Sarkozy declares Jewish school shooting national tragedy

"This was the third gun attack in the southwestern region in a week. Police launched a major manhunt last week after the killing of three paratroopers and the wounding of another in two separate incidents. The perpetrator of both those attacks fled on a motorbike"

Very disturbing pattern.Soldiers and children slaughtered. The strongest and weakest in society and apparently neither is safe in France these days.

Pretty safe assumption that this is a jihadist. And it is easy to predict the press response once they catch im: There will be no questioning of the ideology that motivated him (like in the case Brejvik in Norway). Instead he will be portrayed as a single, mentally disturbed misunderstander of his peaceful beliefs. Absolute double standards. Wait for it.

Pretty safe assumption that this is a jihadist.

Right. Because if there is anything a Jihadist hates, its paratroopers. And it just can't be a Breivick clone, because that would mar the "its all about Islam" litany.

Absolute double standards.

I have no idea what you are talking about. I suspect you don't either.

Seavey:

" Right. Because if there is anything a Jihadist hates, its paratroopers. "

Duh.... is that a rethorical question? The almost daily attacks on Western military are bypassing whatever media you are reading?

" And it just can't be a Breivick clone, because that would mar the "its all about Islam" litany. "

Breivik wanted to start a revolution in Norway by attacking the Norwegian government and the children of its leaders. I do not see a correlation here. Attacks on French military and Jews? That fits another model.

" Absolute double standards. I have no idea what you are talking about. I suspect you don't either. "

I see that you have not idea what I am talking about, so I will try to express it as simple as possible:

In the unlikely event that this is native French terrorist with a non-muslim background, there will endless discussion in the media about what ideology motived him. And whatever motivated him will be massively trashed.

In the event that this is a jihadist terrorist, there will be no interest in the media at all about the ideology that motivated him. Instead, the media will go to great lengths to portrait him as a crazy individual, and a misunderstander of the religion of peace.

Alas, that double standard is an easy prediction. Is that clearer understand?

Pretty safe assumption that this is a jihadist.

Actually no its not, all those killed were ethnic minorities. The soldiers were north african and these are jews. So this looks like someone with a grudge against ethnic minorities.

Attacks on French military and Jews? That fits another model.

Neo-Nazi?

I am not saying the attacker is not a Jihadist. All we truly know about him is that he rides a motorbike. Could be anybody of any sort of belief. Or just a nutcase. Hell, the fact that he escapes on a motorbike does not even mean he has a license for one. But I am sure you already jumped to the conclusion that he does.

If it turns out it is a Jihadist, you will simply be the broken clock right twice a day. This has nothing to do with who I want the perp to be or not be. It just simple logic. You see a pattern that can not be rationally made at this time with so little info. It does not mean you are wrong. It means you are hasty...which is why you are usually wrong.

Pretty safe assumption that this is a jihadist.

I'll take that bet. Simply because they have not listed whom they believe the suspects are. If they thought it were some right wing group of whites or Neo Nazi's they would have made an announcement Even if they were wrong about it, they still would have put it out there.

The only thing sadder than this crime is that people like WilliB will come on and try to make it political. Did the French President jump in and assume what WilliB came on to preach his hate for? Nope. Thanks, Willi, for turning this into a thread for which we could express our sadness and anger into a page of petty politics. You should have bet on your comments being offensive.

Moderator: Other readers can post for themselves. They don't need you posting this rubbish. You should have learned your lesson by now. So you can have another 48 hours off.

smithinjapan, agree with you my friend. Lets hope the French Police catch the perps and soon.

people like WilliB will come on and try to make it political.

Is that the nice way of saying he is a shameless Islamophobe? But hey, I will go a step deeper. Transplant him into any age, and he will simply hate whoever its popular to hate. Accusing him of being an Islamophobe is actually giving him too much credit. He is just a hater, shallow and reactionary as all the rest.

It's tough to say what the motivation is until the guy is identified and caught. I hope they catch him soon.

Very disturbing pattern.Soldiers and children slaughtered. The strongest and weakest in society and apparently neither is safe in France these days.

Still safer than in your country, though. Weird, what does that say for America?

Anyway, hopefully people start to realise that anti-semitism is still a reality in 2012. The Islamphobes have taken center stage in the last decade, but that certainly doesn't mean anti-semitism faded into nothingness. It's still a serious problem all over the world.

I'm with gelendestrasse, until they announce the suspect/s there are no predictions except this person is killing because they like to.

Wa there not a similar shooting on non-white soldiers in Italy not too long ago?

Early reports make it sound like another Brejvik. Hope they catch him.

Three kids, a teacher, and three paratroopers, assuming the three events were related. Wouldn't surprise me if it was a person in the military gone nuts, other people in uniform would be convenient first targets. Whose to say the jewish school wasn't just a random target?

Other than the military shootings I'm not seeing a pattern. Hopefully they get caught soon.

zichiMar. 20, 2012 - 12:14AM JST

The killer is believed to be a white right wing extremist.

Nonsense. French right wingers are not antisemitic and they don't shoot on soldiers and children.

The French far left wingers and the muslim communauty are far more anti Jew and violent.

NolivingMar. 19, 2012 - 09:49PM JST

Actually no its not, all those killed were ethnic minorities. The soldiers were north african and these are jews. So this looks like someone with a grudge against ethnic minorities.

Nonsense bis. 2 of the soldiers were Christians.

Nonsense. French right wingers are not antisemitic and they don't shoot on soldiers and children.

Who said he was French? Who said all right wingers are the same? Who said he was anti-semitic? Who said he was even sane enough to know who he was shooting? Your mistake in that post is jumping to conclusions.

Nonsense bis. 2 of the soldiers were Christians.

Is there a neon sign on paratrooper uniforms displaying their religion? How was the shooter supposed to know when he shot them? Your mistake in that post is 20/20 hindsight.

The killer is believed to be a white right wing extremist.

Today the French press has stated that a right wing Neo Nazi group of former military are not the prime suspects but they are looking in a different direction.

Is there a neon sign on paratrooper uniforms displaying their religion?

No there is not a sign on their uniforms, but also reported was the fact that they were part of a unit that had just seen service in Afghanistan probably is more of an indicator of what direction the shooters were coming from. Doesn't matter if they were non-white, they were fighting for France, and that is probably what set off this shooter and his kind.