NY Times

Recently in Paris a series of attacks occurred. I was wondering about all of your opinions on this issue, what could have been done, what happened after, your opinion on how this will effect the future, etc.
Feel free to discuss here.

Hopefully Paris can react properly and can quickly recover from this shocking event, and that no further harm will come to the people living there.

This is a very serious event so please make sure to follow all rules and be considerate.

EDIT: 

Beirut Paris, And Baghdad

I overlooked Beirut and Baghdad. Every life and every city and every place is as important as any others. May Beirut and Baghdad recover quickly from the shocking events.

More things to read:
Beirut
Baghdad

Not even a year since Charlie Hebdo, and there they go again.

I must admit I'm influenced by the anime Death Note, but that doesn't mean I'm wrong: this world is rotting. When will people understand that there's no reason to kill? And even less religion. How many people have died "because God ordered for them to be killed". Christians conquering America, Spanish Inquisition, and now these guys.

I really hope this serves to enforce laws against terrorism. Politicians are too scared to take action. The day where people will judge by their own hands is coming, and with it, a massive war and bloodshed with no eventual winner whatsoever.

In social media, a huge war has already begun. This event will have an even greater impact than Charlie Hebdo because of how it happened. Parisians won't feel safe for the remainder of the year at the very least, fearful that death may be waiting behind the next corner. 

This world is rotting, and humanity alongside it. It's sad how true this actually is.

I think it's tragic. It's tragic this is how every Muslim alive is seen. It's tragic we still live in an age of barbarism where people feel compelled to kill in the name of a god. It's tragic so many innocent people who want nothing to do with any of this are getting caught up in something that shouldn't concern them, and I feel so bad for every peaceful Muslim out there who never even wanted this to happen, because to them ISIS is the same as the KKK and WBC to Christianity.

I'm with EX Palen on this--I hope it enforces terrorism laws. I hope something is done about all this. This was so well thought out and orchestrated that it's insane because they chose places that weren't well known but had enough people to kill to make a statement and that's messed up on so many levels. :/ 

ISIS took credit for these attacks. They say it is in retaliation to France making airstrikes in territory that ISIS controls.

So, by that logic does that mean any country that has contributed troops to the effort has this coming to them as well?

EX Palen : the only reason to kill someone (in my opinion) is in defense of your life or the lives of innocent people. It should be to stop people who choose to kill in the name of some ideology.

writingwolves : while unfortunate that Muslims will be painted negatively by this yet again it is very rare to see a strong reaction from the so-called "moderate muslim". Not sure if they are took scared to speak out for fear of retribution or what but it needs to happen more if there is going to be a change of opinion regarding Islam.

And why is it messed up? It did exactly what it was supposed to do. This has probably scared a lot of people. That is what it is supposed to do. Things like this are not about death count so much as shows of power and fear. Terrorize your enemy before the real fight begins. It's an ancient tactic.

I saw someone who said that this might be just the first of many similar style attacks that will be coming to Europe and America. There are already millions of Muslims in nearly every European and American country and if the estimates that 10-25% of these are radicalized like ISIS then you've got a Trojan force in every Western country that could do things like this at a heartbeat.

It's a tragic event no debate about it. and what I find even more tragic about this is how it'll likely lead to even more islamophobia and misinformation because when it comes to islam in particular it seems a lot of people can't separate the extremists and would rather just blame it on muslims as a collective and demand that they speak out against it. Which is dumbBut still yeah personally a reason I don't like religion as a whole, I understand there are many people who keep their beliefs to themselves and respect others but there are still so many who use it to justify sickening actions.

It will likely lead to stronger anti terrorism measures being taken though and I'm glad in particular considering we've done relatively little about it here in Sweden and since so many migrants come here we'd likely be a prime target for ISIS eventually, especially with people gathering in public to see the match against PSG soon, that crowd would be a suicide bombers dream.

geeogree : I don't see why regular muslims should have to denounce these actions, we don't expect the same of christians even though likely the majority of terror acts in the western world are commited are by people who identify as a christian. As long as they're not supporting it. Even if you can argue they need to so in order for people to become more accepting of muslims they really shouldn't have to in the first place.

