The American people stand with the people of France. Friday’s terror attacks were not just an attack on Paris; they were an attack on all humanity and the universal values we share, including the bonds of liberte, egalite, and fraternite. These values will endure far beyond any terrorists or their hateful vision. The United States and our allies do not give in to fear, nor will we be divided, nor will anyone change our way of life. We will do whatever it takes, working with nations and peoples around the world, to bring the perpetrators of these attacks to justice, and to go after terrorists who threaten our people.
As a mark of respect for the victims of the senseless acts of violence perpetrated on November 13, 2015, in Paris, France, by the authority vested in me as President of the United States by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset, November 19, 2015. I also direct that the flag shall be flown at half-staff for the same length of time at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fifteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord two thousand fifteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fortieth.
BARACK OBAMA
Thank you for posting this
Fortunately, France was able to kill most all of the terrorists. But fear not, Obama wasted no time is restocking the pool – Obama releases 5 more Gitmo Detainees back into the field.http://thehill.com/policy/defense/260226-pentagon-announces-five-guantanamo-transfers
Feck off John there’s a good chap
Your own link shows you are not telling the truth (in other words, lying) john. The detainees were transferred to the custody of one of our allies, the UAE. They were not released. President Obama is trying to close the prison in GITMO, which is something sane Americans favor. However, he is being thwarted by the clueless conservatives in Congress.
They were transported to UAE which out of our control. It’s another country. Again Obama is simply passing the buck and the responsibility that some other country will apparently watch off the the terrorists. UAE is an Arab country and there are terrorists groups all over the place in that section of the world. I don’t believe for a second that those Terrorists are in anyway secure. Obama is a muslim. It has been proven again and again and again. Clearly Obama supports ISIS which why Obama must be impeached. Fortunately we only have 1 more year left of Obama and hopefully Donald Trump will come who will do a complete lock down on country. No Syrian refugees and all you illegals – GET OUT!!!
Not really., The police shot one. The other ones blew themselves up, which was their intention to begin with.
Curiously, the ones near the Stadium blew themselves up without seriously injuring anyone, even though they could have (a) waited and hit the departing crowd, or (b) find a local cafe or restaurant or subway station, etc.
The police theorizes that they were told to blow themselves up at a preset time, and did so mindlessly, notwithstanding the fact that by doing so, they weren’t actually accomplishing their goal.
I suppose in order to become a suicide bomber, one must be a bit of a mindless automaton when it comes to following orders.
Many many people were quite lucky then and there. There could have been more slaughter.
I was hesitant to write about the subject, not because it’s not important, but because I didn’t feel that I could do it justice. I’m grateful that the President said something as the representative of the United States that I could post.
I believe in the value of people of good will around the world standing together against the forces of chaos and thuggery.
I (& many others) remain wholly unconvinced that (many? most of?) Gitmo detainees were/are (a) guilty of anything in particular, and (b) a present danger to our societies.
So far all the evidence shows that our terrorists are homegrown, disaffected and socially alienated children/grandchildren of the first wave of Muslim workers from the 1960s and 70s, who became first pretty criminals and then were lured by the siren songs of radical preachers. Pretty much nothing in common with the profile of your detainees.
I’ll add that if blame was to be apportioned, President Obama might be blamed for what some might see as an indiscriminate use of killing drones, but not for his peace efforts; one might argue that President Bush’s entirely illegal invasion of Iraq was far more of a constitutive factor is the present ISIS crisis than anything President Obama has done.
Also, most western nations have been woefully lax in checking and tightening financial controls aimed at the Gulf States and emirates, or those entities which purchase oil on the black market. In the same fashion as some American and British companies continued to deal with German Nazi concerns even during WWII, there are powerful US, British and, yes, French concerns (cough TOTAL cough) today which turn a blind eye to terrorist-related financial activities.
As always, reality is far more complex than your naive, ignorant view of the world.
Now you’re simply mad as a hatter.
Another complete fabrication.
The issue is complicated, but let’s start with the obvious realization that these refugees are fleeing from the people who committed the atrocities; they are not the ones doing the killing.
Now, yes, there may be “moles” (to use the traditional time-honored espionage term) among them — in the same fashion that there were or may have been Soviet moles among some of the European refugees from WWII who fled to the US.
The smart thing to do is to try to find the moles through clever intelligence, but not throw the baby with the bathwater, either because of (a) religious (you don’t seem to be very religious for a right-wing nut?), (b) humanistic, or (c) simply practical considerations.
Your country after all benefited mightily from the influx of foreign scientists and engineers after WWII, and even today many immigrants contribute mightily to the wealth and growth of the United States.
Basically john and a growing number of US governors are saying all Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany should’ve been rejected because there may have been Nazis among them.
Here is something worth reading:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the-belgian-neighborhood-indelibly-linked-to-jihad/2015/11/15/02bba49c-8b39-11e5-bd91-d385b244482f_story.html
And here is the money quote:
“They emerged from an unusual social clash that has prevented Molenbeek from becoming a Belgian melting pot. Fifty years ago, a wave of immigrants came from Morocco and Turkey. Later, exiles from Libya and Egypt arrived. But in the 1970s, Benyaich said, Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf countries sent funding for rigid religious schools, setting up tension between Wahabbi mosques and the more moderate and largely Moroccan tradition.”
