Why did ISIS target France?

Paris terrace cafe, July, 2014. Flickr/ zoetnet. Some rights reserved.ISIS has clearly expanded its theatre of operations beyond the Middle East but why did it target France? In the aftermath of the Paris attacks of 13 November, 2015, world leaders argued that the goal of the synchronized attacks that killed 129 people and injured 352 more was to destroy key components of Western culture such as ‘freedom’ and ‘democracy’.

French president François Hollande blamed the ‘terrorist army Daesh (ISIS)’ and argued that the attack was ‘against France, against the values that we defend everywhere in the world’. Russian president Vladimir Putin added that the tragedy was an ‘additional proof of the barbaric nature of terrorism, which is posing a challenge to human civilization’ and US president Barack Obama argued that it was ‘an attack on all of humanity and the universal values we share’.

However, is it accurate to say that ISIS is trying to destroy civilisation or democracy? If so, why did ISIS target France? Is this the country that best represents democratic values and freedom? Or could it be that it has something to do with the fact that France has been more vigorous than the rest of the West in tackling ISIS?