Islamophobia is not a correct term. Fear of someone who believes in and is willing to die for Islam is not an irrational fear. Islam has been the face of worldwide terrorism for several decades now so calling it a phobia is a dishonest.


Also, Islam is the only religion that has spread itself through warfare at nearly exclusivity to any other method. Within 30 years of its origin it began making war against the rest of the world and has done so for hundreds of years. I honestly don't believe that "radical Islam" is actually the minority in Islam. I'm not saying that every Muslim is going to blow themselves up or behead people for their religion but I do believe that they all have the same end goal and that is worldwide domination of Islam. This is done through multiple ways depending on where you live. In the West they infiltrate slowly but in the middle east it is done through violence and intimidation. Still, the end goal for Islam is world domination with the result being convert, be a 2nd class citizen or die. This sort of mentality goes against democracy and Western ideals and I will never stop opposing it.

geeogree :
I didn't mean it was messed up as in the plan messed up. I meant it's a messed up idea--it's a horrible idea. Terrifying. The way these things are orchestrated now. It's horrifying.

Also, normal practicing Muslims don't have to say they aren't associated with it because it should already be known that the majority religion, especially in western countries, don't go about smiting people for the sake of doing so. Christians don't have to look at events done in their god's name and say "We aren't associated with that" because people already know a small, marginalized group of radicals does not paint the way for the majority. Muslims should have to nor should they feel forced to say they aren't associated. It should be accepted

As for the idea of fear-mongering and 10-25% of radicals being integrated in western societies, I wouldn't be shocked to honestly see in the near future concentration camps much like America used on the Japanese if we go that extreme route. Hopefully not, but with how America already fears and loathes the Muslim population, it wouldn't be too terribly shocking and that's sad. I really hope I'm wrong.

Then we will have to agree to disagree. Living in Sweden which is infamous for the amount of Muslims living here combined with probably living in one of the most immigrant heavy areas. I've gone to school with many Muslims and even many of my relatives are muslim and they've never cared about my religious beliefs or tried to convert me. While they may not share my opinions they've still respected my beliefs.

Of course a fear of islamists, aka Muslim extremists is not irrational but that's not what islamophobia means or implies. It means a fear of Muslims and Islam as whole. I believe calling Islam the face of worldwide terrorism is wrong. Religion is always brought into the question when someone who commits a terrorist act is Muslim whether or not the act was religiously motivated but you wont see the same treatment otherwise. Take the utoya shooting a few years ago for example where a single man killed around 70 people many of which were under the age of 18, he was a Christian and did it for religiously motivated reasons yet that was never really brought up in media and if you actually look at the statistics for terror acts committed in Europe you'll notice the vast majority were committed by people who do not identify as Muslim.

Muslims have waged war to spread Islam throughout history but the same can be said for Christianity. Christians and Muslims living in the east often live much as we did in the western world 100s of years ago, I don't think either religion is to blame for that but because, it being because society as a whole is less developed. ISIS is despicable, but they represent far from the majority of Muslims especially considering the brutality they show towards other muslims, every Muslim I know think what they're doing is wrong and even people in the countries where they mainly operate are scared of them and want them to be stopped.

I am completely opposed to anti democratic ideals or the beliefs of any religion including Islam being forced on people but I also think the hostility towards Muslims shown in much of the western world in particular parts of the US is ridiculous.

This is just the act of a bunch of gutless cowards. They are like the kids that were told no and now they are mad at the world,despite the fact they were in the wrong from the beginning. The reason these losers gain momentum is through social media and lies. They recruit all of these weak minded,easily led,sheep and brainwash them.

These a--holes are a poor excuse of any religion. True followers do not bring death and destruction to others because of a difference of faith. I hope the French do step up their attacks on ISIS and show them that they will not be intimidated. The victims were just minding their business and going about their lives.

Religion is just a tool to control the masses.

It was a tragedy waiting to happen, unfortunately. This is exactly what happens when a people is virtually disarmed: criminals and the state are the only ones with guns. How else could THREE terrorists take control over 100s of people so easily?

