Hollande, desperately looking for new tools to fight ISIS, made an unprecedented move today when his country invoked a never-before-used article of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty obliging 28-members of the bloc to give “aid and assistance by all the means in their power” to a victim member country – France.

 

Both Barack Hussein Obama and Angela Merkel, François Hollande’s closest buddies, chose to bury their heads in the sand. They conveniently ignore the fact that two of the ISIS suicide bombers in the Paris attacks had sneaked into France after arrived in Europe on the Greek island of Leros – by posing as Syrian refugees.

Amusingly, President Obama is ready to punch anyone who raises concerns that terrorists could mask among refugees. Meanwhile, Chancellor Merkel has called for more “tolerance” towards migrants even after the Paris attacks. It looks like both Obama and Merkel are trying to outdo each other for a Nobel Peace Prize.

 

That’s fine because if Paris had not been terrorized, Hollande could be demonstrating the same idiocy as well. Otherwise how do you explain the enthusiasm in pounding ISIS capital Raqqa by the French now, when it didn’t seem to be interested prior to the Paris attacks? U.S., U.K., France, Germany – all of them was dragging their feet all this while.

ISIS makes good money from oil, taxes, kidnapping, looting, ransoms and whatnot. Reuters estimates the terror group controls assets in excess of US$2 trillion (that’s a “T” and not a “B”, mind you), generating close to US$3 billion every year. Controlling a territory the size of the U.K., ISIS could fund and maintain its military operations without financial problem.

 

So, why didn’t the mighty U.S. and NATO destroy the infrastructure which enables the ISIS tanker trucks transporting oil and in the process earns the group millions of dollars every month, until now? U.S., U.K., Germany and France deliberately allowed ISIS controls 60% and 10% of Syria and Iraq oil production respectively.

With an overall production capacity of 80,000 to 120,000 barrels per day, France and its allies watch with popcorn while ISIS gleefully makes a profit of US$2 million to US$4 million per day, based on discounted price of US$25 to US$50 a barrel. The Western forces can easily cut off ISIS’ trade routes between the towns it controls and the routes to countries it trades with, but they didn’t.

 

These include roads to Jordan, Iran, Kurdistan, Turkey and even Syria. Not only these roads weren’t destroyed, ISIS command centre, recruitment centre, ammunitions depot and training camp were allowed to flourish. The terrorism business was so good that ISIS actually has 24-hour help-desk for terrorist’s recruitment.

But if one cares to study the Paris attacks, one cannot deny that it was a huge success. The reason why it was so scarily success was because the terrorism model has evolved and changed for the better. The targets are no longer “symbolic” landmarks such as World Trade Center, Pentagon; or London Bridge, Sydney Opera House or Eiffel Tower for that matter.

 

During the Paris attacks, the terrorists first attacked the soccer stadium Stade de France where French president François Hollande was enjoying himself. Two men detonated their suicide vests outside two different stadium entrances. A third suicide bomber blew himself at a fast-food outlet near the stadium.

Another group of terrorists opened fire on Petit Cambodge, a Cambodian Restaurant, then went to other side of the street at Le Carillion bar. At least 15 people were gunned down. They then attacked Casa Nostra pizzeria, about 500 yards away and killed 5 diners. Later, they drove to LaBelle Equipe bar, killing at least 19.

The third group stormed and attacked the Bataclan concert venue in Boulevard Voltaire. Calmly and methodically, they sprayed bullets at hostages killing at least 89 concert-goers. Two of the militants blew up their explosive belts while a third was shot by officers. There were 7 coordinated terror attacks carried out by ISIS terrorists killing at least 129 people.

The scariest part is this – what if the Paris attacks were merely a “drill” to test ISIS’ latest model of “small random attacks”? According to a former FBI counter terrorism expert, Eric O’Neill, the terrorists could be benchmarking to see if such model could be deployed elsewhere such as in Washington, New York, San Francisco or even Kuala Lumpur.

 

Malaysian Defence Minister Hishammuddin claimed he was in the ISIS hit list. What if the same model is used to carry out attacks simultaneously at KLCC, Bukit Bintang and Pavilion? Can the Malaysian Police Force counter such effective coordination when the ISIS decides to hit Kuala Lumpur?

There’s little doubt that ISIS has abandoned Al-Qaeda model of targeting symbolic sites. They’re now going after “softer” venues that are hard to protect like restaurants, concert halls, and “open air” public events. For all you know, the ISIS could be analyzing their Paris attacks and fine-tuning on how to make it more deadly with better precision now.

 

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• US-NATO Can’t Help France, So World Leaders Sucking Up To Putin
• UMNO Leaders On ISIS Hit List – You Reap What You Sow
• Paris Attacks – Western Superpowers Playing With Fire They Couldn’t Control
• Putin Tops Forbes’ Most Powerful Man For 3rd Year, Obama Slips To #3
• U.S. Provoking To Start A War With China? Bring It On!!
• China Joining Russia In Syrian-Terrorist War – A World War 3 In The Making?
• Russian Airstrikes Prove Why Putin Is A Better Leader Than Obama
• Congrats Najib, There’re 2 Terror Groups Under Your Regime
• Danger Of “See No Terrorist, Hear No Terrorist, Speak No Terrorist” Policy

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November 18th, 2015 by financetwitter

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