Frederick Forsyth: Where Were All The Have-A-Go Heroes In Paris?

Frederick Forsyth, author of the classic thriller The Day of the Jackal and The Outsider: My Life in Intrigue, wonders in his column in the Sunday Express why no one rushed the terrorists in Paris

Some weeks ago on a train speeding from Brussels to Paris an IS inspired thug emerged from the lavatory with a Kalashnikov assault rifle, virtually a light machine-gun.

He entered the first compartment he came to and intended to conduct a massacre. In a carriage full of French and Belgians only four men rose from their seats without thinking things over, and charged him.

He fired, his gun jammed – unusual but possible in the hands of a nervous shooter. Maybe he neglected to flick off the safety catch. All four men hit him.

As he went down he pulled a craft knife and sliced the thumb of one of those pounding him to the ground. Within seconds he was flat, with a large male backside on his head.

Duly trussed up, he was handed to the French authorities and now resides in a French jail where he will hopefully stay for life. Those who charged him down were lucky but fortune sometimes favours the brave or we would not have a regiment with the motto: Who Dares Wins.

But even if he had got off one slug into a man’s chest the other three would have flattened him. Here is part of my puzzle.

All four were Anglo-Saxons, three Americans and a British businessman. Two weeks ago three IS thugs strolled through the Bataclan rock club in Paris among a thousand Frenchmen.

Eight hundred must have been muscular young men. The gunmen fired. Paused, turned their backs, reloaded, fired again. It took 30 minutes and they killed more than 80 victims.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.express.co.uk/comment/columnists/frederick-forsyth/622479/Paris-terror-attacks-Frederick-Forsyth-Conservatives-Christmas-cards-bankers

Defense Secretary Ash Carter: United States Stands With France In Wake of Attacks

The DoD News offers the below report:

WASHINGTON November 13, 2015 — The United States stands with France in the wake of today’s terrorist attacks in Paris, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said.

"This evening’s horrific and barbaric attacks in Paris were more than an attack on the nation or people of France,” Carter said in a statement. “They were an assault on our common human dignity.”

Estimates of the number of people killed vary in reports, but range in the dozens.

Carter noted the close relationship between the United States and France, including their roles in the NATO alliance and in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

Strengthened Resolve

“As NATO allies, as leaders of the counter-ISIL coalition, as nations working shoulder to shoulder from West Africa to the Indian Ocean, the United States and France will only strengthen our resolve,” the secretary said. Earlier, President Barack Obama pledged U.S. assistance to French authorities and vowed to join France and other nations to bring the terrorists to justice and to “go after any terrorist networks that go after our people.”

“As the president said tonight, in this moment of tragedy the United States stands with the people of France and its vibrant, multi-cultural democracy,” Carter said in his statement. “For more than 200 years, the United States and France have stood together in friendship. We have stood for the common good and security of all nations. We have never stood closer than we do now. Vive la France."