TIBERIU DIANU Nice Not Anymore a Nice French City (Tiberiu Dianu © 2018)/caption
1. The Bloody Gift for the National Day
France has a long history of terrorist attacks carried out by a variety of groups (extreme left extreme right ethnic nationalist Basque Breton Corsican anti-colonialist Algerian and religious Islamist).
During a time span of over 200 years between December 24 1800 (an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Napoleon Bonaparte in Paris) and March 23 2018 (a lethal shooting and hostage taking in the towns of Carcassonne and Trbes in southern France) no terrorist attack took place during the French National Day on July 14.
With one single exception.
On July 14 2016 in the Mediterranean city of Nice at approximately 10:40pm local time (4:40pm EST) at the 227th anniversary of Bastille Day its national day France witnessed yet another terrorist attack resulting in 86 dead and 458 injured. The attacker a truck driver drove deliberately his vehicle at a high speed into a large crowd of people gathered on the Promenade des Anglais of the French Riviera city for a fireworks display.
The driver who was eventually killed by the police was zigzagging his vehicle for 1.2 miles (over two kilometers) at the crowd so that he could hit as many people as possible and was firing on the crowd as he drove. The authorities found the truck loaded with arms and grenades.
The perpetrator Mohamed Lahoualej Bouhlel a 31-year-old Tunisian resident of France had five prior criminal offenses including armed violence.
Due to the event Donald Trump the then-presumptive Republican presidential candidate postponed for a day his announcement for his vice-presidential pick (who eventually was the Indiana governor Mike Pence).
2. Some Good Stats to Wake Us Up
This attack continues a long list of terrorist attacks in France since the beginning of the 21st century.
From January 2001 to July 2016 France has been confronted with 18 terrorist attacks on its territory 16 of which were related to Islamist terrorists and two to European radical groups (the National Liberation Front of Corsica in 2003 also in Nice and the Basque ETA separatist group in 2007 in Capbreton near Biarritz). The majority of the attacks organized by Muslim jihadist militant individuals or groups have increased in a geometric progression frequency and number of casualties year after year.
Between 2004 and 2013 there were three attacks (one bombing one shooting and one stabbing) with a total number of victims of seven dead and 16 injured.
During 2014 there were three attacks all in December around Christmas (one stabbing and two vehicle ramming) with one dead and 24 injured.
During 2015 there were six attacks (two shootings; one shooting and stabbing; one event involving shootings hostage taking and suicide bombings the November 13-15 Paris attack; one stabbing; and one beheading) with 152 dead (including 130 in the Paris November attack) and 383 injured (including 352 in the Paris November attack).
During the first half of 2016 there were four attacks (two stabbings and two vehicle ramming events including the last Nice attack) with 89 dead (including 86 in the Nice attack) and 461 injured (including 458 in the Nice attack).
In terms of number of dead and injured (over 84 dead and over 202 injured respectively) the Nice attack is in solid second place after the Paris attack in November in the Bataclan club the Stade de France national stadium and elsewhere in the city (with 130 dead and 352 injured) and surpassing the other Paris attack on January 7-9 at the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine office (with 20 dead and 22 injured).
For an updated list of terrorist incidents in France see here.
It has become noticeable also that some attacks have been scheduled during major celebrations (national days and Christmas).
3. The First Reactions and Lessons to Be Learned
While media continues to describe people in this last attack as being shocked" and petrified" Ive said it and will say it again: enough with the medias perpetual lamenting!
Attacks of this type should be considered predictable by now. We are in a state of war and many fail to realize it.
While Westerners continue to be shocked and petrified the ISIS supporters cheer and celebrate the attacks on social media.
They keep on dreaming about the land of the Caliphate which shrinks daily in Iraq and Syria to the point it has become a virtual caliphate.
In the meantime moderate Muslims reacted anemically or at all.
Where is the moderate Muslims holy indignation? With every Islamic terrorist attack the former president Obama rushed to advise us not to put the blame on the whole Islamic community. The mainstream media strives to demonstrate that guns (and more recently trucks) kill people. We keep hearing that Christians are bad people too for they started those medieval crusades and attacked abortion clinics.
Everyone should assume their own responsibilities. Moderate Muslims (if they exist) should assume their problems religious and secular and stop playing the victims.
The reaction of French political authorities was weak. The then-President Hollande was in the south of the country when the attack occurred but he returned to Paris to the national crisis center. Initially he told reporters that he would not extend the state of emergency imposed after the Paris attacks in November 2015 due to expire on July 26 2016.
Later on he confirmed the extension for three additional months.
With the right intelligence work employed at the right time and place the series of the Islamic terrorist attacks should have been considered predictable and avoidable a long time ago. (with the right intelligence work employed at the right times and places) but on the contrary from our top administration officials. Instead they are surprising for the government.
On one hand we had a president - Barack (Hussein) Obama who lived in a perpetual state of denial and refused to call the attacks for what they really were: Islamic terrorist acts. On the other hand we have another former president - Franois Hollande - who was reluctant to extend the state of emergency because it would make no sense."
Two great countries the United States of America and France led by two weak and pathetic leftist presidents. What a shame!
NOTE - A version of the article was published previously in AMERICAN THINKER.
Tiberiu Dianu has published several books and a host of articles in law politics and post-communist societies. He currently lives and works in Washington DC and can be followed on MEDIUM.
