Repose en paix

I've really had a difficult time processing the horrific events that took place in Paris, France Wednesday morning. Even as the story is conveyed, I'm utterly horrified.

One man sought in the deadly shooting at a French satirical paper has turned himself in, and police hunted Thursday for two heavily armed men with possible links to al-Qaida in the military-style, methodical killing of 12 people at the office of a satirical newspaper that caricatured the Prophet Muhammad.

President Francois Hollande, visiting the scene of France's deadliest such attack in more than half a century, called the assault on the weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo "an act of exceptional barbarism."

France raised its terror alert system to the maximum — Attack Alert — and bolstered security with more than 800 extra soldiers to guard media offices, places of worship, transport and other sensitive areas. Fears had been running high in France and elsewhere in Europe that jihadis trained in warfare abroad would stage attacks at home.

French brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi, in their early 30s, should be considered armed and dangerous, according to a police bulletin released early Thursday. Mourad Hamyd, 18, surrendered at a police station in Charleville-Mezieres, a small town in France's eastern Champagne region, said Paris prosecutor's spokeswoman Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre. She did not offer details on Hamyd's relationship with the men.

The goal of Islamofascism is to implement Sharia Law across the globe, which flies in the face of a culture in the West that values freedom of expression. Upon carrying out this attack, the gunmen allegedly shouted "We have avenged the Prophet Muhammad" and "God is Great" in Arabic ("Allahu Akbar").

Naturally the next question is will such an incident happen in our country in the near future? Personally I'm rather fond of the freedom and liberty we enjoy in the U.S. and thus would prefer that our leaders would be willing to make a vow to not waver (blaming Benghazi on a YouTube video then detaining the filmmaker didn't exactly instill a lot of confidence). Nevertheless, I say we hold President Obama to the statement he made in his first inaugural address back in January 2009.

We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense. And for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken -- you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

Nous sommes Charlie.

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