London Bridge terrorist attack

As a proud and patriotic British Muslim I say this: you do not commit these disgusting acts in my name. — Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London

Saturday night, a van ploughed into pedestrians on London Bridge, then three men leapt out of the van and attacked with knives people in nearby Borough Market. Within eight minutes, armed police arrived on the scene and the terrorists were cut down in a hail of bullets.

Seven killed, 48 injured.

Prior to the police arrival, ordinary people, unarmed, attacked the terrorists and probably saved more people from being killed or injured.

In many ways a copycat of what happened on Westminster Bridge in March.

The attack less than two weeks after the suicide bomb attack at a concert in Manchester leaving 22 dead, and on the eve of a  benefit concert in Manchester.

A sobering and informative account by Paul Mason in an interview for Democracy Now.

A lesson for the BBC which has become a national embarrassment.

'The poisonous ideology of the London attackers has no place in Islam' – Mayor of London @SadiqKhan #LondonAttack pic.twitter.com/zu9E6g4kbA

— Sky News (@SkyNews) June 5, 2017

We are all shocked and angry today – but this is our city. We will never let these cowards win and we will never be cowed by terrorism. pic.twitter.com/o7ZMwg28mv

— Mayor of London (@MayorofLondon) June 4, 2017

Mayor Sadiq Khan is doing an extraordinary job supporting Londoners in a time of pain. President Trump's attack on him is unacceptable.

— Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) June 5, 2017

Pathetic excuse by London Mayor Sadiq Khan who had to think fast on his "no reason to be alarmed" statement. MSM is working hard to sell it!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 5, 2017

Sadiq Khan has spoken for London and our country in standing up to hate. That is how we stop terrorists winning, not by promoting division. https://t.co/qPtJBaPobI

— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) June 5, 2017

Countries across the world, mayors across the world, have pledged support for Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, but not Donald Trump who has once again shown himself to be an ignorant ill-informed arsehole.

Yes, we have to clamp down on Muslim extremists in UK, a view backed by Muslims I talked to today.

Watch: Professor Michael Clarke of the Royal United Services Institute, has some brutal insights for Theresa May. pic.twitter.com/3hIpwr1PmO

— EL4C (@EL4JC) June 5, 2017

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn criticises Theresa May over cuts to policing, after the UK saw its third terror attack in three months. pic.twitter.com/KlN2yrfL0e

— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) June 5, 2017

If Labour is elected, I will commission a report from the security services on Friday on the changing nature of the terrorist threat. pic.twitter.com/779kb5nbA5

— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) June 4, 2017

WATCH THIS: Theresa May just got absolutely mauled by the media. Police cuts are the number one story. It's making her very uncomfortable… pic.twitter.com/ddbxu3DHOj

— EL4C (@EL4JC) June 5, 2017

DEVASTATING: Ben Priestley explains how the crime stats are being fiddled. Police numbers are being cut + books are being cooked. #ToriesOut pic.twitter.com/pfyBkUooZY

— EL4C (@EL4JC) June 5, 2017

This is the truth that has been hidden from the public for too long. Well said @Peter_Kirkham pic.twitter.com/9Cq4aQjPZy

— CynicalBobby (@cynicalbobby) June 4, 2017

This Thursday voters have the chance to vote for a Labour government that will invest in police and security services rather than cut them. pic.twitter.com/90AYnzLMNc

— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) June 5, 2017

If this was a Labour Home Secretary they would have resigned yesterday. Time for Amber Rudd and Theresa May to go. https://t.co/xB34plH874

— Aaron Bastani (@AaronBastani) June 5, 2017

That Theresa May has cut the number of police officers by 20,000 officers does not help.  When the Police Federation at the time warned of the consequences, they were accused by Theresa May of scaremongering.  Local police, bobbies on the beat, are the eyes and ears in the community.

Often the terrorists are not known. In these last three attacks, they were known.

Robert Fisk: May's response to terrorism is flawed. She's ignoring the elephant in the room https://t.co/NRJpYbxMUx

— Ian Fraser (@Ian_Fraser) June 5, 2017

'Sensitive' Home Office report into Saudi Arabia funding of terror groups 'must be published' https://t.co/TvaMrOjXHE

— CAAT (@CAATuk) June 5, 2017

The Qatar spat exposes Britain’s game of thrones in the Gulf | Paul Mason | Opinion | The Guardian https://t.co/2sFMuKUrRb

— Paul Mason (@paulmasonnews) June 5, 2017

We also have to tackle countries like Saudi Arabia, a country that funds ISIS, exports a perversion of Islam, is waging genocide in Yemen, and is now waging a war of words with Qatar.  We must stop supplying weapons to Saudi Arabia. We must stop buying their oil and move to a  Green New Deal where we move very rapidly to renewable sources of energy. We must see publication of the government report that links corrupt House of Saud to terrorism.

