Bastille Day Nice Incident: A Disturbingly Familiar Story

Police officers stand near a van, with its windscreen riddled with bullets (AFP/Getty)

Ignore Western media reports, automatically calling these type incidents terrorism, Muslims nearly always blamed.

Other possibilities are discounted – notably whether what happened in Nice was state-sponsored false flag terrorism, what seems most likely, though it’s too early to rush to judgment.

Here’s how The New York Times, the self-styled “newspaper of record,” covered what happened, typical of other reports I’ve seen so far, more obfuscating than enlightening, saying:

“A Bastille Day fireworks celebration was shattered by death and mayhem on Thursday night in the southern French city of Nice when a large truck barreled for more than a mile through an enormous crowd of spectators, crushing and maiming dozens in what France’s president called a terrorist assault.”

Timing of these type incidents aren’t happenstance. Thousands were celebrating Bastille Day on Nice’s Promenade des Anglais when a large lorry managed to get through protective barricades unobstructed.

Why was security lax? Was poor planning responsible or something more diabolical involved?

Reportedly a driver of Tunisian origin identified as Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel rammed celebrants at high speed, allegedly shooting at the same time, managing to kill or injure over 200 before police lethally shot him.

Dead men tell no tales. An identity card supposedly found in the lorry ID’d him. Why would an assailant leave one behind incriminating himself?

Was the driver alone responsible for what happened or were others involved? Some reports indicated two assailants. Others said the driver opened fire before being shot and killed.

French President Francois Hollande automatically blamed “Islamic terrorism,” extending a state of emergency another three months beyond its scheduled July 26 expiration date.

Major media reports left unexplained how a driver/gunman, alone or with help, managed to commit a massacre virtually unobstructed – police lethally shooting him only after over 200 celebrants were dead or wounded?

Police killed a single assailant. Multiple ones were likely involved – if a state-sponsored false flag, security forces perhaps responsible for lethal shootings, the lorry driver unable to do both at the same time.

These type incidents can’t be pulled off single-handedly. Reports indicated an individual managed to drive a reported 25-ton lorry, zigzagging for some distance into crowds of people, killing and injuring scores by ramming and shooting before being stopped.

All we know is what authorities say and media scoundrels repeat without due diligence checking. No group so far claimed responsibility. Manufactured reports could name one at any time.

When one news story blocks out all others, be wary. Fear-mongering again rages, enlisting public support for unjustifiable war on terrorism, ravaging and destroying Muslim countries, compromising human and civil liberties domestically on the phony pretext of assuring greater security.

It’s too early to know whether Thursday’s incident was individual, group or state-sponsored terrorism. Recent similar attacks suggest the latter, likely unless proved otherwise.