Stephen Lendman Asks Legitimate Questions About French Attacks

Stephen Lendman Asks Legitimate Questions About French Attacks

Blowback or False Flag in Paris?

by Stephen Lendman

It’s too soon to know for sure. Given French complicity with ongoing US state terror throughout the Middle East, North Africa and elsewhere, odds strongly favor the latter.

Multiple likely well-planned Friday night attacks in Paris had a disturbing aroma to them – including France’s knee-jerk police state reaction. More on this below. Here’s what happened.

At least seven apparently well-coordinated attacks occurred, gunmen with automatic weapons and suicide belts killing over 150 victims. Many others were injured. Stade de France stadium was struck during a football (soccer) match between France and Germany.

So was the Bataclan theater during a concert, restaurants full of patrons, a cinema, and pedestrians on Bichat Street, the Avenue de la Republique and Boulevard Beaumarchais.

Reports indicated other Paris locations were attacked, including the Forum des Halles shopping area attracting an estimated 150,000 daily visitors.

The predictable aftermath so far includes French President Francois Hollande declaring a state of emergency – effectively suspending constitutional rights under martial law.

“Two decisions will be taken,” Hollande announced. “The state of emergency will be decreed, which means several places will be closed off, and traffic will be limited in certain areas.”

“The state of emergency will apply across the country. The second decision I have taken is to close the borders, so that the people who have committed these crimes can be apprehended.” 

“We know where this attack came from. We must show compassion and solidarity, but we must also show we are united. There is much to fear, but we must face these fears as a nation that knows how to muster its forces and will confront the terrorists.”

Heavily armed French soldiers were deployed around key Parisian locations. Five metro lines were shut. Orly airport flights were suspended. All city schools and universities were closed.

De facto martial law legitimizes repressive police state powers. Constitutional protections are suspended. Following the April 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, a no-fly zone was ordered over a 3.5 mile radius of the incident.

Swat teams conducted pre-dawn raids throughout the greater area. Residents were terrorized. Helicopters patrolled overhead. Police and FBI operatives were everywhere. Managed news misinformation substituted for accurate reporting.

Post-9/11, Bush claimed unconstitutional “unitary executive” authority to govern extrajudicially in the name of national security. 

He declared (phony) war on terror and hot war on Afghanistan. Iraq, Libya, Syria, Donbass and Yemen followed. Police state laws were enacted – still in force. Repressive National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directives were announced.

Hollande cancelled his G-20 summit participation, scheduled for November 15 and 16 in Turkey. It’s unclear if Obama will attend. The world’s leading perpetrator of state terrorism offered France “full support,” duplicitously saying America shares the bonds of “liberte, egalite and fraternite.”

US post-9/11 knee-jerk reaction blamed bin Laden and Al Qaeda for the attack – the mother of all Big Lies, we now know.

ISIS was automatically blamed for the Paris attacks – despite no evidence so far establishing responsibility. Official statements, actions and media hype created an atmosphere of fear, a likely public willingness to sacrifice freedom for so-called security, a rationale for harsh measures to try stemming the human refugee flood caused by US-led imperial wars, and a desire for revenge. 

Perhaps the stage is set for escalated Western wars OF terror instead of unity to battle the scourge of ISIS and likeminded groups. Were Friday attacks state-sponsored terrorism – a carefully staged false flag for whatever may follow?

Herman Goering once explained how easy it is to get people to go along with “the bidding of the leaders…All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country,” he said.

Friday Paris attacks were either blowback for Western wars on Islam or a state-sponsored false flag. Odds strongly favor the latter. Sordid Western history of false flags for subsequent planned events suggests it.

On September 20, 2001, George Bush lied to Congress and the public, claiming America was attacked because we are “a beacon of freedom.” The attackers were “evil. This is civilization’s fight.” He suppressed Washington’s direct responsibility for what happened, perhaps complicit with Israel’s Mossad.

The aftermath of 9/11 is clear – endless US-led imperial wars, a phony Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), an assault on fundamental human and civil rights, police state harshness replacing them, an America unfit to live in.

Will France and other European countries become more belligerent and repressive than already in response to Friday’s incident? 

Were Washington and perhaps Israel’s dirty hands involved in what happened? Daesh (ISIS/ISIL/IS) is such an easy target to blame. It’s simple getting most people to believe it unquestionably. 