Amber Rudd shuts down my speech about arms sales to Saudi Arabia https://t.co/RhErpomci2 via @YouTube

— Mr Ethical (@nw_nicholas) June 4, 2017

Only a few days ago, at a hustings in Thanet, a candidate was cut off for highlighting these links.

As the ISIS Caliphate is destroyed, their ideology not.

Three attacks this year.  At least five attacks thwarted.

No man is an island

Nice

No man is an island,
Entire of itself,
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thy friend’s
Or of thine own were:
Any man’s death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.

— John Donne ‪

Rise of Isis

Isis

Across the Arab world, the Arab Spring filled the people with hope.

Those dreams have not been met, instead they were met by brutal repression.

The rise of Isis has been a response to that repression.

in Iraq, the country was destroyed by war criminals George W Bush and Tony Blair. Iran financed Shia death squads targeted Sunnis. Any person who had been a member of Saddam Hussein’s Ba’ath Party was summarily dismissed from their job, denied public-sector employment, and barred from accessing their pensions.

As with membership of the Communist Party in the Soviet Union Ba’ath Party membership was a requirement any state job, so the policy led to the mass dismissal of thousands of teachers, doctors, police, and low-ranking civil servants. By destroying the mechanics of the state in this way, the United States virtually guaranteed the collapse of the state — a catastrophic prospect for a society emerging from over two decades of sanctions and war.

Out of the marginalisation of Sunnis rose Isis. When you have nothing, you turn to violence

Abu Ghraib detention facility, which exploded into Western consciousness in 2003 following the release of photographs showing US military personnel torturing prisoners. In the wake of this scandal, many detainees were transferred out of Abu Ghraib to another prison, Camp Bucca. It was here that one detainee, later known as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, came to establish a strong relationship with a coterie of former Ba’athist military officers who had spent time in Abu Ghraib.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is the leader of Isis, and those same Ba’athist officers now serve as his closest deputies and advisers.

In Syria, seven years of drought forced people off the land and into the cities. Protest followed, repression followed protest. Out of the repression  rose Isis.

In his speech calling for bombs to be dropped on Syria, a speech that was low on substance and high on waffle, Hilary Benn spoke of idealistic young men going to fight Franco in Spain. In the same vein, idealised  young Muslims go to Syria to join Isis. They are self-radicalised. If they cannot join Isis they will carry out their terrorist attacks at home. Isis is recruiting in Muslim enclaves. Support for Isis is not restricted to a tiny minority.

In Syria there are competing groups, they hate Assad, hate Isis, hate each other and hate the West,

Assad has killed hundreds of thousands of his own people, millions have been displaced. Any call to accommodate Assad must be rejected. It would be a betrayal of Syrian people to reach any accommodation with him. It would also be to ignore he was the cause of the rise of Isis in Syria.

Isis offers a purity of revolution, pure in the sense of its fanaticism that it is to return to a pure form of Islam.

Isis controls significant territory, a de facto state that straddles Iraq and Syria, that is if state has any meaning, in what is essentially stateless region, populated by warring factions.

Taliban in Afghanistan rejected technology (unless it was a weapon) Isis on the other hand embraces technology,  makes extensive use of internet and social media. On the one hand, they may not wish to talk to the outside world, on the other hand that make extensive effort to communicate with the outside world.

Brutality spreads fear. When Isis took Mosul, the Iraqi Army melted away, leaving their weapons behind.

To its supporters Isis projects a Muslim Utopia. water flows, electricity flows, bread gets baked, grapes grow, the people are fed.

Isis functions as a state. A fighter, for example, is estimated to be paid around $300 to $400 per month, more than double that provided by the Iraqi army.

Isis controls core infrastructure, oil fields, electricity and water.

For an insurgency, Isis is wealthy. Oil revenue, taxes, extortion, people trafficking, kidnapping. It is self-funding and not reliant upon external funding from Gulf States, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

Hilary Benn talked of the International Brigade going off to fight Isis. That is the role fundamentalists see themselves in when they go off to fight with Isis.

