The Paris Bombings...Will Anyone Take Heed?

Nidal Hamadah

The terrorist bombings which the French capital Paris was subject to, was of no surprise to observers of Salafi Takfirism, as large and mid-sized French cities are teeming with places taken up by Salafi Takfiri groups, being used as gathering places and prayer centres, all done under the umbrella of social and cultural associations.

The irony of the relationship between France and the Takfiri movements is that its history goes back to the 80s, during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. This relationship went through tense periods and on-and-off alliances, yet the events of the 13th of November are considered a turning point in this relationship, due to the magnitude of these attacks on France. There were seven suicide attacks in one single day, let alone the number of casualties, thus making this event the beginning of the end of the relationship between France and the Takfiri movements. This comes despite the common interests that exist between some French politicians and members of the ruling families in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

The France of Sarkozy and Hollande worked in an organised manner and within an official capacity with Qatar and Saudi Arabia during the beginning of the war in Syria, sending Takfiri members to the Levant, after they had filled the streets of French cities and towns. The policy of France towards Syria could be summed up in one sentence: "the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad must leave office", while French newspapers and media outlets were covered with news of high-level logistical and technical support that France provided the armed groups.

France was the first to provide the al-Nusra Front and groups formerly aligned to the the so-called "Free Syrian Army" [FSA], with modern means of communication that could determine the whereabouts of Syrian army checkpoints and the roads its convoys traverse. France also provided the al-Nusra Front with night vision devices that were more advanced than those owned by the Syrian army at the beginning of the war. Al-Nusra used these devices in attacks and ambushes against army posts and police stations in Syria.

The Paris suicide bombings came, along with the resulting losses, at a time when the results of the Russian military intervention began to appear on the ground in Syria. There were collapses in militant ranks in rural Aleppo and Damascus, and a halt in the advance of Jaish al-Fath in Idlib and the loss of its ability to launch attacks. Meanwhile in France, it can be said that the suicidal policy of the ruling majority led to these attacks, at a time when the voices calling for cooperation with Syria, Iran, and Russia had returned, strongly emerging within political circles and within the French military.

There does not appear to be in sight any other option before French President Francois Hollande and his foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, other than submitting to the wishes of the French security services and reopening diplomatic and security channels with Syria. Syria has the largest amount of information regarding extremist organizations, especially European groups, which came to Syria and Iraq to launch a "jihad" following Gulf and Western orders.

In the same vein, the French security services are faced with big dilemmas and challenges, in terms of finding out what targets are being eyed next by the dormant [terror] cells in France and Belgium, and how many a target. The French and European agencies are suffering from the loss of impact of most of those who were sent to Syria and Iraq, as the Sheikhs who issued fatwas to hundreds of young men, urging them to head to Syria to wage "jihad" over there - young men who were used by the French authorities as a means of command and control - these Sheikhs have lost contact with all these young men who have reached Syria and Iraq. Some European youth have become leaders and figures who issue verdicts within the al-Nusra [Front] and Daesh.

Such people felt that they are more important and effective than the former Sheikhs located in "Paris, Aulnay-sous-Bois, Marseille, and Lyon" and other French cities and towns. Some of these who migrated to Syria for jihad did not get along with the Arabs, Afghans, and the Balochistanis, and stuck to their European mentality and habits, preferring to return to their native country. Yet they returned while imbued with the criminal, Takfiri doctrine, while also holding advanced combat experience in booby-trapping, ambushes, and guerrilla warfare.

In addition, and due to being associated to weapons and drug dealers, as well as people-smugglers, they have the ability to secure weapons off the black market. As a result, all the factors required for a security breach and the rocking of a country's stability have been gathered in Europe. Decision-makers and security services in France and other European countries have no other option but to communicate with nations fighting terrorism on their own soil, in order to gather information and strike the European Takfiris on the battlefield in Iraq and Syria, far away from Europe.

So will anyone take heed?

Source: al-Ahed news