In the immediate aftermath of the horrible terrorist attacks in Paris, the President of France deployed warplanes to bomb a city in Syria, undoubtedly killing many people who had nothing to do with the Paris attacks, and who may not even have known about them.
Presidential candidate Jeb Bush said that the U.S. should "declare war," and "take it to them" in Syria and Iraq. Maybe he should be running for the Presidency in France! Other Republican Party Presidential hopefuls also advocated increased military involvement, if somewhat less specifically.
Meanwhile, the Foo Fighters, an American band, cancelled their scheduled concert. Other bands scheduled to play in Paris also cancelled their concerts.
Personally, I wish everyone mentioned had just done the completely opposite thing. As I said yesterday, I think that embarking on more "military" actions in response to the latest terrorist attacks will almost certainly make things worse.
And deciding not to continue with normal life, and life-affirming events like musical concerts, seems to me to send a message that terrorism is effective, and to invite more of it.
But I liked this picture. Here is what tens of thousands of French people said:
I think they got it right!
Image Credits:
(1) - http://zumic.com/2014/12/01/foo-fighters-2015-ticket-pre-sale-codes-sent-get-scoop-sonic-highways-north-american-tour/
(2) - http://www.balitaboss.com/2015/11/latest-updates-paris-terror-attacks.html
Yes, continue with normal life, that's the correct way to respond to terrorism.
ReplyDelete