[italics mine.]
Our “friends” the Saudi again.
As i said, if President Bush had been either serious or competent about if not stopping but at least curbing down terrorism, there were targets far richer in the Gulf States than Iraq, which was actually a buffer or buttress against the fanatics.
—–
John is a fascist. It has been proven again and again and again.
Agreed. Too bad john decided to drop his load of BS here.
It’s terrible that the tragedy in France had to happen but but maybe one good thing that can come out of this is that marginalization of the right wing nincompoops in the US who have belittled France since they made the (correct as it turns out) decision not to join the invasion if Iraq in 2004.
It is precisely the same moral issue as with the MS St. Louis, but that seems to have been forgotten.
I have voraciously consumed all information on the Paris attacks, and yet I first learned of this detail from you.
As Jon Stewart brilliantly said, “Learning curves re for pussies”:
http://www.alternet.org/video/watch-jon-stewarts-definitive-takedown-our-endless-middle-east-stupidity
He’s the least observant Muslim you’ll find, then.
A very important “detail” as you will agree.
Why did they blow themselves up in such a mostly useless fashion? (I mean, in terms of their goals.)
No one knows for sure. Stupidity and mindless obedience to orders seem to be the most logical answer… but no one knows for certain.
If you can google translate this, this is French HUFFPOST on the “mystery” of the Stadium terrorists’ behavior:
http://www.huffingtonpost.fr/2015/11/15/kamikazes-stade-de-france-mystere-comportement_n_8568314.html
Yes, there are now also Paris truthers.
http://www.salon.com/2015/11/16/here_come_the_paris_truthers_theres_no_such_thing_as_isis_its_a_creation_of_the_u_s/
I think this is exactly the right sentiment for people like John doing everything they can to aid and abet the terrorists and further their goals. I belive that it is the hatred, intolerance and stupidity of his ilk that is, even now, securing the recruitment of the next generation of terrorists.
It’s a good line, isn’t it?
One could almost make one of those internet acronyms out of it.
FOJTAGC.
The United States, to its everlasting shame, did little to help Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany come to the United States from 1938 on. One rationale was the specious idea that European Jews might be blackmailed into working as German agents.
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007094
We are seeing the same kind of xenophobia and irrational fear today.
A good example of the limitations of algorithmic translation.
“Perhaps they were not very clever, they had not managed to position where they should have, they have made farting at a time when they were told”
Let me offer a speculation.
Let us suppose that the suicide bombers were being coerced (“we will kill your families unless you detonate”) or given an incentive (“we will pay for your child’s surgery if you detonate”). Suppose the suicide bombers were morally opposed to killing innocent people, and so blew themselves up in an isolated place intentionally?
I lived in the UAE for 7 years. They quite enjoy being on America’s good side for trade, strategy, and security reasons. They even hate Iran more than we currently do. So if they’re saying they’re going to look after those detainees, they’re going to be well looked after. Whether that’s a good thing or not is questionable, given how the UAE’s law works at times, but it’s not like they’re going to hand them each 500 dirhams and put them on a plane for home after a month.
Entirely possible. We will never know, of course.
I read that the terrorists had a “safe hotel” where they prepared. Needles and syringes were found, and witnesses reported that some of the terrorists looked like “the living dead.” My guess is that some were drugged up enough to to calm them down, but too much to figure out what to do if the plan hit a snag. So they just detonated.
It seems to have been discussed more over here; my girlfriend (who reads a lot about current incidents whereas I usually stay out of it) already told me about that shortly after the attacks.
It’s also possible the bombs were time-activated (in case the suicide bombers would change their mind) and the terrorists just happened to have been further away from their intended target (possibly the stadium itself) than originally planned.
What I don’t get is the inconsistency in the suicidal behaviour itself.
The Bataclan killers could’ve easily tried to run after mowing down their victims. This sounds like they were indoctrinated to do it all to die “heroically” and be rewarded with “heaven”.
However one survivor decided to run instead of waiting to be killed while taking out other people.
So either some actually *are* able to change their mind to “I wanna live!” or they simply have a strange strategy – they certainly could’ve killed more people if they had planned differently (I assume 8 people with AK-47’s shooting the 80,000 leaving the stadium would’ve killed much more people before being killed themselves).
How many terrorists are there, john?
You are aware that all of the known Paris terrorists are European nationals?
Too bad someone hadn’t said that to your ancestors.
You are aware that back then there weren’t any immigration laws. Your ancestors were lucky, and by extension YOU are lucky.
You might want to consider what it would have been like if people like you were spewing your hate speech against immigrants back then.
A real human would consider that, and modify his empathy as a result.
Lets see if you’re a real human being, John.
Perhaps we might need to screen Syrian refugees (and maybe provide some kind of fast-track to deportation for those engaging in suspicious behavior) rather than simply deny help to any and all such persons?
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+25%3A31-46&version=MSG