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| The Observer view on the Paris attacks | The Observer view on the Paris attacks |
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| On a battlefield, soldiers fight and die. It is expected. But when unfettered, military-style violence comes to the streets of a busy city, on a Friday evening, when people are enjoying a drink and a bite, or attending a rock concert, or watching a football match, or just relaxing after a hard week, there is no such expectation. Nobody is fighting. Nobody is at war. | On a battlefield, soldiers fight and die. It is expected. But when unfettered, military-style violence comes to the streets of a busy city, on a Friday evening, when people are enjoying a drink and a bite, or attending a rock concert, or watching a football match, or just relaxing after a hard week, there is no such expectation. Nobody is fighting. Nobody is at war. |
| Until, suddenly, the shooting starts. Amid the pitiless tap-tap of Kalashnikovs and the thud of bullets comes a fleeting moment of utter shock born of incredulity, survivors say, that this could be happening here and now. And then, engulfed by screams and panic and automatic gunfire, people begin to die. | Until, suddenly, the shooting starts. Amid the pitiless tap-tap of Kalashnikovs and the thud of bullets comes a fleeting moment of utter shock born of incredulity, survivors say, that this could be happening here and now. And then, engulfed by screams and panic and automatic gunfire, people begin to die. |
| The gunmen of Islamic State turned central Paris into a bloody battlefield on Friday evening, a war zone created without warning, without mercy and without a shred of moral justification. They killed with vengeance in their hearts and the words “Syria” and “Iraq” on their lips. They brought a war that has raged unchecked in a distant region to the doorsteps and tables and bar counters of a faraway city that until now, despite previous attacks, had remained largely detached. | The gunmen of Islamic State turned central Paris into a bloody battlefield on Friday evening, a war zone created without warning, without mercy and without a shred of moral justification. They killed with vengeance in their hearts and the words “Syria” and “Iraq” on their lips. They brought a war that has raged unchecked in a distant region to the doorsteps and tables and bar counters of a faraway city that until now, despite previous attacks, had remained largely detached. |
| That sense of separateness ended on Friday evening. If there was complacency, it too has disappeared entirely. Isis brought their fight to their enemy. As President François Hollande declared on Saturday, France has been the target of an act of war. | That sense of separateness ended on Friday evening. If there was complacency, it too has disappeared entirely. Isis brought their fight to their enemy. As President François Hollande declared on Saturday, France has been the target of an act of war. |
| France is not alone. The frightening sense of vulnerability that the attack has induced is shared by every citizen and every government in the alliance of countries – European, American and Arab – that vowed to purge Syria and Iraq of the Isis menace. There will be inquests among France’s security establishment. There will be many questions to answer. | France is not alone. The frightening sense of vulnerability that the attack has induced is shared by every citizen and every government in the alliance of countries – European, American and Arab – that vowed to purge Syria and Iraq of the Isis menace. There will be inquests among France’s security establishment. There will be many questions to answer. |
| Where did the eight gunmen come from? Were they French born and raised? How did they come by their weapons and their training – for well trained and disciplined they certainly were? Did they have accomplices among France’s large Muslim community? Were they acting on their own initiative, as part of an unknown France-based cell, or were they following orders from Raqqa in Syria or from another Isis stronghold? | Where did the eight gunmen come from? Were they French born and raised? How did they come by their weapons and their training – for well trained and disciplined they certainly were? Did they have accomplices among France’s large Muslim community? Were they acting on their own initiative, as part of an unknown France-based cell, or were they following orders from Raqqa in Syria or from another Isis stronghold? |
