I did not believe the official story of Hasna Ait Buolacehn the moment I saw it. The official line was that she was a suicide bomber who blew herself up when the police stormed the apartment in St Denis where the alleged terrorist ringleader was hiding out. But that story seemed to me completely incompatible with the recordings on which she could plainly be heard screaming “He is not my boyfriend! He is not my boyfriend” immediately before the explosion. She sounded like a terrified woman trying to disassociate herself from the alleged terrorist. It was a strange battle cry for someone who believed themselves on the verge of paradise.
Then yesterday the truth emerged from forensics that she was indeed not a suicide bomber. None of the mainstream media appeared to find this in any way troubling. And just in case anybody did, the BBC (and I assume all the French and major international media) then immediately did an interview with an anonymous member of the French Police attacking squad, who stated that Hasna was:
“trying to say she was not linked to the terrorists, that she had nothing to do with them and wanted to surrender”.
But he said that due to prior intelligence, “we knew that she was trying to manipulate us”.
Unfortunately this would have been a very great deal more convincing had it been stated 48 hours earlier, rather than only after the original reports that she was a suicide bomber had been corrected on forensic examination. As it is, it looks very much like a post facto justification, a new story to cover the new facts.
Besides, it is very difficult indeed to see what prior intelligence could explain if someone was genuinely trying to surrender or not. There appears to be no information available to the public that gives the slightest indication that Hasna was an extreme Islamist; what public information there is paints the opposite picture. The best the media have been able to dredge up are quotes from friends saying “if she was, then she must have been drugged or brainwashed”. Google it yourself.
But even were she an extreme Islamist, that does not mean she was not attempting to surrender. All of which is a bit nugatory if she were then killed by an explosion triggered by the terrorists themselves. But the changing story about Hasna makes me less than confident that is what actually happened.
I have no difficulty with the principle that the police should shoot people who are shooting at them. I outraged many friends on the left for example by not joining in the criticism of the police for killing Mr Duggan. People who choose to carry guns in my view run a legitimate risk of being shot by the police, it is as simple as that. Jean Charles De Menezes was a totally different case and his murder by police completely unjustifiable. In Paris it appears plain that the police were in a situation of confrontation with armed suspects.
There are severe intelligence disadvantages to killing people with profound knowledge of terrorist organisations. It also cheats the justice system. Nevertheless I can conceive of situations where simply taking out by an explosion a terrorist cell might be justified. But only if you are quite certain of the situation. The case of Hasna is to me troublingly reminiscent of the case of Jean Charles De Menezes, in that it became obvious in the days after his death that everything the police and establishment had leaked to the media about him (leaping over barriers, running through the tunnels, heavy jacket, wires protruding) was a complete, utter and quite deliberate lie.
The media could help if they were in any way rational and dispassionate, or ever questioned an official narrative. It is an urgent and irrepressible question as to why the BBC journalist did not ask the French policeman “and why did you not say this 48 hours ago when you were content to allow the story to run that she was a suicide bomber?”
Similar media manipulation is at use here by the Guardian in telling us the police stormed a “terrorist apartment”. What is a “terrorist apartment”? Are the walls made of semtex? The intent of course is to assure us everybody inside was a terrorist. It is not just the Guardian. The phrase is all over the media. Again, google it.
I am worried in case Hollande’s Rambo impersonation is steamrollering justice. It may well be that Hasna was a dreadful and bloodthirsty terrorist. I do not know. It may well be she was killed by the terrorists not the police. All we know at the moment is she was in an apartment with people who allegedly were terrorists, and died in the “battle”. But I do not trust the changing stories of the authorities.
“Libyans had free water, free health care, free electricity they lived rent free and they all had jobs!”
And Out some of us StrateA Crrectitions
Sorry I thought..
“Libyans had free water, free health care, free electricity they lived rent free and they all had jobs!”
Some side-splitting stuff on the blog lately.
Node, it looks like you might have a partner for a double act.
