Yesterday I posted “Why Islam Sucks”. Today I
woke up to the news that Islamic terrorists set off two bombs in Brussels – one
at Zaventem airport and another at Brussels’ Maelbeek metro station. As of this
moment there is uncertainty if one or more were homicidal suicide bombers. I
even heard that a bomb might have been placed in a suitcase at the airport.
Also as of this writing thirty-four people have died from the two bombs. It is
predicted the death toll may climb higher.
Has anyone noticed that the uptick in Islamic terrorist
incidents in Europe seems to coincide with the influx of Muslim refugees
fleeing war in Syria-Iraq due to Daesh (aka
ISIS, ISIL or IS)?
Below the Clarion
Project analyzes what we have learned from these Islamic terrorist attacks
to date.
JRH 3/22/16
*********************
Brussels: What We Can
Learn From Today's Attacks
Today, terrorists attacked Brussels both the airport and a metro
station in the center of the city. Here's what we can learn from the attacks.
By ELLIOT FRIEDLAND
March 22, 2016
Europe is reeling from the latest terrorist attacks, this
time against Brussels, now confirmed to be a terrorist attacks.
Three blasts have been reported so far, two in the Zaventem airport and one at
the Maelbeek metro station some 500 meters from the European Parliament.
Here are three takeaways from this most recent tragic
attack.
1. This Fight Impacts Everyone
The attack in Brussels follows Saturday’s attack on Istanbul
by an Islamic State suicide
bomber that killed four. Countries attacked so far this year
by Islamist terrorist either working for groups or in lone wolf attacks (and
remember it’s only March) include:
That’s attacks on 26 countries across North America, South
America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and East Asia in just three months.
This is a problem everywhere. It is no longer possible to argue it doesn’t
impact you or that there is nothing you can do about it.
2. Terrorism
Works If You Let it
This one is difficult to internalize. Terrorism operates by
creating an outsized reaction to a highly publicized event. It works to create
“terror” in a population by stripping citizens of their feeling of safety,
inculcating an atmosphere where people feel they can be attacked anywhere and
at any time.
Societies respond with security measures designed to protect
the citizenry and these can at times be heavy handed and worsen community
relations, driving more people into the arms of terrorist groups. Public
confusion and panic exacerbates the problem. One of the aims of groups like the
Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) is to create a backlash of anti-Muslim bigotry and
thus instigate a war between Muslims and everyone else. Chaos, hatred and
confusion is the favored working environment of terrorists and Islamists since
it enables them to advance their goals under the cover of the fog of war.
Muslim and non-Muslim groups working together against
terrorism and the Islamist ideology which spawns it (as distinct from the
religion of Islam) in a firm, calm and unified manner is therefore essential to
a counter-extremism strategy in civil society.
3. This will
not stop until the ideology is defeated
The countries that have been attacked do not share a
cohesive foreign policy platform or common causes except being opposed to the
ideology of Islamism.
This Islamist ideology, which seeks to conquer the world and
implement sharia governance
under a theocratic Islamist caliphate gives people who are drawn to acts of violence an
outlet for their grievances and an opportunity to justify crimes on an
international scale.
In addition to the military steps needed to tackle violent
groups, an international civil society effort to correctly label, deconstruct
and intellectually discredit the underlying ideology that justifies such
heinous acts will bring an end to the international wave of violence committed
in its name.
Posted by Sky News
Published on Mar 22, 2016
Watch footage from inside Brussels
Airport following two explosions
____________________
Elliot Friedland is a
research fellow at Clarion Project.
There are times that require
people to step out of their comfort zone, to step up for justice, tolerance and
moderation. We know going in that the repercussions of taking action will draw
a rain of accusations and attacks from the forces we are confronting.
We do it anyway. We do it
because it must be done.
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