Saturday, July 16, 2016

More on the Nice Attack





La tour Eiffel illuminée en bleu blanc rouge - Fluctuat nec Mergitur - Liberté, égalité, fraternité



La tour Eiffel illuminée en bleu blanc rouge - Fluctuat nec Mergitur - Liberté, égalité, fraternité






La tour Eiffel illuminée en bleu blanc rouge - Fluctuat nec Mergitur - Liberté, égalité, fraternité




We now know the name of the man who plowed his truck through the throngs of people in Nice during France's national holiday.

His name is Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, and he was born in Tunisia. He was not on the radar of counter-terrorism agencies in France. There were no known connections to any terrorist organizations, and no obvious links to radicalization. No terrorist group has claimed responsiblity for the incident. Authorities believe that there probably are links, although they remain as yet unknown. However, he did have a somewhat violent history in recent years, and he faced six months in prison for an incident involving road rage.

His neighbors have suggested that he was "frightening" to them, but for the most part, he kept to himself. According to one neighbor, Lahouaiej-Bouhlel would stare at children, which understandably made adults nearby uncomfortable. Again, there were no outward or obvious signs towards fundamentalism or extremism that authorities have unveiled. At least not yet, although this incident is believed to be one of wider terrorism.

Victims included people of diverse backgrounds and nationalities. Among the victims were two American tourists (a father and son), a Russian student, a Ukrainian, a German teacher from Berlin and two of her students, two Swiss citizens (a mother and her child), three Tunisians, and two Algerian children.

These were some of the man victims from Lahouaiej-Bouhlel's rampage two days ago. The only mistake or crime that they committed was wanting to go out and enjoy a beautiful resort city's fireworks on France's national holiday.

President Hollande called for three days of mourning following this latest attack, and called this incident "terrorism of opportunity" which, frankly, sounds about right. Still, Hollande is receiving mounting criticism for his security response, which some are calling inadequate, with this being the third major terrorist attack on French soil in the span of one year and a half, starting with the Charlie Hebdo attacks, followed later in 2015 by the Paris attacks in November, and now, this latest attack in the coastal resort city of Nice.

Facts in this case are still being revealed, so more  details are likely to emerge. For now, however, this tragedy remains clouded in mystery, and incredible sadness.


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This was played after the Paris attacks n November, but it seemed fitting to add it in the wake of yesterday's attacks in Nice, as well.


Nice attack: truck driver named as France mourns 84 killed in Bastille Day atrocity – as it happened, July 15, 2016:

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