French authorities continue to strike at those responsible for the attacks in Paris.
A raid in a Paris suburb left two dead, seven in custody and, authorities say, disruption of planned additional attacks. The ringleader may have been in the apartment targeted.
There’s no end of commentary on the attacks.
One example: Gene Lyons has written this week about terrorism, including the ease of calling for striking back at ISIS, but the lack of specifics from President Obama’s Republican critics beyond what the administration is already doing. It will be available later today, but in part:
Mother Jones blogger Kevin Drum went down the list of the GOP candidates’ suggestions, but found nothing new:
“There’s a lot we can do to defeat ISIS, and most of it we’re already doing. Airstrikes? Check. Broad coalition? Check. Working with Arab allies? Check. Engage with Sunni tribal leaders? Check. Embed with the Iraqi military? Check. There’s more we could do, but often it’s contradictory. You want to arm the Kurds and create a partnership with the Iraqi government? Good luck. You want to defeat Assad and ISIS? You better pick one. You want to avoid a large American ground force and you want to win the war fast? Not gonna happen.”
For buffoonery, there’s always failing presidential candidate Mike Huckabee.
Daily Show host Trevor Noah put the Huckster in the spotlight for his frenzied efforts to grab attention. Raw Story reports:
Huckabee complained that people fleeing the violence in Syria would be better off being placed outside the US, since their religion is “not that common here” and having them in the country would “create a disruption.”
“Mike Huckabee makes a good point; can you imagine if people started coming to America from all over the world, bringing their different languages, cultures and religions, mixing and changing the culture that’s already here until it becomes something totally new?” Noah said. “What kind of country would this be? But you know what, Mike Huckabee, I understand you — as someone whose family has been here for generations, as a …. Native American, you can say, I can see why this idea would frighten you.”
The GOP presidential candidate’s remarks, Noah said, were part of the final stage of conservative grief following last week’s terrorist attacks in Paris: “Just say something really batshit crazy.” Huckabee, who is languishing in ninth place in the Republican field, also said Americans should “wake up and smell the falafel” in response to the threat posed by groups like the Islamic State.
“There are a few things wrong with that statement,” the host explained. “Number one, falafel is not a breakfast food; number two, it doesn’t really smell like anything; and number three, the racism.”