Excerpt: "The French government's response to the Charlie Hebdo massacre was uncannily similar to the U.S. government's response to 9/11. This is unfortunate, given the fact that the U.S. response to 9/11 dramatically increased the prevalence of terrorism, which U.S. intelligence agencies anticipated."
French president Hollande on the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle. (photo: Anne Christine Poujoulat/AP)
21 January 15
he French government’s response to the Charlie Hebdo massacre was uncannily similar to the U.S. government’s response to 9/11. This is unfortunate, given the fact that the U.S. response to 9/11 dramatically increased the prevalence of terrorism, which U.S. intelligence agencies anticipated. For instance, prior to the Iraq War, Bush’s own CIA director, George Tenet, warned that invading Iraq would cause it to be “much less constrained in adopting terrorist actions” against the U.S.
Tenet was correct: experts find that “the Iraq War has generated a stunning sevenfold increase in the yearly rate of fatal jihadist attacks.”
After the Paris shooting, the French parliament quickly voted to extend airstrikes on ISIS – with 488 voting in the affirmative and just one member voting against it. The sole lawmaker to vote against the measure cautioned that airstrikes could invite more extremist violence, essentially the same as George Tenet’s contention. This warning is well founded, since U.S. airstrikes have led to “soaring” recruitment for ISIS, as the Israeli press reported in September.
The French lawmaker’s lone stance was reminiscent of U.S. senator Russ Feingold’s solitary vote against the Patriot Act, accompanied by his prescient warning about how the act would allow the government to “compel the disclosure of the personal records of anyone.” Following the Paris murders, there has been discussion in France about creating its own version of the Patriot Act, which could weaken already poor protections against domestic spying.
Further parallels exist. Perhaps taking a cue from George W. Bush’s theatrics, the French president made a speech aboard the Charles De Gaulle aircraft carrier to hundreds of French service members. In the speech, he announced that the carrier was headed to the Persian Gulf to assist in the coalition air strikes against ISIS in Iraq.
Arguing for France’s expanded participation in airstrikes against ISIS, the leader of the Socialist Party in France’s National Assembly said, “defeating the jihadist armies in their own soil cuts off the supply of terrorism on our home soil.” These words call to mind Bush’s attempt to justify his invasion of Iraq: “It’s better to fight them there than here.”
In practice, however, “fighting them there” has brought terror here, to the West. For example, Sharif Kouashi, one of the Paris shooters, seems to have been radicalized, at least in part, by the U.S. war in Iraq. It was reportedly images of the Iraq war, and especially the torture at Abu Ghraib, that motivated Mr. Kouashi to join an organization in France calling on young Muslims to fight the U.S. in Iraq.
Perhaps the most eerie moment of déjà vu was when the French National Assembly spontaneously broke out into the French National Anthem. This echoes the U.S. Congress singing God Bless America after 9/11, a spectacle that epitomized the nationalistic fervor that would give rise to the ruinous invasion of Iraq. The invasion would result in the advent of al-Qaeda in Iraq, an offshoot of which is ISIS – the very group to which one of the shooters reportedly pledged allegiance.
Paul Gottinger is a freelance journalist based in Madison, WI. He can be reached on Twitter @paulgottinger or email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Ken Klippenstein is a staff journalist at Reader Supported News. He can be reached on Twitter @kenklippenstein or email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported News.
