French Alps murder of Iraqi family

This is an interesting story.   A political motivation seems likely.  pl

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19528446

 

 

 

Comments

[Townie76]

So we are surprised the French are acting like American's. Despite their protestations to the contrary they are no more civilized than another human.

[turcopolier]

townie76

I have spent a lot of time with the French and my impression of them is that they are deeply impressed with the tragedy of man's fate and the imperfections found in all people. In the face of that pessimism they try to have a good time. pl

[Walrus]

I keep thinking of the billions of dollars that went missing in Iraq.

[S4]

The French?

If you want to understand Apocalypse Now, I suggest the works of Rene Girard. More so than the works of R. Trinquier et al.

No one is more cutting edge than R. Girard. And no one is more Catholic.

[fred]

Acting like Americans? The French police haven't jumped to conclusions on who the killer is and this is the first French shooting I've heard of this year, we're well past the 200 mark in Detroit.

[ex-PFC Chuck]

Am I missing something? When I googled "French murder Alps" the stories that came up at the top of the list involve people of Iraqi origin living in Britain. The only French people involved were the law enforcement folks, since the crime took place on their turf.

[turcopolier]

S4

"La loi d'enmerdrement" pretty much sums up the attitude. Yes. Even the professedly heathen ones are often profoundly Catholic. pl

[Babak Makkinejad]

Yes and the persecution of Mr. Clinton and his subsequent impeachment is incomprehensible to teh French.

[Lars]

Who murdered the French Alps? When is the funeral? Who is digging the hole?

[Babak Makkinejad]

You might want to read books by Michel Houellebecq.

[Babak Makkinejad]

Is that not the French version of Murphy's Law; that there is a limit on how well things could turn out and all that can go wrong will go wrong?

Are not both a restatement of the Doctrine of the Fall of Man?

[The beaver]

There is also a French cyclist who got killed (5 bullets including one in the head)

[Stephen]

You can take a man out of the 3rd world, but you can't take out the 3rd world out of a man.

[D]

Chuck, a local French resident out cycling was shot and killed. This guy passed another cyclist (ex RAF) who was the one who discovered the event and probably rescued the life of the young girl.
The car was evidently in the process of turning around perhaps after encountering a road block. One rear tire was popped. All the shots were from the side windows, none through doors or front window. Engine was still running.

/FkD
PS.Some weeks prior a jewelry store in nearby Grenoble was held up by robbers armed with Kalashnikovs, firing liberally both for shock value in store and to scare away curious onlookers and police. Disappeared - with a female hostage - in a stolen BMW SUV smashing two (small) French police cars in the process. Still on the loose.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJtQXmIthT8
Kosovo or ex-Yugoslavia is usually the source of the weapons and perhaps the perps.

[Cleek]

This was the work of Mossad.

The deceased was an Iraqi nuclear scientist that had recently traveled to Iran. Among the dead was also a Frenchman who worked for AREVA (they sell zirconium which is used for nuclear fuel cladding).

[optimax]

Mossad doesn't target the whole family. And why was the young girl beat to within an inch of her life? That was unprofesional.

[pmr9]

Al-Hilli was not a nuclear scientist, and it's unlikely that Mossad would have much interest in Areva which designs third-generation nuclear power reactors (unfortunately far behind schedule and over budget). Al-Hilli was a computer-aided design engineer who had been working since 2010 for the UK firm SSTL, which designs and manufactures small satellites for civilian and military use.

If he had recently travelled to Iran, it's entirely possible that some agency could have become suspicious that he was helping Iran with its satellite designs. Iran has an established satellite launch capability and home-grown designs for surveillance satellites, but would no doubt benefit from Al-Hilli's expertise.

Israel and the US view Iran's satellite capability as a threat, and Israel has a track record of (often botched) assassinations of scientists involved with Iran. So the Mossad theory is plausible. It's certainly more plausible than a robbery by Kalashnikov-waving ex-Yugoslavians.

What I can't find is any reliable confirmation that Al-Hilli had travelled to Iran. This has been mentioned in unsourced comments on one or two conspiracy websites in the UK. The UK media were quick to take up hints about a family inheritance dispute, suggesting a disinformation op. Other online comments allege a UK government advisory notice to the press discouraging coverage of something or other in relation to the case, and (sourced to presstv.ir) that the Israeli military attache in Paris had arrived at the local airport by private plane to collect passengers. This at least should be easy to check.

[The beaver]

Babak

Affirmative: Either la loi de l'emmerdement maximum (LEM) ou la loi de la tartine beurrée

[David Habakkuk]

The family inheritance dispute seems particularly improbable. Even supposing there was enough at stake to make it plausible that one brother would want to murder another, if knew enough to hire hitmen, he would have hired them in the UK, and tried to keep the murder as low profile as possible.

To attempt to murder a whole family in France, in circumstances which guarantee that the French police will put solving the case very high up their list of priorities, would be crazy.

It is not clear to me whether these reports reflect "perception management" or not. If it looks as though they do, I will begin to get a bit suspicious about what it might be designed to hide.

Otherwise, feuds within Iraqi elites -- be they over property or politics, or some combination of the two -- might be a possible explanation.

[fred]

Lars, capitalists did it. Haven't you seen all those damned tourists there? Not to worry, the IMF is helping make the hole deeper.

[The beaver]

The Frenchman was a foundry journeyman who usually worked the 15:00-20:00 shift. I doubt he was in the "spook" biz.

The British fellow was a CAD engineer and nothing to do with nuclear or defense industries. He may have brought some unfinished Ba'ath membership/political issues back to the UK when he went to Irak after the death of his father to settle his estate.

[Walrus]

Could be Mossad. The whole thing looks to me like an ambush. Time was obviously of the essence as well.

[tpceltus]

immediately after this happened, BBC World News had very extensive coverage of this on their a.m. U.S. broadcast. In addition to the tragedy of the event, I thought that the airtime devoted to it was unique.

[watcher]

BBC News now reporting that British Army bomb disposal squad has been called to the Surrey House of the family. Interesting indeed.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19540445

[Harry]

They might have run out of bullets.

She was the only one outside of the car. She was shot in the shoulder but the killers may have been concerned about leaving witnesses. There is reason to think the french cyclist might have been an unfortunate passerby. He recieved 7 bullets. They might not have budgeted enough bullets.

Its worth noting that all the adults were shot at least twice, with one of the shots through the forehead in each case. Im not a gun enthusiast but that strikes me as rather professional work. I doubt amateurs could be as efficient.

Mossad doesnt kill children? Maybe it was Iranian intelligence? Maybe Mossad does kill children when it has to? I remain open minded, but the news flow seems very very managed on this. I wonder why?