The life and death of French gunman Mohamed Merah
March 22, 2012 | 2:52 pm
At the LA Times link above, you will discover this and a lot more:
He tried to join the French Foreign Legion, but decided against it.
He threatened a girl with a sword after she came over to complain that he made her younger brother watch Al Qaeda videos.
His radicalization took place in a Salafist ideological group and appeared to have been firmed up by two journeys he made to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
A fantastic bit of double-speak: Gueant said the Salafist group to which Merah belonged had no official name and had never given any indication of turning to criminal activity. - I suppose lawful jihad exists someplace, not sure where.
His trip to Iraq was arranged by his brother Abdelkader, known to French police and intelligence services as a member of an Islamist network based in the Toulouse area and suspected of having organized for "holy warriors" to travel to Iraq.
Two people familiar with the case said Mohammed Merah was on the U.S. no-fly list because in 2010 he had been in custody in Afghanistan, then sent back to France.
A French news video via the LA Times story:
1) Blame "Right-wing" actors
2) Once outed as a Muslim extremist, call it the act of a "lone wolf." (the press is wrapping this phase up now)
3) Deny that this Islamic extremist has anything to do with Islam.
4) Brace for the "backlash" that never happens.
I used to think articles like the Times piece above were actual attempts at properly covering a story. Today I am convinced that the relevant details slip through by accident.
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