11.13.2015 06:50 PM

Paris Friday 13th attacks

Open thread.

Be respectful and don’t be thoughtless.

Post in comments if you have something to help those with a connection to tonight’s terrible events – or if you have something you want to say to them/us.

For me? These:

33 Comments

  1. Matt says:

    It SHOULD make the government rethink a lot of things.

    Will it? No.

  2. Darren H says:

    Absolutely heartbroken at this. Paris is burning and innocent people are are dying. I am hoping that people can please finally see that Islamic extremism and terrorism IS an existential threat to Western Civilization. This is not an exaggeration. politically speaking Mr Trudeau and team CANNOT possibly repeal C-51, C-24, or bring these 25,000 refugees in without careful and LENGTHY screening. This is not fear-mongering, the threat is real and urgent. More so than any climate meeting. I truly hope that we never see this happen in any of our cities, or anywhere else. God Bless these poor folks and their families on this dark day.

    • doconnor says:

      Talk to me about it being an existential threat to Western Civilization when extremist kill more people then smoking or automobile accidents. The only power they have is your irrational fear.

      The refugees have come from a place where hundreds of thousands have been killed where there is an existential threat to Syria.

      • Darren H says:

        You don’t understand what can happen if the attacks in Paris were to continue over days or weeks. If the Govt cannot reestablish control, it will fall and likely be replaced by military rule. THATS the danger which would inevitably cause instability in all the Western Democracies. i have an awful feeling it is already too late for Western European countries to prevent this from happening in the future. Sadly its people like you who prevent us from confronting evil before it has grown out of control.

  3. SG says:

    I live in Paris not far from where one of the atrocities occurred.

    I’m currently in Toronto but will be returning to Paris next week (provided it’s even possible given the closed borders).

    I’m a little bit shaken up and don’t really where this will end. These kinds of attacks are almost becoming routine.

    I will not bring politics into this comment however I will say that recent events have hardened my opinions.

  4. littlemissbliss says:

    what terrible terrible days. based on what i know as of 8 pm friday the 13th (oh shit the date. fuck)
    1
    kinsella is so correct. events like this can change everything in a heartbeat especially during elections. if this had happened three weeks ago stephen harper would be prime minister today.
    2 try not to overeact. isis is the iraqi army after bremner disbanded same in 2003. oh what a web we weave.

    je suis desolez

  5. littlemissbliss says:

    if those responsible for today’s events in Paris are who we think they are there is no way you bring in 25.000 refugees for their sake and ours. sorry for the realpolitik and very callous pun but that ship has now sailed.

    • DougM says:

      Women and children first, longer screening on the men.

      • SG says:

        If Canada is to accept any refugees from this region, it must be family units only.

        Absolutely NO single young men.

        Ideal refugees would young families – parents in their 30s, with young children who will pick up English/French and assimilate easily.

  6. cgh says:

    It will also be interesting to see if and how attitudes shift towards allowing 25,000 Syrian refugees to enter by the end of the year.
    But Matt is right. There won’t be a shift in government defence or foreign policy until there’s a repetition of something like the attack on Parliament Hill.

  7. Al in Cranbrook says:

    I saw estimates of up to 4000 ISIS operatives entering Europe under the cover of the refugee crisis. Another suggested 2 out of every 1000.

    I made the point here, how many does it take?

    I don’t even want to think about where this is going, but the world just got the wake up call from hell, and the ground just shifted under the entirety of western civilization.

    • Matt says:

      Don’t rule out the possibility those responsible are French nationals that went to train and fight with ISIS and then came back to France to launch the attacks.

    • Sean says:

      Really Al? What was your source for the estimates?
      Daesh wants to sow havoc and scare the west into not helping the refugee crisis.
      Sadly Paris has had these challenges for a generation+, the criminals didn’t need to come across in a boat from Libya in the past couple years. BUT, having people begin to believe that has us all paralyze with fear and not do our part.
      Get a process, follow previously-tested risk mitigation strategies that our bureaucrats know well (families with more than two kids, etc) and have the balls to DOUBLE the target.
      The world needs more Canada, now is when we need to help, the most.
      Help bring the sunny ways.

      • Al in Cranbrook says:

        Why, Sean? You find those estimates not credible? Frankly, I’m inclined to think they’re optimistic. The truth is probably worse. 75% of the refugees were young men, as opposed to women, children and elderly. A hell of lot of them passed through on forged documents. I’m not making this up, get to work with Google and sort it out for yourself.

        Meanwhile, 40,000 prepare to gather in Paris to save the world from the greatest threat to civilization: The Weather.

        IMHO, we’ll be damn lucky if most of Europe isn’t in total lock down by then…in the event of which I’d proffer that the last thing on anyone’s mind…i.e., anyone with more than three functioning braincells…will be climate change.

        • littlemissbliss says:

          were you this outraged two weeks ago when a drone strike murdered dozens and destroyed several hospitals run by medicins sans frontieres? of course not. not a peep from most of you men. just a collective shrug and an unapologetic oops and cheap shots at a new government that is only three weeks old. you only care when the tragedies confirm your biases and the dead people are white.
          the only winners today are hypocrisy followed by hollow platitudes and solidarity parades that no one will remember until it happens again.

