Vowing to destroy terrorism, France seeks global coalition against Islamic State

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Vowing to destroy terrorism, France seeks global coalition against Islamic State

November 16th, 2015

Awake Goy

In a somber speech to both houses of parliament after the coordinated suicide bombings and shootings that killed 129, Hollande said he would increase funds for national security, strengthen anti-terror laws and boost border controls.

“France is at war. But we’re not engaged in a war of civilizations, because these assassins do not represent any. We are in a war against jihadist terrorism which is threatening the whole world,” he told a packed chamber at the gilded Versailles Palace near Paris on Monday.

Parliamentarians gave Hollande a standing ovation before singing the national anthem in a signal of political unity following the worst atrocity in France since World War Two.

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying they were in retaliation for French airstrikes in Iraq and Syria over the past year.

Hollande said French forces would intensify its assaults and said he would meet U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin in the coming days to urge them to pool their resources.

“…We must combine our forces to achieve a result that is already too late in coming,” Hollande said.

A U.S.-led coalition has been bombing Islamic State for more than a year. Russia joined the conflict in September, but U.S. officials say it has mainly hit foreign-backed fighters battling its ally President Bashar al-Assad, not Islamic State.