© Philippe Dupeyrat/AFP/Getty Images
Police and firefighters gather in front of the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris, after armed gunmen stormed the building.
Police and firefighters gather in front of the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris, after armed gunmen stormed the building.
Careful planning and preparation; Kalashnikovs; rocket-propelled grenade launcher; balaclavas; sand-colored ammunition vest stuffed with spare magazines; army boots; piece of cake escape in a black Citroen. And the icing on the lethal cake; faultless Paris-based logistical support to pull that off. A former top French military commander, Frederic Gallois, has stressed the perfect application of "urban guerrilla technique" (where are those notorious Western counter-terrorism "experts" when one needs them?)
They might have spoken perfect French; others said it was brokenFrench. Anyway, what matters is that they uttered the magic word; "We're al-Qaeda." Better yet; they told a man in the street, "Tell the media that this is al-Qaeda in Yemen", which means, in American terror terminology, al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula (AQAP), which had Charlie Hebdo's editor/cartoonist Stephane Charbonnier ("Charb") on a hit list duly promoted by AQAP's glossy magazine Inspire. Accusation: "Insulting the Prophet Mohammed."
And just to make sure everyone had the perpetrators implanted on their brain, the killers also said, "Allahu Akbar"; "We have killed Charlie Hebdo"; and "We have avenged the Prophet."
Case closed? Well, it took only a few hours for French police to identify the (usual?) suspects; French-Algerian brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi. The third man - the driver of the black Citroen, 18-year-old Hamyd Mourad - then turned himself in with an ironclad alibi. So the third man remains a cipher.
They all wore balaclavas. The Kouachi brothers have not been captured. But the police seem to know very well who they are. Because they found an abandoned ID in the black Citroen (oh, the troubles of being a command in a rush ...) How come they didn't know anything before the carnage?
© AFP Photo/Xavier Leoty
Candles are placed next to a sign reading 'Je suis Charlie' (I am Charlie) and a pen in La Rochelle on January 7, 2015, as people gathered to pay tribute to the twelve people killed in an attack by two armed gunmen on the offices of French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris
Candles are placed next to a sign reading 'Je suis Charlie' (I am Charlie) and a pen in La Rochelle on January 7, 2015, as people gathered to pay tribute to the twelve people killed in an attack by two armed gunmen on the offices of French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris
Also right on clue, a full narrative was ready for mass consumption. The key point; French police privileges the hypothesis of "Islamic terrorism". According to their "experts", this could be an attack "ordered from abroad and executed by jihadis coming back from Syria that have escaped us", or it could be "suburban idiots that radicalized themselves and concocted this military attack in the name of al-Qaeda."
Scrap option two, please; this was a pro job. And staying with option one, this points right at - what else - blowback. Yes, they could be Daesh/ISIS/ISIL mercenaries trained by NATO (crucially, France included) in Turkey and/or Jordan. But it might get even false-flag nastier. They could also be former or current French special forces.
Comment: This is more than a blowback, even though this particular aspect also is mercilessly exploited by the PTB (powers to be). There is a false-flag signature all over the massacre - and as usual, things are not what they seem. Especially in view of the timing: Hollande recognizing Palestinian statehood and his demand to lift the Russian economic sanctions.
Most likely the two "suspects" were roped in by some intelligence circles who directed their every move that day. And very conveniently they were killed during the hostage situation. Dead people don't talk - slam dunk!
Blast Islam, will travel
Predictably, Islamofascism peddlers are already having a field day/week/month/year. For simpletons/trolls/hordes exhibiting an IQ worthy of sub-zoology, when in doubt, demonize Islam. It's so convenient to forget that untold millions from Pakistan's tribal areas to street markets across Iraq continue to feel pain devastating their hearts and lives as they are expendable victims of the jihadi mindset - or "Kalashnikov culture", as it is known in Pakistan - profiting the "West", directly or indirectly, for decades now. Think ritual droning of Pakistani, Yemeni, Syrian, Iraqi or Libyan civilians. Think Sadr City witnessing carnages over 10 times worse than Paris.
What French President Francois Hollande defined as "an act of exceptional barbarism" - and it is - does not apply when the "West", France in the front line, from King Sarko to General Hollande himself, weaponizes, trains and remote-controls assorted mercenaries/beheaders from Libya to Syria. Oh yeah; killing civilians in Tripoli or Aleppo is perfectly all right. But don't do that in Paris.