• A Brief History of ISIS
• The Rise of Isil
• Bombing in cloud cuckoo land
• ISIL raises up to $1.5bn from bank looting, oil sales
• The wishful thinking war: a briefing on Syria to MPs before they vote
• Forget ISIS: Humanity is at Stake
• Mosul under ISIL: ‘No internet, no shaving’
• Trying to follow what is going on in Syria and why?
• ‘The vicar of Baghdad’ explains what happened when he invited Isis to dinner
• Send in troops to defeat Islamic State says ‘vicar of Baghdad’ Andrew White

Bombing in cloud cuckoo land

Less than half of voters back airstrikes on Syria

In 7 days 5 million Brits change their minds on Syrian airstrikes. Concerned citizens or terrorist sympathisers? pic.twitter.com/8yoXBG2bee

— Jeremy Corbyn MP (@jeremycorbyn) December 2, 2015

Government must explain how UK could fight alongside anti-Assad fighters in #Syria but not get drawn into conflict with Russia #SyriaVote

— Caroline Lucas (@CarolineLucas) December 2, 2015

.@CarolineLucas: How can we work with anti-Assad fighters in Syria without getting drawn into conflict with Russia? https://t.co/TFbb1DvZwH

— Sky News (@SkyNews) December 2, 2015

Thousands in Parliament Square now… pic.twitter.com/4cDTRk9dNZ

— John Rees (@JohnWRees) December 2, 2015

The scene at Parliament Square where a growing number of people are protesting as part of the Stop the War Coalition pic.twitter.com/Vb5RXoLKjK

— Tear-nan (@TiernanMcCart1) December 2, 2015

Well, where was the debate? All I saw was people reading out their opinions in speeches, un-opposed.

— Charlotte Church (@charlottechurch) December 2, 2015

Palace of Westminster reverberating from growing chants of #DontBombSyria by many 100s of people outside – hope MPs will listen #SyriaVote

— Caroline Lucas (@CarolineLucas) December 2, 2015

Stop the War campaigners are staging a "die-in" by lying in the road outside Parliament pic.twitter.com/bvF4REloxJ

— Kate McCann (@KateEMcCann) December 2, 2015

Mass @STWuk die-in outside parliament as MPs debate going to war #DontBombSyria pic.twitter.com/WSPPOa5xxk

— Judith Orr (@juditheo) December 2, 2015

Kurds thwart an IS suicide truck just short of its target – see @johnirvineitv's report on @ITVEveningNews at 6.30 https://t.co/jBYeSrGDgT

— ITV News (@itvnews) December 2, 2015

Today MPs debate whether or not to bomb Syria.

David Cameron has refused a two day debate, refused to grant his MPs a free vote, refused to apologise for his disgraceful remark last night that those who oppose bombing of Syria are sympathisers of terrorists.

Meanwhile public support is melting away as people wake up to the lies they are being told.

Speaking on Wato lunchtime today, a Tory MP claimed British air strikes would degrade Isis.

Really?

So what has over a month of Russian air strikes, over a year of American air strikes done?

David Cameron has a point, if forces in Iraq are threatened by Isis over the border, we should not let an arbitrary line deter us, but that is a different matter.

We are not re-enacting WWII, easily defined targets, airfields, command posts, railway lines, sidings, power stations, factories, where the enemy is seriously degraded.

Compelling speech from Julian Lewis about myth of 70,000 anti Assad troops – "bogus battalions now replace dodgy dossiers" #SyriaVote

— Caroline Lucas (@CarolineLucas) December 2, 2015

The myth of forces on the ground has been exposed as just that, a  myth.

There are forces on the ground, many are as bad as Isis, if not worse. Their interest is holding on to their existing territory. They are  not going to take the fight to Isis, neither are the Kurds.

If there are forces on the ground, attacking Isis or under attack by Isis, call for air support, that is a different matter.

David Cameron says we are already under threat from Isis. Bombing will increase that threat. That is not an argument against effective action, any action would increase that threat, but effective action would reduce in the long term.

