On Friday the thirteenth, November 2015, Paris was struck by
a series of synchronized terror attacks that left 129 dead and 352 wounded,
many with life-threatening injuries. In an all too familiar scenario,
reminiscent of the earlier Parisian attack in January on the offices of satire
magazine Charlie Hebdo, global leaders have decried the attacks, families have
grieved, and civilized people of all nations are horrified and outraged while
expressing their condolences and solidarity to the French people.
But it is not enough merely to change one’s Facebook profile
photo to reflect the tri-colored flag of France. The citizens of the world,
through their governments, must do more. As individuals, we must channel our
outrage to end these attacks once and for all. Television commentators and
political pundits are once again asking the perennial questions, “Why do they
hate us? Why do they want to kill us?” This is not the time for questions; it
is a time for action. When someone is trying to kill me, my response is to kill
that person first. When I am standing over his cold, dead body, then I can
allow myself the luxury, if I wish, of delving into his mind.
Make no mistake, we are at war. But unlike battles of the
past, this war’s battlefield is not confined to one geographical location. Our
enemies may be based in one place, but they have brought the attack to us: the
synchronized attacks in Paris; the suicide bombing in Beirut, Lebanon that
killed 43 and wounded 240 the day before the Parris attacks; the October
downing of the Russian commercial aircraft that killed 224 passengers and crew;
the October suicide bombings in Turkey that killed 102 and wounded 508; the
August bombing in Thailand that killed 21 and injured 123. They have brought
the war to us.
Those figures represent only the past four months and do not
include the almost daily terrorist attacks in the Middle East and Africa. We
know who the terrorists are and where they live. The majority of the world’s
terrorist attacks are committed by ISIS, Al Qaeda, and Boko Haram. In January,
Boko Haram slaughtered an estimated 2,000 people in Nigeria. How many more
innocent people must die at the hands of known terrorists before the civilized
world says enough is enough? What good is it to be the world’s most powerful
nation if our leaders are unwilling to use that power? Must we stand impotent
and watch the unabated wholesale slaughter of random innocents?
When Harry Truman decided the threat to the American people
outweighed the value of the lives of civilians within our enemy’s borders, he
used America’s most potent weapons to end the conflict once and for all. In
doing so, he ensured it would be a long time before anyone would consider
harming an American anywhere in the world. While I believe Truman was wrong to
target populated cities, any target will unfortunately yield what the military
calls collateral damage. There has never been a war in the history of the world
in which innocent people did not die. We must accept this unfortunate fact and
be as ruthless as our enemies or we shall eventually succumb to them. I have no
doubt that eventually ISIS and their ilk will get their hands on chemical,
biological, or nuclear weapons of mass destruction; just as I also have no
doubt that the terrorists will not hesitate to use those weapons against the
West.
Instead of a meaningless gesture, like changing your
Facebook profile photo, contact your Congressman and tell your representative
what you want your government to do. But don’t go off on a xenophobic rant
against allowing refugees into our country. Not everyone from the Middle East
is a terrorist. For most of them, terrorist attacks like the ones in Paris
we’ve seen this week are part of their daily lives. They are fleeing their homelands
because they are fleeing terrorism. They are scared, literally frightened for
their lives, to the point where they have left their homes and belongings and
fled their country merely for the chance to survive. These people are not our
enemies; they are running away from our enemies. We need to recognize the
difference. It was the French people who gave us the Statue of Liberty, which
has always served as a symbolic beacon guiding the oppressed to our shores. It
would be a sad irony if the attacks on Paris caused America to turn its back on
all the Statue of Liberty stands for.
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