So Islamic State is very loudly claiming responsibility for yesterday's coordinated attacks in Paris that left scores dead and hundreds injured.
The Islamic State claimed responsibility on Saturday for the catastrophic attacks in the French capital, calling them “the first of the storm” and mocking France as a “capital of prostitution and obscenity,” according to statements released in multiple languages on one of the terror group’s encrypted messaging accounts.
The remarks came in a communiqué published in Arabic, English and French on the Islamic State’s account on Telegram, a messaging platform, and then distributed via its supporters on Twitter, according to a transcript provided by the SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks jihadist propaganda.
An earlier statement was released but was deemed unlikely to be authentic because of anomalies in the language, as well as an error in a date provided, according to experts on jihadist propaganda.
The statement was released on the same Telegram channel that was used to claim responsibility for the crash of a Russian jet over the Sinai Peninsula two weeks ago, killing 224 people. As in that case, it made the announcement in multiple languages and audio recordings.
President François Hollande of France said on Saturday that the Islamic State was responsible. Analysts said the nature of the attacks was more in keeping with actions of the Islamic State than with those of Al Qaeda, and the timing and extent of the celebration expressed online by the group’s supporters added weight to the claim.
“Eight brothers, wrapped in explosive belts and armed with machine rifles, targeted sites that were accurately chosen in the heart of the capital of France,” the group said in the statement, “including the Stade de France during the match between the Crusader German and French teams, where the fool of France, François Hollande, was present.”
“Let France and those who walk in its path know that they will remain on the top of the list of targets of the Islamic State,” the statement added, referring to the attacks at the Bataclan concert hall and elsewhere in Paris.
As awful as these attacks were, the response from bloodthirsty Republicans is what frightens me more. Ben Carson would have us at permanent war with Islam:
Nearly every other Republican would follow suit, from The Donald...
If Carson were currently serving as president, "I would be working with our allies using every resource known to man in terms of economic resources, in terms of covert resources, overt resources, military resources, things that they don't know about -- resources," he said. "In an attempt not to contain them but to eliminate them before they eliminate us. We have to recognize that the global Islamic movement is an existential threat -- it's very different than anything we've ever faced before."
Carson also urged Americans to encourage lawmakers to block the Obama administration from allowing more refugees fleeing violence in the Middle East from entering the United States.
Donald TRUMP, the showman businessman, is also a foreign policy newcomer yet is already previewing how he would bomb his way to peace. In Trump’s mind, the United States can cut of the Islamic State’s cash flow by interrupting its access to vast oil reserves under the ground it controls through fear. “I would just bomb those suckers. That’s right. I’d blow up the pipes,” Trump said. “I’d blow up every single inch. There would be nothing left. And you know what, you’ll get Exxon to come in there and in two months, you ever see these guys, how good they are, the great oil companies? They’ll rebuild that sucker, brand new—it’ll be beautiful.”
...to Ted Cruz...
Sen. Ted CRUZ is similarly urging America to lead a coalition to fight extremism where is starts. “We need boots on the ground, but they don’t necessarily need to be American boots,” Cruz said. “The Kurds are our boots on the ground.” Instead, the United States would lend overwhelming air power. As for rhetoric, Cruz says America must not show mercy. “If you join ISIS, if you wage jihad on America, then you are signing your death warrant,” he said. In response to the attacks in Paris, Cruz warned Americans that “we are seeing an unmistakable escalation of ISIS’ ambitions and the scale of their terrorist attacks outside Syria and Iraq.”
..to supposed "moderates" like John Kasich.
Ohio Gov. John KASICH has long supported sending U.S. military forces into the Middle East to stamp out threats to America. “I’ve said all along we should have a coalition. We should be there, including boots on the ground. … You’ve got the air power, but you can’t solve anything just with air power.”
Understand that if a Republican wins next November, with a GOP Congress, we will have hundreds of thousands of troops in the Middle East in a few years. It will be the worst of The Sandbox under Bush, and it will break this nation more surely than any ISIS attack on US soil ever could.
Also keep in mind that every single GOP candidate for president -- even Marco Rubio -- is now calling for "sealing the borders" and ejecting Syrian refugees.
If you thought the GOP position on immigration was bad before?
You ain't seen nothing yet.