After the tragic terrorist attacks in Paris on Friday, there have been a series of developments ranging from a pummeling attack by the French on ISIS in Syria to President Obama declaring ISIS as the “face of evil” on Monday.
The attacks have led to several key developments for France and the U.S. Here are 5:
1. French President Francois Hollande extending State of Emergency
On Monday, French President Hollande will propose extending the country’s state of emergency to three months, he told Parliament.
To get the extension past 12 days, he’ll need parliamentary approval. In the aftermath of the attacks, Hollande declared war on ISIS and backed it up with pummeling airstrikes on Saturday at ISIS compounds in Raqqa, Syria.
“France is at war,” he said to Parliament on Monday.
2. Attack Suspect Salah Abdeslam was stopped and later released
A key suspect in the Paris attacked was stopped at the Belgium-France border, questioned and finally released.
The 26-year-old Belgian man, Salah Adbeslam, is one of the three brothers linked to the attacks. NBC News reported his name was on rental documents for a Belgian-registered black Volkswagen Polo found outside the Bataclan concert hall where most of the 130 victims were killed on Friday.
He had an international warrant for his arrest but the information about him was not relayed in time to officials at the border.
French police have put out his information to the public in a request for help as they try to capture him.
[AppelàTémoin] La #PJ recherche 1 individu susceptible d’être impliqué ds les attentats du 13/11/2015 #ParisAttacks pic.twitter.com/Gpr4MY1I53
— Police Nationale (@PNationale) November 15, 2015
3. President Obama stays the course, refuses to put American boots on the ground in Syria
Speaking at the G20 international conference in Turkey on Monday, President Obama declared ISIS as “the face of evil” but didn’t say he would alter U.S. military policy against the “barbaric” terrorist group to include sending ground troops into Syria to fight ISIS.
“What I do not do is take actions, either because it’s going to work politically or it’s going to somehow in the abstract make America look tough, or make me look tough,” the president said.
“We play into the ISIL narrative when we act as if they are a state and we use routine tactics used to fight a state that is not a state,” Obama said. “That’s not what is going on here. These are killers with fantasies of glory.” He reiterated that the U.S. hasn’t underestimated ISIS and that when he said the U.S. is “containing” ISIS, he was referring to ISIS holding less territory in Syria and Iraq.
Predictably, he is getting hammered by Republican political pundits and of course, presidential candidates like Jeb Bush.
President Obama doesn’t understand we are at war. Defeating ISIS requires America leading and America winning. https://t.co/OBawzKIRaF
— Jeb Bush (@JebBush) November 16, 2015
4. ISIS threatens to attack Washington, D.C
On Monday, ISIS warned countries helping France’s strike against them would suffer the same fate as the European country. The terror group also threatened to target the capital of America, Washington, D.C.
“We say to the states that take part in the crusader campaign that, by God, you will have a day, God willing, like France’s and by God, as we struck France in the center of its abode in Paris, then we swear that we will strike America at its center in Washington,” a man wearing fatigues and a turban said.
The video aired footage of the aftermath of the Paris attacks. President Obama and security officials have said there are no credible threats of an ISIS attack on America.
5. After Paris attacks, more U.S. States refuse to accept Syrian refugees
Amid the heightened security in the U.S. following the Paris attacks, several states have announced they won’t accept any Syrian refugees for fear of ISIS penetrating the evacuees.
Michigan and Alabama were the first states to announce they’d be opting out; Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and Indiana have also said no.
“Michigan is a welcoming state and we are proud of our rich history of immigration,” Michigan Governor Rick Snyder said. “But our first priority is protecting the safety of our residents.”