The Big Lie repeated often enough works the same way every time. ISIS is the new “Enemy Number One.” Its creation by Washington and use as proxy foot soldiers is suppressed. 

Was Friday’s Paris incident prelude to something similar planned for New York, Washington, and/or other US cities?

Hype Following Friday’s Likely Paris False Flag

by Stephen Lendman

Unsurprisingly, Western media ignored what has all the earmarks of a well-planned false flag – Washington perhaps complicit with France. 

Maybe Israel was involved to justify its reign of terror on Palestine. The usual suspects were blamed (ISIS terrorists, of course) before the dust settled – the clearest indication of a Big Lie. 

A joint FBI/Department of Homeland Security statement said “(w)e will not hesitate to adjust our security posture, as appropriate, to protect the American people.” Expect harsher police repression ahead.

The New York Times headlined “Hollande Blames ISIS for ‘Act of War’ on Paris.” It cited “(n)ews agencies quot(ing) (Paris police chief) Michel Cadot saying “all the assailants involved in shootings and bombings were believed to be dead.” Dead men tell no tales!

Other Times articles and commentaries hyped terrorism in Paris, fingers pointing one way, ignoring the most likely explanation for what happened. Other Western media reported the same way. 

Washington Post: “French president calls Paris attacks ‘act of war’ by Islamic State.”

“It is horror,” he said, declaring a nationwide state of emergency, ask(ing) for military reinforcements,” and closing France’s borders, blocking entry for refugees fleeing war zones – ones France bears responsibility for with America and other rogue partners.

“We are going to lead a war which will be pitiless,” Hollande blustered.

Wall Street Journal: “Hollande Blames ISIS for Paris Attacks.”

The latest from Reuters headlined “Islamic State claims responsibility.” It cited an unverified “official statement” saying “its fighters strapped with suicide bombing belts and carrying machine guns carried out the attacks in various locations in the heart of the capital which were carefully studied” – without further elaboration.

AP News headlined “France Blames IS for Paris Terror Strikes, Vows to Hit Back.”

France’s Le Figaro headlined “War in the heart of Paris” – on a black background with images of victims on stretchers.

Le Monde headlined “Francois Hollande: ‘An act of war’ committed by ‘armed terrorist(s).’ “

London’s Guardian hyped Hollande claiming what happened was an “act of war.”

BBC: “Paris attacks were ‘act of war by IS.’

London’s Guardian hyped Hollande’s “act of war” bluster. Prime Minister David Cameron will “chair an emergency meeting of government ministers and security officials to discuss the British response.”

An unnamed police official was cited, suggesting Britain will elevate the threat of homeland terrorism to the highest level. 

Chicago Tribune editors called what happened “terrorist attacks carried out against innocent civilians in France by forces of evil. Again,” referring to last January’s Charlie Hebdo and kosher supermarket incidents – duplicitously adding:

“(T)his attack on France was another attack on the West, on America, on the ideals of liberty, democracy and decency that bind us together.”

America, France and rogue Western partners deplore high-minded principles they claim to support. Endless wars of aggression and likely false flags like Friday’s incident highlight their real agenda.

Obama reacted as expected, ignoring his high crimes against peace in numerous US-instigated war theaters, guilty of horrific state terrorism – hyping “an attack on all humanity and the universal values that we share…The American people draw strength from the French people’s commitment to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness.”  

“We are reminded in this time of tragedy that the bonds of liberte and egalite and fraternite are not only values that the French people care so deeply about, but they are values that we share.”

While murdering, brutalizing, mass imprisoning and torturing Palestinians daily, Netanyahu blustered similar hype, saying Israel stands “shoulder-to-shoulder” with France in the “war against terrorism.”

He sent “condolences on behalf of the Israeli people to the families of the victims” while collectively punishing an entire Palestinian population viciously – waging war without mercy against defenseless civilians.

A separate article called what happened Friday a likely well-planned false flag. Automatically blaming it on ISIS before the dust settled is the clearest indication so far.

Ignore headlined hype. What follows matters most – likely greater US-led war OF terror than already ongoing, perhaps including loss of remaining freedoms. 

Does full-blown tyranny loom in the name of defending national security? Expect nothing positive in the aftermath of Friday’s attacks.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. 

His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. 

Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.

It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs. 

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