Only last January, the world mourned with France after the terrorist attacks on the Charlie Hebdo editorial offices and a kosher grocery in Paris. The rampage in the French capital, claimed by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, left 16 people dead apart from the gunmen.
Over the weekend the lights went out in the Eiffel Tower, the iconic landmark in the City of Lights. In several world capitals, meanwhile, landmarks were lit up in the red, white and blue colors of the French flag. The gestures were in sympathetic solidarity with the French, who suffered fresh attacks on Friday night that were deadlier than those in January.
In cyberspace the Islamic State exulted and claimed responsibility for the attacks on several crowded areas in Paris. The sick minds espousing the gospel of hate earlier also claimed responsibility for the Oct. 31 crash of a Russian jetliner over Egypt, which killed all 224 people on board. Intelligence agencies say there are indications that the IS boast is not an idle one.
IS continues the al-Qaeda tradition of waging a borderless war, with no humanitarian rules binding militants to conduct in armed conflict. The extremists invoke religion and talk of creating a pan-Islamic state, although they are disowned by established Islamic nations. They like going after soft targets – unarmed civilians in unguarded establishments – the bigger the crowd, the better. They seem to take pleasure in killing – the more inhuman, the better.
The international community needs a coordinated response to this scourge of humanity. In the meantime, people in free societies pause to mourn the grievous loss of lives in France as well as in Russia and in the world’s conflict zones where lives are choked by hatred, violence and fear.