Baghdad and Damascus come to Paris.

[Workingman]

Reports are coming in of coordinated Islamist attacks in Paris - 35 dead, so far, plus over one hundred hostages. God help them and RIP.

This is where we are now, but where next? France has the biggest Moslem population in Europe, but other places are catching up. Shias and Sunnis are not only at each other's throats they are at ours as well, and they are coming in in their millions.

Good luck Germany and Europe.

[TheOstrich]

This is still breaking news at the moment, but sounds absolutely horrific.

Commiserations to all involved in these shootings and explosions.

[victor]

and so it begins

[Workingman]

Hollande has now instigated a 'State of Emergency' and closed French borders.

This is much worse than Charlie Hebdo, this is 'war'.

Vic might be right, "so it begins", but where will it end?

[Suff]

I went to bed early and woke up to this during the night.

Firstly my heart goes out to those who have lost friends and family tonight. My next thought is that we are entering a long and bitter struggle which will end with many things changed in our society. France has strong laws against video surveillance and data monitoring by the government. These laws are good but play into the hands of terrorists.

As we saw in 7/7, I expect that we will see the terrorists will be native born French who have been radicalised. So much easier than bringing in terrorists. Just get then out to Syria, train them and send them back. If they want to stop this then they are going to have to make laws which discriminate against sectors of the population against their race and religion if they act suspiciously. That is going to go against a direct EU principle of treating everyone the same. I'm sure we're going to see some real tugs of war over this one.

The death toll stands at 158 and growing as the night goes on. France is not going to take that lying down.

The worrying fact here is how they carried out the assault. The largest number of deaths were carried out by 3 people with assault weapons who kept firing into a crowd of 1,000 people, calmly changing magazines as they ran out of ammunition. They were prepared, wearing flak jackets and coolly doing what they had planned with military precision. Eventually explosives were used which I suspect were grenades. So I expect the death toll to climb.

This is most reminiscent of the Mumbai hotel attack.

I clearly recall the consequences of the Madrid train attacks where they changed the course of the political landscape ushering in a change of government to the left. There are elections in France in 2017. Depending on how the French government handles this could also usher in a different change. France has been moving more towards FN over the last decade or more. Whilst it's pretty gory to ride on the tidal wave of emotion from these kinds of killings, it would be politically stupid not to capitalise on them.

What this means for the hundreds of thousands of "refugees" traipsing through the Balkans is another point. If borders close and stay closed, they are going nowhere until full and final identity checks are done. This could take months. If they riot things could turn very nasty indeed. The only guarantee is that the innocent will be caught up in the middle, used, abused and killed....

If I were France I'd clear the Jungle2 and dump the whole lot back to where they originated from in the EU tomorrow. Simply put them on military transport and get rid of them. I'd then expel every suspicious foreign student from the middle east followed by stripping of citizenship from every fundamentalist they have been tracking and expulsion from France. But that's just me. Although France might just do it. The UK never would, I'm not so sure about France. They believe in Liberté, égalité, fraternité for people who obey the laws. They don't quite believe the same for those who do not.

[KateLMead]

Paris has been under attack.. Theatre...holding a Rock Concert where it is thought at least 100 are dead at this stage. It has all started in Europe as we expected it too. Two suicide attacks. The first attack was reported at 9.p.m. This evening. Two explosions in a French stadium. Are we prepared in this country? Evidently operatives are still at large..

[Weka]

I afraid I have to agree with Victor. I've often thought that WW3 will be a holy war. I sincerely hope this isn't the trigger to start it.

My heart goes out to all who have loved ones missing and passed on.

[cromwell]

The worst thing is, I don't think anyone is even surprised any more.

Our useless political class, urged on by western capitalists, have imported millions of people into the west. Many of whom do not share our values, and many who actively dislike or even hate us.

I don't even expect anything to happen apart from a Tsunami of cliches. "We will not let the men of violence divide us..." "The vast majority of peace loving..." "Tragedy demonstrates the need for tougher security measures..."

Major European capitals have now seen Islamist terror attacks. Paris, Madrid and London. What will Frau Murky say when it happens in Berlin?

For this country I would like a trained and armed civilian version of the Home Guard, from which a certain section of society would most definitely be excluded. We can make a start by closing European borders and deporting anyone at all that we deem a threat to us.

And all the while white British liberals whine that we can't possibly use force on European borders to keep migrants out. It honestly makes me so sick and angry.

[victor]

so now WILL our GUTLESS realise they have caused this to happen?
They will ALWAYS have plenty of protection where ever they are .Joe public ? well they can take their chances and hope to be never in the wrong place at the wrong time

[TheOstrich]

For 2:18 a.m. in the morning, that was an excellent analysis, Suff - thank you for posting it. I agree, the Gallic shrug to matters of security will have to change.

This is not the first atrocity on Hollande's watch, nor is it the second .... It will be interesting to see what the French government does next, and also, separately, how the French "man on the street" reacts to what has happened.

We mustn't forget this could just as easily have happened in London, and let's face it, it's pretty much impossible to stop it without not only mass surveillance, but also intelligence. Expect Theresa May's snooper's charter to be nodded through.

This is the price we have to pay for failed wars, failed multi-multiculturalism, and rampant medieval religion.