• War with Syria
• Don’t Bomb Syria
• To bomb or not bomb IsisNato general Sir Richard Shirreff warns air strikes on Syria are useless
• The wishful thinking war: a briefing on Syria to MPs before they vote
• Calling people like me terrorist sympathisers won’t convince us to support bombing Syria, David Cameron

Opposition to bombing of Syria

#DontBombSyria John McDonnell

I am opposed to the bombing and I know the argument has been brought forward that this will be very clinical, very precise, etc. but I’m concerned that any collateral damage will be used by ISIS as a recruitment tool to be frank and I think it will possibly endanger us even more. — John McDonnell MP

#DontBombSyria Jeremy Corbyn

The media report that the conditions in the Labour Party resolution passed by Conference in September have been met as fact. In fact, it’s an awful lot more complicated than that. Reporters gloss over this, as if it’s a mere irrelevance, or a footnote at best. Today Jeremy answered that point in detail. Even on the first part of that resolution (the UN resolution), Cameron’s reassurances fell short:

Andrew Marr: Right, now I put myself through the brief piece of homework of reading the Labour Party resolution, which I think in party terms is the kind of foundation for everything that follows. And in that, you know, there was a call for a UN resolution, which has happened, there was a call for a better plan for refugees, which is being put together now, and there were various other calls for things, many of which the Prime Minister would say he has delivered. You set a high bar, he might say, Mr Corbyn, and I have got over that bar, and you’re still saying you’re against it. So you’re against this under all circumstances whatever the Prime Minister says. There’s nothing that he can pick up – if he could pick up a phone to you now and said, ‘ah, Mr Corbyn, I have got a new thing to say to you’, is there anything he could say to you that would change your mind?

Jeremy Corbyn: I’d obviously listen to what he has to say, because that’s the responsibility of every MP to do that. But the point is …

Andrew Marr: Of course, but if anything could change your mind –

Jeremy Corbyn: – the resolution talks about a UN resolution to be carried, indeed one was carried. This is not a UN-inspired attack, this is an attack on Isil groupings, whatever you want to call them, in Raqqa, which is actually a coalition between Britain, France and the USA. Other countries such as Australia and Canada have already withdrawn from this. This is not a UN–organised thing, this is not a Chapter 7 resolution which is mandatory on member states.

Andrew Marr: Because you see, you know, the Shadow Cabinet members who disagree with you have gone through those resolutions passed at conference and said by and large we think it’s been met, and that therefore the hurdles have been covered. But the trouble with Jeremy Corbyn is, in his heart he’s there on the streets with the Stop the War coalition and there’s nothing that can be said that’s going to change his mind.

Jeremy Corbyn: There’s nothing wrong with my heart, except wanting a peaceful world and wanting the best for my country.

Andrew Marr: It’s on the left, I suspect.

Jeremy Corbyn: Well, it’s a socialist heart as well, but let’s go back to the issue of how we deal with the problems of the region. Surely it is much better to pursue the political option which will eventually bring about a ceasefire, hopefully quickly, in the Syrian civil war. Hundreds of thousands of people have already died in the Syrian civil war. Millions have been driven into exile. This is a crisis of unimaginable proportions for the whole region, and it’s now affecting Europe more and more. Surely it’s the political process that’s the key thing. This is in effect a distraction from the political process.

• War with Syria
• Don’t Bomb Syria
• Debate about Syria is missing one thing: Syrians
• Forget ISIS: Humanity is at Stake

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Fascist Islamist President of Turkey

Fellow hack @candundaradasi and his colleague arrested and jailed in Turkey. Will retweet his interview with us on Erdogan.

— Jonathan Rugman (@jrug) November 27, 2015

The West turns a blind eye to the Fascist Islamist President of Turkey.

Slow erosion of women’s rights in Turkey.

Clampdown on the media, on journalists and freedom of expression.

Support for Isis. Arms, money, oil and people flow across the border with Syria to support Isis.

Meddling by Turkey has worsened the situation in Syria and Iraq.

Atrocities against the Kurds.

Shooting down of a Russian military plane, which will now incur economic sanctions against Turkey, and probably see the collapse of its tourist industry.

The recent bombings in Turkey were probably orchestrated by Erdoğan.

One of the reasons Greece is in debt, is due to a massive military budget to defend against the threat of Turkey. Turkey has regular, daily incursions into Greek airspace.

