… reports say at least 129 people died and more than 350 were wounded in last Friday’s attacks
writes
Carine Martinez-Gouhier at the Federalist;
99 people are still in critical condition. Terrorists all carried
powerful rifles and suicide bomb vests, which they did not hesitate to
detonate. Not only were those attacks the most deadly Paris has known in the past
decades, they are likely to tremendously impact the way of life of
Parisians and French people in the months to come. …
The Terrorists Chose Specifically French Targets
… In their statement claiming responsibility for the attacks, ISIS
declared targets were carefully chosen in advance. In fact, while the Charlie Hebdo
attack aimed to suppress free speech, the November 13 attacks targeted
activities that are dear to Parisians, symbols of the French joie de vivre:
restaurants where diners were enjoying food and drinks on a Friday
night, a soccer game (soccer is France’s favorite sport), and a
legendary Parisian concert venue.
The attacks were obviously meant to make as many victims as possible
and to change the way the French would go about their life. French
President Francois Hollande started this by asking Parisians to stay
home. But his recommendation was probably not necessary.
… By definition, terrorism is meant to create a state of fear in the
population. Economically, this is not good for France, of course, which
is already struggling to reach an estimated 1.1 percent growth rate for
2015. More worrisome is how the country might be politically impacted by
the attacks. The temptation to turn to populist voices may be easy.
Although the next presidential election will take place in 2017, results
from regional elections next month might give us a hint (supposing
people will go out to vote). Marine Le Pen’s far-right Front National
Party might end up gaining more support following the events.
Mourn, Then Take Action
What can be done, then?
The French should first give themselves time to mourn their dead.
Three days of national mourning started on Sunday, November 15.
Emotional reactions to the attacks should then be followed by serious
questioning about the effectiveness of several policies.
There are times in life when one wishes to be wrong. Sadly, I
can’t say we did not see these attacks coming. Not only had ISIS warned
France several times, but it is no secret that some areas of France, and
some suburbs of Paris, have become fertile breeding ground for
Islamization of young people and weapons trafficking. This problem
should be addressed without having to play contortionist to avoid
hurting the feelings of anyone.
France has very restrictive speech laws. Forbid people to engage in
open debate, and unscrupulous politicians will exploit fears. Open
debate would bring additional ideas, probably good and bad, on how to
better fight the enemy we are facing. Anyone who opposes the attacks
should be able to understand that. To use a popular expression these
days, the victims of the attacks received no trigger warnings (no pun
intended) before being executed in cold blood. Censoring fears will not
help.
A good example would start with debating allowing the French to be
able to carry guns to defend themselves and their loved ones, if
necessary. Do we need further evidence that strict gun laws do not
prevent criminals from obtaining deadly weapons to commit their crimes?
The police will never be able to react soon enough to all dangerous
situations, not to mention cases like Friday’s attacks, in which the
goal is to kill as many people as possible. Someone carrying a gun might
not have stopped the attacks, but the death toll might have been
reduced. After the November 13 attacks, the French deserve to at least
have the opportunity to debate whether gun control has made their livee
safer.
