Washington Post: Paris attack lacked hallmarks of Islamist assaults in West
Greg Miller of the Washington Post reprts on the Paris attack commanded by ISIS:
The mass shooting at a satirical newspaper in France on Wednesday was a well-orchestrated assault by gunmen who fled the scene, setting it apart from most of the bombings and suicide attacks carried out by Islamist militants in the West.
The ruthlessness of the attack and the nature of the target — a publication known for ridiculing Islam and other religions — suggested possible ties to a radical organization, U.S. officials and others said. But no group has asserted responsibility, and it remained possible that the assailants were homegrown radicals without any direct ties to groups such as al-Qaeda or the Islamic State.
One of the men identified by the French authorities as a suspected assailant, Cherif Kouachi, a 32-year-old French citizen, was given a three-year sentence in 2008 for associating with a terrorist group because he was planning to go to Iraq to fight U.S. forces. Kouachi was arrested in 2005, and his attorneys said at the time that he had had second thoughts and was relieved he was stopped before leaving France, according to a report in the New York Times.
Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) said that a briefing delivered to members of the House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday outlined an array of scenarios, including that the attack was “inspired by ISIS or was a command and control decision” executed by the group. ISIS is an acronym for the Islamic State.
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By: Greg Miller
Source: Washington Post