A terrorist attack on the French satire magazine Charlie Hebdo killed 12 people.

It seems plausible that the killers were Muslim fanatics, although there is no proof of this yet. Many Muslims believe they are entitled to forcibly crush criticism or mockery of their religion.

If that is the case, their aim is probably to provoke France into doing something rash that attacks human rights.

That's generally not difficult. France has a history of trashing freedom of speech. Charlie Hebdo got its name from resisting French censorship.

Remember the man who was prosecuted for saying, "Sarkozy, I see you". French censorship is not as violent or broad as Islamic censorship, but that is no excuse for it.