Call me demagogue if you want, but that's the hard truth: the only way to stop ill-intended people with guns is to make sure good guys have guns too.

This terrorism is the result of US, UK, and EU invasion of the East.
War lead to destabilization of these eastern countries, and deaths and displacement of millions of people, and the rise of armed factions and false flag operations.

The weapons these factions and false flag operations use are produced and sold by western countries.
The supplies and training these factions and false flag operatives recieves, come from the west.

The conclusion is that the recent terrorist attack is to allow further EU invasion and destabliization of eastern countries, and to start enforcing martial law in the EU under the pretence of anti-terrorism.

In regards to discussion about religion and terrorism, they do not have an connection.
Islam doesn't promote violence any more than christinanity or bhuddism.

janus : Tis very true. Disarm the populace and criminals have free reign. Guns are not evil or good,they are merely tools. It is only good or evil depending on who uses it and for what.

After looking at another site which was also talking about these recent events it seemed I forgot to add this :
Beirut Paris and Baghdad
I'll update the first post to include this, because not only Paris was affected recently and we should not overlook other recent events.

Also, in reply to janus: if only the "good guys" have guns how long will they stay "good". How long could the resist the temptation of power. And what defines "good"? ('cause honestly, that's probably very few people in the world). I'm assuming that by good guys you mean the cops, military and other armed services meant to protect people. Which are all Government related, and as we know, Governments can become corrupted. Especially if they have lots of power over the people via guns.

EDIT: Some more things to read:
Beirut
Baghdad
Also being added to the first post

Isis is evil no doubt about it. But I wonder if the world helped Isis become powerful. The US, France and Britain I know they are probably others. Decided to arm Syrian Rebels by giving them money and weapons to fight Assad. They were even trained by the CIA. Some of these fighters turned out to be Isis. Also we have made regions unstable. 

I also think if citizens had guns they could have stopped the attacks in January. Isis inspired jihadist tried that in Texas and were stopped by a concealed carry holder. Now with that being said its hard to stop suicide bombers. 

Isis deserves to be sent to the stone age. However there is more than that. I think we need to stop arming Syrian Rebels or other Rebels. Stop trying to remove countries leaders. Also we need to look at who Isis targets. Unlike Al Kada and Hamas. Isis uses social media very well. The people they recruit is who we need to look at. Isis has recruited anarchists people who are mad at everybody, people out for revenge, people who feel like they have no hope, and the mentally ill. These people are the ones that are most likely to be radicalized. 

I hope for the future we do not have to give up freedoms like we did after 9/11. For those that do not know after 9/11 the Patriot Act was passed. This gave government the ability to spy on what you say on the web, who you talk too and etc. I think that was unnecessary and we need to enforce existing laws.  

I know some may disagree with me but I think its time countries are very careful on who they let in their countries. Yes a lot of people are people fleeing. But Isis has proven they are effective at disguising themselves to get in countries. 

Finally I support a coalition to bomb Isis but I do not think boots on the ground is a good idea. But it needs to be a coalition of countries. Isis is more powerful then Hamas are Al Kada. 

People say the worlds going mad, that it's such a horrible place now... Was the world ever a truly sane place? Was it ever safe to live in? The horrors we must face have evolved just as our societies have. We are now in a global village, and this villages problems are everyones now. My heart goes out to those truly affected by terror attacks, regardless of where they take place. No one deserves to be attacked because thier life goes againsts the beliefs of the human equivolant of a cancer cell. oh, and the political radicals who support Human Rights and Free Speech known collectively as Anonymous have declared war on ISIS/ISIL in a French video released yesterday our time. I wonder what will develop of this declaration, given that the only poeple they've backed off of so far are the Mexican Cartel.

Just browsing along here, and to no surprise, someone brought guns into this. Why do gun enthusiasts seem to think guns will stop all of the evil that exists in this world? The fact is, if they're motivated and determined enough, terrorists will terrorize. Period.

