypt to St. Petersburg, which US and British authorities believe was a terrorist attack. According to the London Daily Telegraph, gunmen shouted “Allahu Akbar” in one of tonight’s Paris attacks.

There is speculation that the terror attacks are a direct response by the Islamic State to the US drone strike against Jihadi John in Raqqa, Syria yesterday. While it is unlikely that ISIS would have the capability to launch such a well-coordinated attack within such a short time frame, it is possible that ISIS could have been planning such an attack on Paris for some time, and decided it launch it today for propaganda reasons to give the impression that this is immediate retaliation for the Jihadi John strike...

Actually, nearly 200 were murdered in the Madrid terror bombings in 2004, but today's Paris attacks may turn out to have been even bloodier. Things are still unfolding. Certainly a large-scale coordinated attack like this, in a major Western capital, marks a major turning point. Mumbai can happen anywhere at this point.

Previous blogging here and here.