The spectacular, shocking terrorist attack in Paris on Friday night which has killed at least 150 people has done several things all at once. It has forced France to announce a state of emergency for the first time since 2005. The simultaneous attack on six sites in Paris will probably lead to the eventual undoing of Francois Hollande’s presidency, for this is the second extraordinary terrorist attack in France this year under his watch.
The assault made a mockery of statements made by President Obama just the day before that Daesh (the self-proclaimed IS) had been “contained”, and another by Secretary of State John Kerry on the day of the carnage that Daesh’s “days are numbered”. And it might force French citizens and those elsewhere in the Western world to come to the conclusion that they will never be safe after this and will never again be able to lead normal lives.
Coming at the start of a weekend on a Friday night, the attacks, most likely by Daesh, were meant for maximum impact, as the eight or nine attackers mowed down as many people as possible before they blew themselves up or were killed by police. They picked off at random the unsuspecting at cafes and restaurants at various sites in Paris, including the Stade de France and the Bataclan Theater where most of the blood was spilt in cold-blooded executions.
The attack pales in comparison to the Charlie Hebdo rampage in January in which Paris saw three days of attacks from Islamist gunmen that murdered 18 people. However, Friday’s attack will have the same effect, a French call for unity. Charlie Hebdo brought the French people together with much of the world standing behind them. A similar show of solidarity at home and words of support from abroad are expected. The message the French will want to get out: terrorism will not win the day and they will not bow or break.
It is also possible that French citizens will take to arming themselves, much like the Americans. The French government obviously cannot efficiently monitor the reportedly 1,000 French men and women who have gone to fight alongside Daesh in Syria and Iraq, many of whom return to continue the fight on French soil.
This horrific attack will also put the spotlight on the summer’s refugee influx from countries like Syria into Europe and how the far-right will try to connect the refugees with the attacks. However, it should be remembered that the refugees are fleeing the very same people who most likely carried out the Paris bomb and gun attacks.
Hollande announced that the fight against the attackers would be fought "without mercy", meaning a harder than usual aerial bombardment of Daesh fighters in Syria. How much of an impact this escalation will have and how much has been done is debatable. The retaking of Kurdish fighters of the strategic Iraqi town of Sinjar which had been held by Daesh since last year was offset by the over 40 people killed in Beirut on Thursday by two suicide bombings claimed by Daesh which also looks like it was behind the mid-air explosion of the Russian jet over Sinai which killed 224 people two weeks ago.
The Paris attack came just a day after the reported killing of Mohammed Emwazi, the British citizen known as Jihadi John, the main figure in the Daesh videos showing the executions of American and Western hostages. It was Emwazi’s reported death which apparently led Obama and Kerry to speak too soon about Daesh’s imminent demise.
Friday was a day of horror, leaving France and the world in shock. The French will now lock down, mourn, fight back, and ask themselves and their government: what's next?