Anyone else besides me also think it's not as easy as "just bomb ISIS"
ISIS has developed far beyond just a place in the middle east, even if we take down ISIS headquarters, if they even have one or wherever it is, ISIS is still alive, in the form of people who support ISIS beliefs and carry out acts in those beliefs. Those independent supporters of ISIS can be just as, or much more dangerous than an ISIS recruit in the middle east. 
IF the U.S, or another country fighting ISIS just decides to bomb ISIS you must think about the effect it will have on those countries. How will ISIS supporters in the states (for example) react to this? Could it potentially cause a chain reaction of improvised homemade terrorist attacks across the country? And think about this; if this happened all the attacks would most likely not be planned. Unorganized, unplanned and unpredictable. Imagine how bad a bunch of spontaneous attacks happening at once would be, with no easy was to prevent. This could just people buying guns and committing shootings. Not as large scale as a bomb perhaps, but if multiplied could become horrific. Could we potentially have a situation worse than Paris, Beirut and Baghdad combined? Because no matter how good we scan people entering the country, no matter how well we question them, people out there lie, and they lie well. This is, in my opinion, why the U.S hasn't already "bomb(ed) ISIS". It's probably a 100 times for complicated and 100 times for delicate than we, people uneducated in the ways of foreign policies, the behavior of Terrorists and how to run a country, know. So don't be dumb and say "why doesn't the U.S just attack ISIS, bomb ISIS, etc. and win" (which it could if it wanted to considering the power of the U.S military and the massive military funding we have).

I find it so funny that the US, NATO are always taking the moral high ground, as if they don't drone strike the middle east, kill innocent children, women and men. They create these terrorists by funding a state like Israel and using interventionist foreign policy.

If we just stop getting involved militarily in conflicts we would have a much safer world today.

I think that the Western world has severely underestimated ISIS and Islamic Terrorism for large period of time now. That something like this should happen was only foreseeable. We've never completely dug out the ideology which propagates such a structure. This is why it continues to remain and bring terror on our world. I have to say that Geogree is right on what Islam was even 5 hundred years ago. Islam was the uniting religious force which constantly threatened Europe and even unified the Middle East for a period of time. They've always been more prosperous though during times of peace. That's when the Muslim empire made it's greatest commitments to the world of medicine and art.

I am not really anti Muslim as I have had a few friends who are Muslims. . . online. . . and I do occasionally ask them questions about the Qu'ran. I'm not sure how a person is exactly qualified as a Muslim. But I assume they would be identified so by following all of the manuscripts given to them by the Prophet, Muhammed. My biggest question is if Islam. . . truly does teach something different from what peaceful Muslims would have us believe it does.

Don't call me a hater of a phobe for suggesting that. I'm someone without knowledge who's asking honest questions about the ordeal!!!

In the past Islam has been the face of fear for years. Similar things could be said about the Catholic Church, but I would like to say that Catholics believe quite differently from the Messianic congregation regarding the teachings of Yeshua and such.

Perhaps there are sects of Islam I should better be affiliated with before making decisions and assumptions on it. Until you. . . me. . . and others understand more about their ideology. . the seed of the tree. I don't think that we could properly take care of any of these problems. The most we can do is make a better form of defense on our own grounds. How many people here. . . commenting on this thread know much of anything about Muslim culture and religion? Can we even make a valid decision? Religious ideas are the cause of wars! If it wasn't then Muslims who do commit these crimes wouldn't be quoting specific verses from the Qu'ran to our face in the aftermath!

I'm not saying all Muslims believe the same thing. I'm not against peaceful Muslims. And I have hardly any tangible information to go off of regarding debates in what the true beliefs of an actual Muslim would be. Enlighten me! But until you. . . me, and our leaders really understand what's going on here. . . it's very hard to deal with.

I'm not posting here as someone proposing answers. I'm posting here as someone who wants the truth! Does anyone. . . have anything that would be insightful, which allows me to learn more about their religions ideas?

What separates peaceful Muslims from nonpeaceful ones? What is the heart of the problem, and the spirit of ideaology we must defeat in order to keep the problem from reoccuring? That is what I am asking!