| Yet even if all these questions are answered fully and conclusively, this sense of a shared vulnerability, arising from Friday’s horrors, will not be dispelled. In the final analysis, it is not possible to completely protect cities such as Paris, London, Brussels or Rome from suicidal, marauding, rolling assaults of this kind. To try to do so would be to risk destroying the very freedoms, the lifestyles and the open, tolerant cultures that the terrorists, with their twisted creed of hate and bigotry, detest so much. It would be to do the killers’ job for them. | Yet even if all these questions are answered fully and conclusively, this sense of a shared vulnerability, arising from Friday’s horrors, will not be dispelled. In the final analysis, it is not possible to completely protect cities such as Paris, London, Brussels or Rome from suicidal, marauding, rolling assaults of this kind. To try to do so would be to risk destroying the very freedoms, the lifestyles and the open, tolerant cultures that the terrorists, with their twisted creed of hate and bigotry, detest so much. It would be to do the killers’ job for them. |
| France cannot afford an emotional descent into prejudice, ostracism and racism | |
| Increased surveillance measures may be necessary. Greater official intrusiveness into the private lives of citizens through expanded data and internet access laws may come to be seen as unavoidable. But total security is an illusion. And so, as France tries to learn the lessons and picks over the bones of this latest atrocity, every democratic country in the world has an intimate interest in its findings – and in knowing what more might be done to strike an acceptable balance between safety and liberty. | Increased surveillance measures may be necessary. Greater official intrusiveness into the private lives of citizens through expanded data and internet access laws may come to be seen as unavoidable. But total security is an illusion. And so, as France tries to learn the lessons and picks over the bones of this latest atrocity, every democratic country in the world has an intimate interest in its findings – and in knowing what more might be done to strike an acceptable balance between safety and liberty. |
| France is not alone. In its grief and anger, there is a very real risk Friday’s outrage may inflame political tensions, and not only in France. The solidarity shown by a million marchers after the killings at Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris in January was impressive, but fleeting. There were similar outpourings across Europe. The real danger now is that, as the sharp pang of fear subsides, many will start looking for somebody or something to blame. | France is not alone. In its grief and anger, there is a very real risk Friday’s outrage may inflame political tensions, and not only in France. The solidarity shown by a million marchers after the killings at Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris in January was impressive, but fleeting. There were similar outpourings across Europe. The real danger now is that, as the sharp pang of fear subsides, many will start looking for somebody or something to blame. |
| Members of France’s substantial Muslim minority are obvious targets in a country where policies of assimilation, preferred to British-style multiculturalism, have failed in significant respects. Often consigned to low-paid jobs and desolate housing projects, offended by the secular republic’s inflexible disdain for the veil and other symbols of the Islamic faith, insecure in their standing as equal citizens, and volubly abused by extremist and far-right groups, France’s Muslims will fear a backlash. | Members of France’s substantial Muslim minority are obvious targets in a country where policies of assimilation, preferred to British-style multiculturalism, have failed in significant respects. Often consigned to low-paid jobs and desolate housing projects, offended by the secular republic’s inflexible disdain for the veil and other symbols of the Islamic faith, insecure in their standing as equal citizens, and volubly abused by extremist and far-right groups, France’s Muslims will fear a backlash. |
| Confrontation on the streets is a possibility. But also at the ballot box. Next month will see regional elections across France in which the xenophobic, always divisive Front National led by Marine Le Pen was already expected to do exceptionally well. What happened in Paris may now fuel the FN’s rise. Politicians from Hollande’s Socialist party and Nicolas Sarkozy’s centre-right bloc thus face an urgent challenge in ensuring, together, that the broadly moderate centre holds. | Confrontation on the streets is a possibility. But also at the ballot box. Next month will see regional elections across France in which the xenophobic, always divisive Front National led by Marine Le Pen was already expected to do exceptionally well. What happened in Paris may now fuel the FN’s rise. Politicians from Hollande’s Socialist party and Nicolas Sarkozy’s centre-right bloc thus face an urgent challenge in ensuring, together, that the broadly moderate centre holds. |
| France cannot afford an emotional descent into prejudice, ostracism and racism. Nor can Europe. In Germany, in Britain, in Poland and elsewhere, rightwing extremist parties that habitually target and scapegoat Muslims, particularly Muslim refugees from Syria, would like nothing better than to see France lapse into polarisation, recrimination and deepening division. It would suit the purposes of Isis and al-Qaida, too, should Friday’s events serve further to radicalise and divide. How else may fanatics of their ugly stripe hope to impose their will? For these reasons, all of Europe’s political class must now stand with France. | |