© AFP Photo/Bulent Kilic
People observe a minute of silence in Istanbul on January 8, 2015 for the victims of an attack by armed gunmen on the offices of French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris on January 7 which left at least 12 dead and many others injured
People observe a minute of silence in Istanbul on January 8, 2015 for the victims of an attack by armed gunmen on the offices of French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris on January 7 which left at least 12 dead and many others injured
Of course the ultra-elaborate Western counter-terrorism expert network - so proficient at strip-teasing us all at every airport - saw it coming; but in shadow warland, portmanteau "al-Qaeda" and its myriad declinations, including "renegade" Daesh/ISIS/ISIL, are used as much as a mercenary army as a convenient domestic threat "against our freedoms".
Who profits?
US Think Tankland, also predictably, is busy spinning the drama of an "intra-Muslim" split which provides jihadis a lot of geopolitical space to exploit - all this sucking the Western world into a Muslim civil war. This is absolutely ridiculous. The Empire of Chaos, already during the 70s, was busy cultivating jihadi/Kalashnikov culture to fight anything from the USSR to nationalist movements all across the Global South. Divide and Rule has always been used to fan the flames "intra-Islam", from the Clinton administration getting cozy with the Taliban to the Cheney regime - helped by Persian Gulf vassals - advancing the sectarian Sunni/Shi'ite schism.
Cui bono, then, with killing Charlie? Only those whose agenda is to demonize Islam. Not even a bunch of brainwashed fanatics would pull off the Charlie carnage to show people who accuse them of being barbarians that they are, in fact, barbarians. French intel at least has concluded that this is no underwear bomber stunt. This is a pro job. That happens to take place just a few days after France recognizes Palestinian statehood. And just a few days after General Hollande demanded the lifting of sanctions against the Russian "threat".
© AFP Photo/Anne-Christine Poujoulat)
People gather next to signs reading ''I am Charlie'' and candles placed on the ground, after observing a minute of silence in the old Harbor in Marseille on January 8, 2015 for the victims of an attack by armed gunmen on the offices of French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris on January 7 which left 12 people dead
People gather next to signs reading ''I am Charlie'' and candles placed on the ground, after observing a minute of silence in the old Harbor in Marseille on January 8, 2015 for the victims of an attack by armed gunmen on the offices of French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris on January 7 which left 12 people dead
Comment: France announced aircraft carrier for Gulf the day before attack on Charlie Hebdo
Perfect timing: Germany extending air-defense mission in Turkey on Syrian border for another year
The Obama administration is already mobilizing the UN Security Council. The FBI is "helping" with the French investigation. And as an Italian analyst memorably put it, jihadis don't attack a vulture hedge fund; they attack a satirical rag. This is not religion; this is hardcore geopolitics. Reminds me of David Bowie: "This is not rock'n roll. This is suicide."
The Obama administration is already mobilized to offer "protection" - Mob-style - to a Western Europe that is just, only just, starting to be diffident of the pre-fabricated Russian "threat". And just as it happens, when the Empire of Chaos mostly needs it, evil "terra" once again rears its ugly head.
And yes, I am Charlie. Not only because they made us laugh; but because they were sacrificial lambs in a much nastier, gruesome, never-ending shadowplay.
Pepe Escobar's latest book is Empire of Chaos. Follow him on Facebook. He may be reached at pepeasia@yahoo.com.
Comment: Cui Bono? This is the question you need to ask for yourself. It's interesting that this shooting happened right when France was certainly making moves such as recognizing Palestine and criticizing Russian sanctions. This is the battle of our minds and souls. The wizards behind the curtains are pulling the strings and manipulating us to believe in lies. They want us to sheepishly accept their psychological worldview of hatred and domination. It's the age old tactics of divide and conquer in order to shape public opinion to approve "war on terror" in Middle-East. When people are blaming muslims for everything, they'll miss the real culprits: The psychopaths in power.
If you read the history, you'll know that it's not that far streched idea that the Powers That Be could do false-flag operations in Europe. Have you heard of the Operation Gladio? It included terror attacks in European countries by NATO/CIA/MI6 trained and connected satellites to shape public opinion and gain political influence. These terror attacks were used to scapegoat political-left groups. It's extremely likely that the Operation Gladio never ended and Charlie Hebdo is just another victim of these age old psychopathic domination tactics.
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