Anon1
“I feel the real reason for the opposition to Israel’s nukes from the likes of Mary is that it means Israel will always be able to defend itself, and exist. They really hate the thought that Israel can’t be wiped out by its neighbours.”
__________________
That is absolutely correct in my opinion.
I mean, let’s face it, the neighbouring Arab states spent 50 years wishing for Israel to somehow “disappear” – starting with their vote against the UN’s partition plan in 1947. It is the duty of every state to be in a position to defend itself against those that wish it ill (while of course hoping that it will not have to do so).
Libya’s “Water Wars” and Gaddafi`s Great Man-Made River Project
I read a National Geographic feature on this, some time ago.
Side-splitting? No! Bloody heart-breaking.
Naturally, the whole thing went completely unreported in the western press – a ‘non-event’ as far the corporate media were concerned.
Here’s something on it…
http://www.globalresearch.ca/libyas-water-wars-and-gaddafis-great-man-made-river-project/5334868
(If anyone can find a link to the NatGeo article, that would be good to have).
Node
Interesting how you feel the need to put words into my mouth. But of course that is all part of the totalitarian mindset, remember how the KGB always liked a confession before dispatching their victims. Another feature of the totalitarian mindset is of course the selective memory – which in the case of current object of your affections allows you to forget the cluster bombs of Misrata, the Abu Salim prison massacre, the support for terrorism, the myriad abuses of human rights detailed by Amnesty and HRW, his sexual abuse, his pretty obvious madness etc etc. Put then you do think that Saddam was a honourable man.
Perhaps you might wish to enlighten us with your views on Stalin, Hitler and the the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan – as I am sure you will wish to correct the common view established by the evil MSM.
“I feel the real reason for the opposition to Israel’s nukes from the likes of Mary is that it means Israel will always be able to defend itself, and exist. They really hate the thought that Israel can’t be wiped out by its neighbours.”
And you will never hear them say a word against the Hamas Charter that says just exactly that.
Habba (The Scourge)
23 Nov, 2015 – 8:01 am
“I mean, let’s face it, the neighbouring Arab states spent 50 years wishing for Israel to somehow “disappear””.
I think the neighbouring Arab states would have been quite content simply to be left alone and not be repeatedly invaded and sadistically stomped on by THEIR neighbour!
“But when the police counterterrorism unit and Shin Bet security service do it, they are cheered here.”
No they are not.
Emad Salem
21 Nov, 2015 – 3:21 pm
… on Lügenpresse …
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/01/the-worst-german-word-of-the-year/384493/
Hillary Clinton prattle at the CFR:
“…let’s be clear about what we’re facing. Beyond Paris, in recent days, we’ve seen deadly terrorist attacks in Nigeria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Turkey, and a Russian civilian airline destroyed over the Sinai. At the heart of today’s new landscape of terror is ISIS. They persecute religious and ethnic minorities, kidnap and behead civilians, murder children. They systematically enslave, torture, and rape women and girls. ISIS operates across three mutually reinforcing dimensions—a physical enclave in Iraq and Syria, an international terrorist network that includes affiliates across the region and beyond, and an ideological movement of radical jihadism. We have to target and defeat all three. And time is of the essence. ISIS is demonstrating new ambition, reach, and capabilities. We have to break the group’s momentum, and then its back.”…..
Get the picture? ISIS is everywhere; Syria, Iraq, Europe, the US, in the closet, under the rug..everywhere. So we need to get busy and kill them all pronto before they rape all our women, behead our children and turn us all in to sex slaves.
Resistance to Israeli occupation – a right?
December 29, 2008
Palestinians are a people under occupation who has the right to self-determination under the UN Charter, the Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation among States in Accordance with the Charter of the United Nations from 1970, and Article 1 of both the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The right to self-determination
Palestinians possess a specific history in an identifiable territory, a distinct culture, and a will and capability to gain self-governance.
The right to self-determination was acknowledged by the international community in UN General Assembly Resolution 181 of 29 November 1947, and recently by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in its Advisory Opinion on the Wall (section 118). The ICJ stated that:
“…construction, along with measures taken previously, thus severely impedes the exercise by the Palestinian people of its right to self‑determination, and is therefore a breach of Israel’s obligation to respect that right” (section 122).