| France is not alone. For neither France alone, nor any other single country, could now begin to master the enormous challenges posed by the spreading Isis cancer. Since the Charlie Hebdo attacks, Isis gunmen and suicide bombers have struck repeatedly and over a large area. Last month, they killed more than 100 people in Turkey. Last summer, they sprayed beaches with bullets in Tunisia. Last week, they caused carnage in a Shia Muslim neighbourhood in Beirut. | France is not alone. For neither France alone, nor any other single country, could now begin to master the enormous challenges posed by the spreading Isis cancer. Since the Charlie Hebdo attacks, Isis gunmen and suicide bombers have struck repeatedly and over a large area. Last month, they killed more than 100 people in Turkey. Last summer, they sprayed beaches with bullets in Tunisia. Last week, they caused carnage in a Shia Muslim neighbourhood in Beirut. |
| Isis also destroyed a Russian airliner over Sinai this month, killing all 224 people on board, apparently in retaliation for President Vladimir Putin’s decision to intervene militarily in Syria. Although Moscow has yet to officially confirm that an Isis bomb caused the disaster, there seems little doubt that it did. | Isis also destroyed a Russian airliner over Sinai this month, killing all 224 people on board, apparently in retaliation for President Vladimir Putin’s decision to intervene militarily in Syria. Although Moscow has yet to officially confirm that an Isis bomb caused the disaster, there seems little doubt that it did. |
| The attack on the Russian plane indicated that Isis now presents a higher level of threat than had been previously understood. If Isis was able to circumvent all the elaborate security measures introduced by airlines and airports since the 9/11 attacks, then at this point, no future flight, train or tube journey seems wholly safe. | The attack on the Russian plane indicated that Isis now presents a higher level of threat than had been previously understood. If Isis was able to circumvent all the elaborate security measures introduced by airlines and airports since the 9/11 attacks, then at this point, no future flight, train or tube journey seems wholly safe. |
| If that alarming conclusion is to be overturned, concerted international action is needed on this and on other aspects of co-operative security. In Europe, the EU commission could play a crucial co-ordinating role. After its abject failure to manage the migrant crisis, helping to reassure the French and improve safety standards in Europe’s public places could be a major plus. | If that alarming conclusion is to be overturned, concerted international action is needed on this and on other aspects of co-operative security. In Europe, the EU commission could play a crucial co-ordinating role. After its abject failure to manage the migrant crisis, helping to reassure the French and improve safety standards in Europe’s public places could be a major plus. |
| France is not alone. It is part of a coalition formed to “degrade and destroy” Isis, in Barack Obama’s words. Its combat aircraft have been in action over Syria and Iraq for several months. Hollande recently dispatched an aircraft carrier to the eastern Mediterranean. In its statement claiming responsibility on Saturday, Isis said it was France’s role in these operations that led to the Paris attacks. | France is not alone. It is part of a coalition formed to “degrade and destroy” Isis, in Barack Obama’s words. Its combat aircraft have been in action over Syria and Iraq for several months. Hollande recently dispatched an aircraft carrier to the eastern Mediterranean. In its statement claiming responsibility on Saturday, Isis said it was France’s role in these operations that led to the Paris attacks. |
| Even so, it is the Americans who perform most of the air combat missions. Britain, to the annoyance of Washington and to the evident chagrin of David Cameron and his defence secretary, Michael Fallon, is involved in Iraq, but not in Syria. The Arab members of the coalition, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Qatar, have largely diverted their planes to the war against Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen. | Even so, it is the Americans who perform most of the air combat missions. Britain, to the annoyance of Washington and to the evident chagrin of David Cameron and his defence secretary, Michael Fallon, is involved in Iraq, but not in Syria. The Arab members of the coalition, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Qatar, have largely diverted their planes to the war against Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen. |
