Once again the world is left shocked and saddened at the senseless deaths of innocent people, this time bystanders doing nothing more than watching marathon runners cross over the finishing line in Boston MA. The sight of American people being slain on their own soil is one that rightly sickens every right minded civilian in that wonderful country and the rest of the free world, it defies belief and is the work of some very sick minded individuals.
Let me dare to play devil's advocate for a few moments however. Just what if this was a bomb blast in Iraq or Afghanistan in a crowded shopping precinct?. Would the impact on the world media be the same?. I doubt it. If this was downtown Kabul for instance would it be as big a media story?. My point here is this, if we in the West continue to bomb our ideas on to other cultures we will have to expect more ruthless attacks such as this. For every person killed by a stray bomb or mistimed raid there is a legacy left that is unseen but now sometimes as now, very loudly heard. Every one of those victims, like the ones in Boston have relatives, be it parents, sisters, brothers etc and no matter how it is explained, 'friendly fire', 'a mistake', 'yes, but there were 5 insurgents killed', the truth is they are dead and America and it's allies are deemed responsible. So what happens is, you turn sane minded religious people into hurting fanatics with a hate of everything the West stands for and that makes them very easy pickings for groups like Al-Quaeda to recruit.
Now I am not saying this was Al-Quaeda though i am sure they are a likely suspect, but if another country dropped bombs on your home and killed your wife and 3 daughters I am sure you would not be singing the Stars and Stripes or God save the Queen at the next available prayer meeting or writing a "deeply concerned" letter to the local rag, in fact no, you will react as only a grieving person would be almost forgiven for acting, fight violence with violence.
If we as a race continue to kill and maim those that would fight against us then we can unfortunately expect to see more innocent people maimed and killed closer to home.
Northern Ireland was eventually brought to the negotiating table and although sometimes uneasy, the peace has lasted, mostly because of the will of the people to make it work. I wonder how many more Americans must be sacrificed on home soil before the people decide enough is enough and get their leaders to start meaningful talks?. No-one likes to work with terrorists but on the same level you cannot wipe out a man's family and expect him to turn a blind eye because you are trying to save democracy in his country, life will never work like that we take things at a personal level when they affect us directly. At some point all this damned killing will have to stop and my guess is as in Britain's case with Ireland the country that is the most powerful will have to get the ball rolling
In terrorism there are no winners, it is the worst form of retaliation known to mankind, its ruthless, random and unforgiving, it strikes at the very core values we as Christians and civilised beings are brought up to respect, the lives of innocent men women and children, which is why it is so abhorrent. But do not lose sight of the families on the other side of the bomb and their suffering too, it may seem hard to be so charitable given the scenes in Boston over the last few hours but is it that much different to those who lie beneath the soil in a foreign land the victims of "friendly fire?" . Food for thought for our political leaders it's probably enough to choke them on.
I wish a speedy recovery to all those affected through mindless acts of terrorism.
Let me dare to play devil's advocate for a few moments however. Just what if this was a bomb blast in Iraq or Afghanistan in a crowded shopping precinct?. Would the impact on the world media be the same?. I doubt it. If this was downtown Kabul for instance would it be as big a media story?. My point here is this, if we in the West continue to bomb our ideas on to other cultures we will have to expect more ruthless attacks such as this. For every person killed by a stray bomb or mistimed raid there is a legacy left that is unseen but now sometimes as now, very loudly heard. Every one of those victims, like the ones in Boston have relatives, be it parents, sisters, brothers etc and no matter how it is explained, 'friendly fire', 'a mistake', 'yes, but there were 5 insurgents killed', the truth is they are dead and America and it's allies are deemed responsible. So what happens is, you turn sane minded religious people into hurting fanatics with a hate of everything the West stands for and that makes them very easy pickings for groups like Al-Quaeda to recruit.
Now I am not saying this was Al-Quaeda though i am sure they are a likely suspect, but if another country dropped bombs on your home and killed your wife and 3 daughters I am sure you would not be singing the Stars and Stripes or God save the Queen at the next available prayer meeting or writing a "deeply concerned" letter to the local rag, in fact no, you will react as only a grieving person would be almost forgiven for acting, fight violence with violence.
If we as a race continue to kill and maim those that would fight against us then we can unfortunately expect to see more innocent people maimed and killed closer to home.
Northern Ireland was eventually brought to the negotiating table and although sometimes uneasy, the peace has lasted, mostly because of the will of the people to make it work. I wonder how many more Americans must be sacrificed on home soil before the people decide enough is enough and get their leaders to start meaningful talks?. No-one likes to work with terrorists but on the same level you cannot wipe out a man's family and expect him to turn a blind eye because you are trying to save democracy in his country, life will never work like that we take things at a personal level when they affect us directly. At some point all this damned killing will have to stop and my guess is as in Britain's case with Ireland the country that is the most powerful will have to get the ball rolling
In terrorism there are no winners, it is the worst form of retaliation known to mankind, its ruthless, random and unforgiving, it strikes at the very core values we as Christians and civilised beings are brought up to respect, the lives of innocent men women and children, which is why it is so abhorrent. But do not lose sight of the families on the other side of the bomb and their suffering too, it may seem hard to be so charitable given the scenes in Boston over the last few hours but is it that much different to those who lie beneath the soil in a foreign land the victims of "friendly fire?" . Food for thought for our political leaders it's probably enough to choke them on.
I wish a speedy recovery to all those affected through mindless acts of terrorism.
No comments:
Post a Comment