On Sunday, November 15, France dropped 20 bombs on airstrike in Raqqa, Syria, in response to the numerous terroristattacks the past week. When ISIS claimed responsibility of these attacks, the president of France declared it “an act of war.” ISIS’s capital of the caliphate is located in Raqqa, which includes a command center, a recruitment center, an ammunition storage base, and a training camp for the terrorists. Ten French fighter jets were launched from the United Arab Emirates and Jordan in coordination with U.S. Command. Water and power was cut off after the airstrikes in the city of Raqqa. Prior to the strikes, the French National Police was searching for 26-year-old Salah Abdeslam, who is believed to be responsible for leading a team of shootersinto bars and restaurants. The French tracked him in a suburb just outside of Paris after they found a car used in the attack, where he is believed to have taken a different car to Brussels, Belgium. He was pulled over en route but not detained, and was able to cross over the border. Belgian authorities seized the car prior to his escape. This aspect of French retaliationunderscores the swift action that has been taken all over the world in response to terrorist attacks. Whether such attacksare truly justified is up for debate, yet leaders of afflicted countries have no choice but to take action promptly.


<Nathan Kim>