• 2 Turkish journalists jailed over Syria smuggling reports
• Columbia University researchers confirm Turkey’s links to ISIS
• Russian airstrikes reportedly target Turkish aid convoy in Syria
• Turkey downs a Russian jet
• Turkey’s Erdogan warns Russia not to ‘play with fire’
• Turkey warns Russia not to ‘play with fire’ over downed jet

Turkey downs a Russian jet

Russian SU-24

Turkey supports Isis

Turkey supports Isis

Neither our pilots nor our jet threatened the territory of Turkey. — Vladimir Putin

We do not intend to go to war with Turkey. — Sergei Lavrov, Russian foreign minister

If Greece had downed every turkish aircraft for THAT level of airspace violation, today Turkey would only fly kites. — Maria Topalidou

Yesterday the world awoke to the alarming news, Turkey had shot down a Russian military jet. An act of crass stupidity and naked aggression by Turkey.

There was no response from the Russian plane, no missiles fired,  no evasive action, which would appear to indicate the pilots assumed they were safe in Syrian territory.

The bombing of Syria by Russia, an act of crass stupidity and naked aggression. Large numbers of civilians killed, and not an iota difference made to ISIS.

Russia is bombing any opponent of Assad. Assad a brutal dictator who is quite happy to bomb his own people. It is the repression of Assad, marginalisation of Sunnis, that and drought, that has given rise to Isis in Syria.

It was obvious in September, Russia bombing Syria, possible excursions in Turkey, would increase tensions in the region.

The world moves closer to WWIII.

Vladimir Putin has promised strong action against Turkey, but has ruled out military action. It looks like, no Russian tourists to Turkey, which will cause the Turkish tourist economy to collapse.

Turkey, until a bomb attack in Turkey, was supporting Isis. They allow the flow of people, weapons, money and oil across the border. Action by Turkey is to attack the Kurds, the only effective force fighting ISIS.

But the Kurds are only interested in establishing and safeguarding Kurdistan, they are not interested in the rest of Syria.

What happened yesterday?

Turkey says they warned the pilots, that there was an excursion into their airspace. The surviving Russian pilot says there was no warning, and that they were not in Turkish airspace. Americans say Russian plane was in Turkish airspace for a matter of seconds.

The second pilot was shot by Syrian forces on the ground. This was a war crime.

A tiny sliver of Turkish land projects into Syria. This may explain the discrepancy, if it was crossed.

Russian bombers regularly probe UK airspace. They are intercepted and escorted away.  They are not shot down.

Russian submarines enter Swedish waters. Swedish warships drop depth charges.

Had Russia retaliated against Turkey, it would have been an attack on Nato.

Russia has ruled out a military response, instead it will use economic sanctions. A boycott by Russian tourists. Not that will be difficult, as they lack money. Turkish tourist industry will collapse.

There is little support in Nato for Turkey’s action. David Cameron has been stupid enough to offer his support.

If we are to defeat Isis, we need the support of Russia.

violations of Greek airspace by Turkey

Turkey regularly enters Greek airspace. Turkish warships appear off the coast of Cyprus.

Turkey says it is not an aggressor. Support of Isis, atrocities against the Kurds, occupation of northern Cyprus, exposes that lie.

In 2012, Turkey accused Syria of shooting down one of their F-4 Phantoms. At that time,  then prime minister and now president Erdoğan jumped up and down and condemned the Syrian military for their rash action. Hmm.

“A short-term border violation can never be a pretext for an attack” were the words he chose at the time, words that will no doubt come back to haunt him.

Turkey is a country where abuse of human rights is the norm.

• Trying to follow what is going on in Syria and why?
• Russia sends clear message to Turkey: Don’t try it again
• ‘Turkey gave no warning’ – downed Russian pilot
• Turkey and Russia in war of words over downed jet
• Turkish, Greek warplanes tangle in mock dogfights over Aegean
• Chest-thumping pundits relish ‘messing with Putin’
• After Turkey’s ‘stab in the back’ to Russia, will anyone support Ankara?
• After cracking down on media, is Turkey going after academic freedom?

ISIS survives largely because Turkey allows it to: the evidence

UndercoverInfo

Kurdish (YPJ) frontline troops

The real frontline confronting ISIS is not US or French bombers (the latter currently targeting Raqqa, a city with 140,000 civilians, who are virtual prisoners of ISIS) but the Kurds of Iraq and northern Syria. Just over a week ago the combined Kurd forces, under the command of the Yezidis, liberated Sinjar from ISIS. For the Kurds, their war is not just about defeating ISIS, but about creating their own autonomous region – a region that would link all the Kurd cantons. This will not be easy, especially as the Iraq-based Kurds (Peshmerga) are allied with Iran and benefit from US support (nor are the Iraqi Kurds in any hurry to secede from Iraq). But the largest hurdle to an autonomous Kurdistan is Turkey, which not only has rekindled its war with the PKK (Kurdish Workers Party), but has done everything it can over the…

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In a tolerant society how do we deal with intolerance?

