What an absolute ****fest of a massacre in Paris. Pretty ****ing horrible seeing some of the videos floating out there on the internets.
This enemy of ours that we ALL have is the equivalent of a Nazi Kamikaze. The worst of the worst. An enemy so committed to his or her cause that after they are done doing their collective killing, they are willing to blow themselves up leaving us with no legal recourse and no psychological closure. And since many of them function in the old and tried method of the clandestine cell, it's extremely difficult to stop them, especially when the members are NOT foreign born. To complicate matters, they don't function on a traditional timeline and are willing to wait years if need be. This is asymmetrical warfare in the most clear cut definition. Bombing strategic spots in Syria won't do anything, well, not in the long term. I mean, you kill the head of this perceived snake and a new head grows and grows and grows.
I think most that are arguing in this thread that there are no connections to the Syrian refugees are mostly correct but at least one of the terrorists, currently being reported, came through WITH the refugees. I think what's troublesome is the demographics of the refugees. Historically, most refugees have been women, children and the elderly, as most men stay to fight but in this current crisis, there are many men of fighting age coming over. And as we can see, it can only take one man to wreak havoc on a populace. ISIL is supremely intelligent and to think otherwise is naive.
Yes, I definitely agree that ISIL is fighting for the minds of the moderate Muslims which makes complete sense. We do ourselves no benefit when via social media we rally as a world when westerners are killed but barely bat an eye when horrific massacres happen in the Middle East. We mustn't forget that most of the casualties of this current Islamic terrorism have been Muslim folk. It only takes a handful of folks to carry out wanton violence.
In regards to the attacks, the sitting duck aspect is horrifying. It reminded me immediately of the Charlie Hebdo attack and that video of the police officer laying on his back pleading for his life as the terrorist killed him. That poor dude did not have a fighting chance and that's inexcusable. What's also troublesome, at least in my opinion, is that there are many reports that the terrorists in the Bataclan reloaded their weapons. A few seconds of respite from mayhem and no one tried to fight back? This is NOT a condemnation of the victims but a commentary on the larger picture of the world. We are living during such a peaceful time, that most, except, of course those that have served, have no concept of war or it's trappings. We have no reference to the smell of death. This is a great thing in of itself, as this is what countries strive for, the possibility of their citizens living in a peaceful world, but does it affect us in the negative during these types of situations? If your death is the ONLY outcome than anything you do is a positive. Granted, the probability of being involved in one of these types of attacks is very small but if you or I or someone we love is involved we can only hope we have the mindset of those Americans on United 93.
I don't know what the long game is with this current "war." But I don't think I'm alone in thinking that our involvement in the Middle East hasn't really benefitted us or that area. If anything, I think things are worse but who knows.
Man, poor folks.
