Al Qaeda going after France?

[saintjohn]

Cancel my vacation plans:

FRENCH intelligence has produced a dossier alleging that al-Qaeda plans an attack on the country during forthcoming presidential elections.

The Arabic-language al-Hayat daily newspaper has reported there were "several indications of a plot to copy the Spanish scenario in France", a reference to the explosions that rocked Madrid in March 2004.

The London-based daily quoted mainly "messages posted on internet sites close to al-Qaeda carrying threats against France, accompanied by pictures from the campaigns for the presidential elections", which are slated for April and May.

source

So, will France try to appease the Al Qaeda (and its allies), or is the country looking for some payback after the Paris riots? If DGSE did this to a bunch of unarmed hippies on a sailboat, imagine what they might do to actual terrorists if they're let off the leash?

[slamminshaun]

Maybe Al-Qaeda, in planning a bombing against the West, ate lunch at a Paris restaurant and changed their minds.

[V. Barbarino]

Germany, Italy and France are all done, just a matter of time, then we should pull out of Nato and watch Europe decent into a depression.

[AndyPandy7]

Originally Posted by Barbarino

Germany, Italy and France are all done, just a matter of time, then we should pull out of Nato and watch Europe decent into a depression.

Sorry mate, I just thought you were being ignorant with your posts, now it's clear you are actually just a simpleton. No offense was meant, so sorry :-[

[JMT]

Originally Posted by AndyPandy7

[quote author=Barbarino link=board=6;threadid=36938;start=0#msg417246 date=1171318446]
Germany, Italy and France are all done, just a matter of time, then we should pull out of Nato and watch Europe decent into a depression.

Sorry mate, I just thought you were being ignorant with your posts, now it's clear you are actually just a simpleton. No offense was meant, so sorry :-[
[/quote]

are people warming up to the idea of sharia law over there yet?

[V. Barbarino]

Originally Posted by AndyPandy7

[quote author=Barbarino link=board=6;threadid=36938;start=0#msg417246 date=1171318446]
Germany, Italy and France are all done, just a matter of time, then we should pull out of Nato and watch Europe decent into a depression.

Sorry mate, I just thought you were being ignorant with your posts, now it's clear you are actually just a simpleton. No offense was meant, so sorry :-[
[/quote]

Ok, explain to me where I'm wrong. Germany foiled one attack already in their country. NATO is welfare for Europe, there will be a time we pull out and the euro trash will have to pay for their own defense, there is more talk of it every day here in the States. What will you guys do without us? Speak German or in this case arabic?

[coach]

Hey, are their elections in May? That's when we are going. That would really make our vacation exciting!

[saintjohn]

Originally Posted by coach

Hey, are their elections in May?

Yes.

That's when we are going. That would really make our vacation exciting!

Not too exciting, I hope. Seriously, if this story develops, stay off the Metro, and stay out of Paris if at all possible.

[coach]

Not I. I'd rather be dead than scared.

[saintjohn]

Scared? No. Prepared? Yes.

The fact is, Al Qaeda doesn't have to actually do anything in order to affect the political situation in France. The article I cited suggests that the group is planning something similar to the Madrid train bombings. As long as the French government thinks that there's a credible threat, you can expect the police and military to respond - especially in Paris.

It would be nice if temporary security measures actually made everyone (including us Yankee tourists) safer, but the opposite seems much more likely. If recent history is any indication, the French police will probably "crack down" on all of the wrong Muslim groups, antagonize the same disenfranchised youths that were responsible for the recent Paris riots (and setting fire to some 200 cars per night), and provoke widespread civil unrest and destruction without actually rounding up any terrorists.

Add the possibility of train bombs to that scenario, and you can see why I'd prefer to spend my French vacation mountain biking and rock climbing in the forests of Fountainbleu. I love Paris, but I didn't love riding the Metro with heavy-handed military patrols the last time I was there.

Anyway, I certainly hope that Al Qaeda isn't planning anything, and I hope that the French government doesn't do anything stupid, and I hope that article is the last I read about all of this. Hope isn't much of a plan, though, if anything goes wrong.