In a tolerant society how do we deal with intolerance?

bags of money used to finance terrorism

Palestinian poet Ashraf Fayadh sentenced to death in #SaudiArabia for 'renouncing Islam' https://t.co/aMYRDV6hAQ

— Amnesty UK (@AmnestyUK) November 20, 2015

In a tolerant society how do we deal with intolerance, how should we deal with intolerance?

Moral Maze on Islamic terrorism last night. Where are the Muslims on the street demonstrating against ISIS, demonstrating against the atrocities in Paris last Friday night? When Muslims come to the West they should discard their cultural baggage. There is no support in the Koran for their Medieval ways. This from a Muslim academic.

Very valid point made at Europe is Kaput (discussion between Yanis Varoufakis and Slavoj Zizek, later joined by Julian Assange), in the West we must underscore our liberal values, we cannot allow ourselves to be cowed by the knee-jerk cry of Islamaphobia. We must oppose bastardisation of women,  forced marriage, hate crimes, honour killings.

Talking to an Iranian friend today, a Muslim.

A man and a woman in his shop. He politely asked why was the woman dressed the way she was, full burka, tiny slit for her eyes, please show me, here is a copy of The Koran? The man became abusive. My friend pointed out the man was in his shop, and he had asked a polite question. Man became more abusive. My friend told them they were a disgrace to all Muslims.

He had an imam from a mosque, an ignorant, uneducated fellow. Why do you not hang a sign outside your mosque condemning ISIS? Cannot, the man replied, the mosque would be bombed.

In Iran, in Turkey, there are academic centres of learning for The Koran. The clerics practising in UK, are illiterate, backward peasants from backward village cultures, who bring their ignorance with them.

On Radio 4 this evening a discussion, Paris: Could it happen here? Muslim extremists are not the fringe of Islamic culture in England.

Saudi Arabia is a main funder of terrorism, an exporter of a perversion of Islam.

We can stand by and do nothing about Isis. If we do, Isis will expand.

We need as Jeremy Corbyn has said, to cut off the funding. That means Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States. We also have to deal with the oil from Isis finding its way onto the black market. These are necessary, but not sufficient conditions to defeat Isis.

Isis is a de facto country. We will not defeat Isis as David Cameron in his simplistic thinking seems to believe by bombing them, bombing is making the situation worse and bringing in more recruits.  We will only defeat Isis, by US, France, Germany and Russia, working together to defeat Isis on the ground, then occupation for many years until the democratic structures of the country are rebuilt, as we did with Nazi Germany.

We must remove Assad. Assad has killed more Syrians than Isis. It was repression by Assad that led to Isis.

We must not make the mistake of Iraq, where US contractors were brought in to rebuild the country, leaving Iraqis unemployed and penniless. Syrians must rebuild Syria.

The vote in the House of Commons on Syria, must be a free vote, with each MP free to make his or her own mind up, not told how to vote by Party Leaders.

An attack on one is an attack on all

At the heart of it is the failed and broken state system in the Arab world that has given IS space in Iraq, Syria, Egypt and Libya. — Bruce Riedel, CIA veteran, Brookings Institution

#ParisAttacks were "act of war" organised by IS, says France's President Hollande, after at least 127 killed https://t.co/DVPxyJeZwC

— Bianca Jagger (@BiancaJagger) November 14, 2015

President Hollands declares state of emergency, closes borders & bans traffic from large sections of Paris as residents told to stay at home

— bendepear (@bendepear) November 13, 2015

Breaking RT French Warplanes Strike Islamic State Militants in #Syria https://t.co/uB6rtOzudy #ParisAttacks

— Bianca Jagger (@BiancaJagger) November 15, 2015

France could invoke Article 5 of Nato Treaty, an attack on one is an attack on all.

If Isis thought they could intimidate France they have made one big mistake.

Tonight France has launched a massive attack on ISIS.

• Friday night out
• ISIS declares war on France
• Smashing Islamic State After Paris Attacks Poses Huge Challenges
• French jets pound Raqqa as G20 pledges new ISIL fight