| The Turks are more interested in bombing Kurds than jihadis. Canada’s new prime minister, Justin Trudeau, is pulling out of the campaign altogether. The Russians, meanwhile, do their own thing, which is more about propping Syria’s embattled president, Bashar al-Assad, than defeating Isis. | The Turks are more interested in bombing Kurds than jihadis. Canada’s new prime minister, Justin Trudeau, is pulling out of the campaign altogether. The Russians, meanwhile, do their own thing, which is more about propping Syria’s embattled president, Bashar al-Assad, than defeating Isis. |
| It must be plain even to the inexpert eye that such a chaotic, incoherent military effort is unlikely to meet with any great success, even if it includes credible ground forces, which at present it does not. Again, what is needed, more urgently than ever, is a more co-ordinated approach. A common strategy with common objectives and a common approach is what is required to make the air war against Isis more effective. And after Paris, there will be pressure on Jeremy Corbyn to reconsider Labour’s opposition to extending RAF operations into Syria. | It must be plain even to the inexpert eye that such a chaotic, incoherent military effort is unlikely to meet with any great success, even if it includes credible ground forces, which at present it does not. Again, what is needed, more urgently than ever, is a more co-ordinated approach. A common strategy with common objectives and a common approach is what is required to make the air war against Isis more effective. And after Paris, there will be pressure on Jeremy Corbyn to reconsider Labour’s opposition to extending RAF operations into Syria. |
| Crucially, this stepped-up effort must include greater command and operational integration with the Russians. This is not to say Crimea’s annexation is suddenly forgiven. Putin’s vandalism in eastern Ukraine is not forgotten either. Moscow under current management is a difficult and unreliable partner. But the urgency of the present threat demands that these concerns be set aside, for the time being at least, in order to defeat the greater evil. | Crucially, this stepped-up effort must include greater command and operational integration with the Russians. This is not to say Crimea’s annexation is suddenly forgiven. Putin’s vandalism in eastern Ukraine is not forgotten either. Moscow under current management is a difficult and unreliable partner. But the urgency of the present threat demands that these concerns be set aside, for the time being at least, in order to defeat the greater evil. |
| In the end, however, more war is not the answer. If other European and Middle Eastern cities are to avoid the agony experienced by Paris, the international community must finally tackle head on the problem that lies at the heart of this rolling, expanding terrorist crisis – Syria. | In the end, however, more war is not the answer. If other European and Middle Eastern cities are to avoid the agony experienced by Paris, the international community must finally tackle head on the problem that lies at the heart of this rolling, expanding terrorist crisis – Syria. |
| The civil war has now been raging for more than four years. More than half the country’s population is displaced. Millions have fled to Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon. Hundreds of thousands are now heading for Europe, a massively destabilising event that daily threatens the unity of the EU itself. | The civil war has now been raging for more than four years. More than half the country’s population is displaced. Millions have fled to Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon. Hundreds of thousands are now heading for Europe, a massively destabilising event that daily threatens the unity of the EU itself. |
| The anarchy inside Syria has allowed Isis, and other groups linked to al-Qaida, to seize territory and wealth. They feed on the chaos caused by the war. And yet half-baked international peace efforts have repeatedly floundered. Building on the recent, more inclusive peace process sponsored by the UN, it is high time to end this impasse. | The anarchy inside Syria has allowed Isis, and other groups linked to al-Qaida, to seize territory and wealth. They feed on the chaos caused by the war. And yet half-baked international peace efforts have repeatedly floundered. Building on the recent, more inclusive peace process sponsored by the UN, it is high time to end this impasse. |
| The US, Russia, Britain, France, the leading Arab states and Iran, too, all now have an ever more obvious, shared interest in ending an incredibly destructive conflict that threatens us all. They must act together – and so prove, conclusively, that France, at this time of terrible anguish, is not alone. | The US, Russia, Britain, France, the leading Arab states and Iran, too, all now have an ever more obvious, shared interest in ending an incredibly destructive conflict that threatens us all. They must act together – and so prove, conclusively, that France, at this time of terrible anguish, is not alone. |
| • Comments will be opened later today | • Comments will be opened later today |
| TERRORISM | TERRORISM |
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