*****
TIBERIU DIANU Nice Not Anymore a Nice French City (Tiberiu Dianu © 2018)/caption
1. The Bloody Gift for the National Day
France has a long history of terrorist attacks carried out by a variety of groups (extreme left extreme right ethnic nationalist Basque Breton Corsican anti-colonialist Algerian and religious Islamist).
During a time span of over 200 years between December 24 1800 (an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Napoleon Bonaparte in Paris) and March 23 2018 (a lethal shooting and hostage taking in the towns of Carcassonne and Trbes in southern France) no terrorist attack took place during the French National Day on July 14.
With one single exception.
On July 14 2016 in the Mediterranean city of Nice at approximately 10:40pm local time (4:40pm EST) at the 227th anniversary of Bastille Day its national day France witnessed yet another terrorist attack resulting in 86 dead and 458 injured. The attacker a truck driver drove deliberately his vehicle at a high speed into a large crowd of people gathered on the Promenade des Anglais of the French Riviera city for a fireworks display.
The driver who was eventually killed by the police was zigzagging his vehicle for 1.2 miles (over two kilometers) at the crowd so that he could hit as many people as possible and was firing on the crowd as he drove. The authorities found the truck loaded with arms and grenades.
The perpetrator Mohamed Lahoualej Bouhlel a 31-year-old Tunisian resident of France had five prior criminal offenses including armed violence.
Due to the event Donald Trump the then-presumptive Republican presidential candidate postponed for a day his announcement for his vice-presidential pick (who eventually was the Indiana governor Mike Pence).
2. Some Good Stats to Wake Us Up
This attack continues a long list of terrorist attacks in France since the beginning of the 21st century.
From January 2001 to July 2016 France has been confronted with 18 terrorist attacks on its territory 16 of which were related to Islamist terrorists and two to European radical groups (the National Liberation Front of Corsica in 2003 also in Nice and the Basque ETA separatist group in 2007 in Capbreton near Biarritz). The majority of the attacks organized by Muslim jihadist militant individuals or groups have increased in a geometric progression frequency and number of casualties year after year.
Between 2004 and 2013 there were three attacks (one bombing one shooting and one stabbing) with a total number of victims of seven dead and 16 injured.
During 2014 there were three attacks all in December around Christmas (one stabbing and two vehicle ramming) with one dead and 24 injured.
During 2015 there were six attacks (two shootings; one shooting and stabbing; one event involving shootings hostage taking and suicide bombings the November 13-15 Paris attack; one stabbing; and one beheading) with 152 dead (including 130 in the Paris November attack) and 383 injured (including 352 in the Paris November attack).
During the first half of 2016 there were four attacks (two stabbings and two vehicle ramming events including the last Nice attack) with 89 dead (including 86 in the Nice attack) and 461 injured (including 458 in the Nice attack).
In terms of number of dead and injured (over 84 dead and over 202 injured respectively) the Nice attack is in solid second place after the Paris attack in November in the Bataclan club the Stade de France national stadium and elsewhere in the city (with 130 dead and 352 injured) and surpassing the other Paris attack on January 7-9 at the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine office (with 20 dead and 22 injured).
For an updated list of terrorist incidents in France see here.
It has become noticeable also that some attacks have been scheduled during major celebrations (national days and Christmas).
3. The First Reactions and Lessons to Be Learned
While media continues to describe people in this last attack as being shocked" and petrified" Ive said it and will say it again: enough with the medias perpetual lamenting!
Attacks of this type should be considered predictable by now. We are in a state of war and many fail to realize it.
While Westerners continue to be shocked and petrified the ISIS supporters cheer and celebrate the attacks on social media.
They keep on dreaming about the land of the Caliphate which shrinks daily in Iraq and Syria to the point it has become a virtual caliphate.
In the meantime moderate Muslims reacted anemically or at all.
Where is the moderate Muslims holy indignation? With every Islamic terrorist attack the former president Obama rushed to advise us not to put the blame on the whole Islamic community. The mainstream media strives to demonstrate that guns (and more recently trucks) kill people. We keep hearing that Christians are bad people too for they started those medieval crusades and attacked abortion clinics.
Everyone should assume their own responsibilities. Moderate Muslims (if they exist) should assume their problems religious and secular and stop playing the victims.
The reaction of French political authorities was weak. The then-President Hollande was in the south of the country when the attack occurred but he returned to Paris to the national crisis center. Initially he told reporters that he would not extend the state of emergency imposed after the Paris attacks in November 2015 due to expire on July 26 2016.
Later on he confirmed the extension for three additional months.
With the right intelligence work employed at the right time and place the series of the Islamic terrorist attacks should have been considered predictable and avoidable a long time ago. (with the right intelligence work employed at the right times and places) but on the contrary from our top administration officials. Instead they are surprising for the government.
On one hand we had a president - Barack (Hussein) Obama who lived in a perpetual state of denial and refused to call the attacks for what they really were: Islamic terrorist acts. On the other hand we have another former president - Franois Hollande - who was reluctant to extend the state of emergency because it would make no sense."
Two great countries the United States of America and France led by two weak and pathetic leftist presidents. What a shame!
NOTE - A version of the article was published previously in AMERICAN THINKER.
Tiberiu Dianu has published several books and a host of articles in law politics and post-communist societies. He currently lives and works in Washington DC and can be followed on MEDIUM.
*****