To the UN General Assembly website and Resolution 181
Read more about the ICJ Advisory Opinion on the Wall
Read more about the Wall
The right to resistance under international humanitarian law
/..
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21559.htm
A slow genocide is being enacted on the Palestinians by the Occupiers. That is the hinge of our humanity.
A great lust for more war, war, is being expressed this morning by our pocket politicians and the commentariat. Led by Fallon here and CameraOn in Paris just now where he was practising his French to his meilleur ami of the moment, Monsieur Hollande.
CFR Mark. That’s the paleocon outfit whose Officers and Directors, Emeritus & Honorary are:
Madeleine K. Albright
Director Emerita
Martin S. Feldstein
Director Emeritus
Leslie H. Gelb
President Emeritus
Maurice R. Greenberg
Honorary Vice Chairman
Peter G. Peterson
Chairman Emeritus
David Rockefeller
Honorary Chairman
and whose officers and directors most probably have joint connections with AIPAC.
http://www.cfr.org/about/people/board_of_directors.html
Woolsey. Nice man.
James Woolsey wants Snowden “hanged by the neck until he’s dead, rather than merely electrocuted.”
Ex-CIA chief: Blood of French people on Snowden’s hands on CNN
19 November 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlG3Cnp6CX4
~~
GLENN GREENWALD: First of all, it’s absolutely remarkable that James Woolsey, of all people, is the person who has been plucked to be the authoritative figure on the Paris attacks by leading media outlets such as CNN and MSNBC news, when he is by far one of the most extremist and radical neoconservatives ever to be puked up by the intelligence world. He not only was one of the leading advocates of attacking Iraq, he was one of the leading proponents of all of the lies that led to that invasion, and has been calling for war and other sorts of really extremist policies, and disseminating lies to the American people for decades. And so, to hold him out as some sort of authority figure, some kind of like respected elder intelligence statesman, on these attacks is just exactly the sort of thing we’ve been talking about, which is the state of the American media. Not one person has challenged anything that he said.
I should also note that what this really is about is this really shameless effort on the part of the CIA and other government officials to exploit the emotions that have been generated by watching the carnage in Paris for all sorts of long-standing policies. If you go back to 2013, the very same James Woolsey went on Fox News, and he said—this was two years before the Paris attacks—”Not only do I think Edward Snowden is a traitor, I think he should be hung by the neck until he’s dead.” That’s the mentality of the kinds of people who the media is holding out as our leading experts.
http://www.democracynow.org/2015/11/19/glenn_greenwald_on_submissive_medias_drumbeat
Mark Golding
23 Nov, 2015 – 8:41 am
Yep, that’s the message!
Hillary on Muammar – “We came, we saw, he died” (followed by cackling sound).
What a sweetheart she is.
Mary there is a difference between a right to resist and a right to use aggression.
But I’m glad that you are so in favour of UN resolutions, as here is a recent one passed unanimously
http://www.un.org/press/en/2015/sc12132.doc.htm
Note that it contains the condemnation of the terrorists that you have no pointedly failed to give yourself and calls for member states to take action against ISIS, something that you have consistently argued against.
Cameron is a nihilist like all conservatives. People are there to be managed and controlled so that profits can accrue in the pockets of criminals. Political Islam is also nihilist. People are there to be managed and controlled so that profits can accrue in the pockets of criminals.
Pull the plug and open the window, the stench of their lies is not going to lead to world war 3, it’s just a horrible smell. leather tanning makes a horrible smell, Abbaattoires, drains, war, death in general. Yesterday the committee of a nearby mosque agreed to put 15 panels on their roof before the feed in tarif expires, to heat the hot water for making wudhu/washing before prayer.
