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IPFS News Link • TERRORISM

Ron Paul Calls Terror Coalition an 'Over-Reaction'

• The Daily Bell - Ron Paul

France identifies Paris attacks mastermind, seeks coalition to fight ISIS ... France identified a 27-year-old Belgian who once boasted about killing "infidels" and fought for the Islamic State group in Syria as the mastermind of the Paris attacks, and President Francois Hollande vowed Monday to forge a united coalition capable of defeating the jihadists at home and abroad. – Chicago Tribune

Dominant Social Theme: ISIS must be confronted and taken down.

Free-Market Analysis: This article informs us that France seeks a military coalition to fight the Islamic State in Syria and intends to bomb Syria to a bloody pulp to get rid of the terrorist organization.

Addressing lawmakers after France observed a minute of silence honoring the 129 people killed and 350 wounded, Hollande said the victims came from at least 19 nations, and the international community, led by the United States and Russia, must overcome their deep-seated divisions over Syria to destroy Islamic State on its home turf.

Hollande told Parliament in a rare joint session at the Palace of Versailles that the attacks had been planned in Syria, which had become "the biggest factory of terrorism the world has ever known." He called the international community too divided and incoherent to address the threat.

As The Daily Bell predicted, Hollande is already using the tragic attack to expand the powers of the state. He wants to expand the state of emergency, give police and military enhanced authority regarding search and arrest and give local governments the authority to shut down demonstrations and impose curfews — for at least another three months.

Additionally, he will hire 5,000 more police, suspend military cuts and enhance prison sentences for arms trafficking. Holland has also started bombing Syria and claims to have leveled a jihadi training camp Sunday night.

Hollande also wants the US and Russia to join forces to attack ISIS by air and presumably on the ground. "We need a union of all who can fight this terrorist army in a single coalition," he was quoted as saying. "We are not in a war of civilizations, because these assassins don't represent one. We are in a war against jihadist terrorism, which threatens the entire world."

Hollande is convinced that an expansion of the "war against terror" is warranted. The Obama administration hasn't commented directly on the idea of working more closely with Russia and has in the past indicated it was not inclined to do so.

Anti-war libertarian former congressman Ron Paul has condemned the idea of an expanded war on terror in his latest column. He characterizes suggestions such as those that Hollande has presented as "over-reaction."

In fact, Ron Paul believes that such actions are counterproductive and will tend to radicalize people and make them more prone to attack the West. Here's more:

The French in particular have been very active in arming even the more radical groups in Syria, as they push for more political influence in the region. Why do they still refuse to believe in the concept of blowback?

... [Let's] reject the policy of using "regime change" to further perceived US and western foreign policy goals, whether in Iraq, Libya, Syria, or elsewhere ... Reject the foolish idea that we can ship hundreds of millions of dollars worth of weapons to "moderates" in the Middle East and expect none of them to fall into the hands of radicals.


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