I Am Charlie

Simply ascribing the Paris attack against Charlie Hebdo to “radical Islam” misses more subtle dynamics that may have lead these brothers to terrible acts.

French security forces struggled with two rapidly developing hostage-taking situations Friday, one northeast of Paris where two terror suspects were holed up with a hostage in a printing plant and the other an attack on a kosher market in Paris involving at least five hostages.

Brothers suspected in a newspaper terror attack were cornered with a hostage inside a printing house on Friday, after they hijacked a car and police followed them to a village near Paris’ main airport.

The brutal attack on the staff of Charlie Hebdo has rightly led to powerful calls to protect freedom of expression, with large demonstrations of support in Paris and other French cities, complemented by statements of condemnation in the press across Europe.

Brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi, suspected of the armed onslaught on a newspaper office that claimed a dozen lives, are the most wanted men in France.