Terror has to be spawned, grown, cultivated, fed, vaccinated, de-flea-ed, watered and finally slaughtered. When the hard-core mosque says that it utterly condemns the killings in Paris, their pastoral stage is at the vaccination stage. The mosque is quietly cultivating a clic who regard themselves above other Muslims out of which will come forward brain-washed individuals who will do the will of the nihilists, Tory or political Islam.
We know we eat animals who are slaughtered and we know we are being lied to by the press for our leaders’ colonial gain. Accentuate the positive and let the bastards do their little thing.
@Mary
Good link to André Vltchek the other day.
I am always moved by his writings.
BTW, (O/T) – a lady very dear to me (sadly no longer around) had a personal motto:
“Illegitimi non carborundum”
You might find it useful, yourself.
(If you don’t know the meaning, you can search it here: https://duckduckgo.com )
(Notice I said “search it”, not “google it” – there ARE other search engines apart from Google – ones that work just as well but that don’t make millions of dollars selling what they learn about you by tracking your web search activity).
Mary
23 Nov, 2015 – 8:52 am
Resistance to Israeli occupation – a right?
December 29, 2008
________________
Mary, you’re really scraping the bottom of the barrel, aren’t you?
Do you really have nothing new/originalto say? Me neither, I’ll say it again, you’re a second-hand human being.
When are you going to stop squatting here and move to Palestine and take some real action? Instead of just littering this place with words, words, and more words. Which aren’t even your own? Talk is cheap.
Tory MP just said to Alex Salmond —If there is a terrorist attack in Edinburgh will you change your mind about bombing Syria ?
Victoria Derbyshire Show
Seems my “Illegitimi non carborundum” quote was timely!
Police are investigating Women for Independence after a large amount of people’s donations seem to have gone missing.
http://www.womenforindependence.org/media_statements
Man Made River,,War Crimes
Google it fk sake
“Tory MP just said to Alex Salmond —If there is a terrorist attack in Edinburgh will you change your mind about bombing Syria ?”
Mr Chamberlain if the Germans invade Poland will you change your mind about declaring war on them?
Twenty four year old female cybernat turns out to be forty year old man.
http://www.thenational.scot/news/angry-twitter-users-claim-to-be-duped-by-fake-account-for-claire-said-to-be-man-aged-40.10289
BrianFujisan
23 Nov, 2015 – 10:07 am
“Google it…”
Alternatively, buck the trend:
https://duckduckgo.com
Habbakuk “It is the duty of every state to be in a position to defend itself against those that wish it ill”
Really? So pray tell how was Greneda supposed to defend itself from US invasion? Did Greneda fail in its duty? and if so what could it have done to fight off the invaders?
Do you admire Russia, China and Iran? as they are states that manifestly intend defending themselves from those who wish them ill.
Pan:
” I think the neighbouring Arab states would have been quite content simply to be left alone ”
___________
Sure they would and for the most part they have been left alone.
Why haven’t the Palestinians” Arab brothers, especially the rich ones, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ans sundry emirates (GCC) rallied around them and intervened to support them? When the King of Saudi Arabia has a hot-line to the President of the USA why hasn’t he used it, and leveraged their close relationship more effectively? Does it ever occur to you that you have been lazy in action in this regard? Have you ever been to the KSA embassy in London to protest? Will you, this Sunday?
___
PS Btw a shrink is a psychiatris not a psychotherapist. You’re not nearly as well educated as you like to put yourself out to be, And your research skills are in dire need for improvement>
The AJ news editor and anchor who misinformed saying Cairo ATC were requested to grant emergency landing permission, have disappeared.As the noose tightens 3 possible perpetrators and expected retaliations.
1) Most likely – The qatari have started making conciliatory noises, guilty much? Their 14 LPG gas 80mtpa trains may be wiped out at one go, its back to using desert sand for kleenex then.
2) The 14mbpd salt water injection plant at Qurayah responsible for 8.5mbpd of 10.5mbpd saud crude production may also be wiped out with just one missile hit. Once again a sand for kleenex scenario.
3) An Israeli dolphin sub is sunk by the Russians (like the US INS Dakar retaliation for USS Liberty) but what happens to its nuclear weapons??