          • Matt says:

            Two days ago you had several posts deleted for implying a poster was a pedophile, now you’re back at it essentially accusing someone of being a misogynist and racist. Pathetic.

            Warren, looks like you’ve got a new Dan Calda on your hands.

  8. Curt says:

    “This is for Syria”.
    Text from concert hall in Paris.

  9. Derek Pearce says:

    1) Massive failure of intelligence.

    2)I’m sure the conference will go ahead– “we won’t be scared into timidity” and that kind of thing. Paris will probably be under full military occupation during it, but it’ll go ahead.

    3)Unless this can directly be traced specifically to ISIS and is not home-grown in France, this won’t change re the mission. I’ve said it before, but I’ll repeat this ad nauseum: without boots on the ground, bombing from 30 000 ft is an expensive way to feel like you’re doing something without accomplishing much.

  10. Wayne says:

    I honestly felt sorry for Trudeau. That live take he just did was brutal to watch. I hope he raises to the occasion but I’m doubtful….

  11. Ronald O'Dowd says:

    Warren,

    Families will be torn apart over this. Discussions with one of my brothers was already heated before this attack. I refuse to embrace the right-wing racist rhetoric of the National Front and others.

    I will never be into racial and religious profiling and scapegoating. However, I was completely wrong. It’s either fight them there or do it here. They have mustard gas and are happy to use it. The bombing missions need to continue. And may God help us all.

  12. JH says:

    Betcha Defense Minister Sajjan wishes he hadn’t told CBC this yesterday. “”ISIS is a threat, no doubt about that. Should we fear it? No. The Canadian population should have full confidence in all the security services to keep us safe.” I’m guessing he won’t be telling the folks this after Paris and if he and his cabinet colleagues have any sense at all, they’ll realize the previous government was right regarding going slow and with a complete vetting process.

  13. Maps Onburt says:

    To my Conservative friends. Let’s keep the politics out of this. There will be time for understanding and debating what should be done but today is for grieving the totally unacceptable losses our French friends have suffered in this terrible tragedy.

  14. Kelly says:

    Attacks abroad like this often occur when ISIS or Al Qaeda suffers a major defeat of some kind. ISIS just lost control of a strategic town to the Kurds and the Syrian Army and Russia have been squeezing ISIS hard in their own “home” region. These kinds of attacks are designed to give the impression that ISIS is still vital.

    Expect more attacks of this sort if ISIS continues to suffer important strategic losses on the battlefield.

    My intent is not to sound harsh but at the end of the day, little can be done to entirely stop attacks like this. The best thing to do is pause, say a prayer for victims and get on with your day. Don’t be too eager to let authorities push you around. Your chances of dying in a car crash are far, far higher than being killed by terrorists.

  15. This is the new normal. We need to get used to it.

    The old soldier in me says the only way to defeat ISIS is boots on the ground. Unfortunately the realist in me says that ISIS is an amalgam of ideas about western civilization and it’s impossible to destroy and idea. This isn’t about religion – this is a clash of civilizations. Ours which ISIS and radical Islam abhors and the Islamic controlled state they are trying to build in Syria and elsewhere.

    So, again, this is the new normal. We need to get used to it.

    IMHO, an attack like this will happen in Canada and as a nation, we aren’t psychologically prepared for it because “this is Canada, it could never happen here.” It’s just a matter of time.

  16. Ted H says:

    Those people had passports, may have had dual citizenship, they passed easily through borders and airports, they were not refugees. The two issues are not connected except at the source where the totally uncalled for invasion of IRAQ blew apart the fabric of society and state and created the conditions for both. Back when the PLO was killing Olympic athletes and hijacking planes no one was saying don’t allow any refugees. The Vietnamese boat people who were brought to Canada a few decades ago have contributed richly to our society and economy.

  17. Tim says:

    I’m as pissed of as anyone that a bunch of psychopaths carried out these attacks. My inclination is to call for an increased military response, my heart wants to annihilate ISIS. Logically though, I don’t know that this pays dividends. Look at what happened after 9/11. Much of the western world got bogged down in remote wars that destabilized the Arab world to the point that we’re obviously enduring the ramifications of it all. On the other hand, do we allow ISIS to maintain territory and financial resources? It’s not implausible that they get a nuclear bomb in the next few decades. Then what? I don’t know the right answers or if there are any.

  18. Matt says:

    Sky news reporting that one of the dead terrorists had a Syrian passport that was traced as having come through Greece in October.

  19. dean sherratt says:

    The Greek government has just announced that one of the assailants in Paris passed through Greece (via Leros island) on October 3 and had a Syrian passport. This is not very good news and raises questions about how one can effectively vet incoming refugees or engage in a strategy of risk management. or it may be that the European governments are simply overwhelmed and are accepting all comers who can make this or that frontier.

  20. JohnB says:

    Someone said: “take in women and children only, no single young men”. Do you really think this will protect us from Islamic terrorism?

    You do realize that in a couple of years that 50% of the children we take in will be single young men?

    Are you aware that a substantial number of young women have also been radicalized and joined ISIL?

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