After the horror of the Paris shootings, social media gave me some idea of people’s initial reactions. There was a lot of Islamophobia as you might expect – and by that I don’t mean Islamophobia in the way people on the Left often use the phrase and which annoys other people since it is supposedly evoking a phobia that isn’t really a phobia, but I mean real Islamophobia: a deep terror of Islam. We’ve also had calls to close borders, here and abroad. Poland is trying to use the shootings as a pretence for getting out of taking Syrian refugees. But if everyone wants to go for an extreme reaction to the horror in Paris at the end of last week, I’ve got it: let’s just get rid of the so called “Islamic State” for good. I mean, no dicking around, lets militarily defeat them so they are no more.
What I mean by that is not just air strikes alone – we puts boots on the ground and finish them off. Some will say this is over the top but I will counter by saying that suddenly closing borders all over Europe is the thing that is over the top, not finally ending what is the cause of the shootings, something that has been festering like a sore for years already anyhow. Some will say that this will be too difficult with Russia involved now, but I would counter by saying that Russia have said they want to target Daesh and only Daesh anyhow, even though in practice this isn’t what is happening. So we can call their bluff by telling them we’ll help out in their cause of ridding the world of the supposed Islamic State of the Levant.
But this probably isn’t what we’ll do. I only ask that if we aren’t willing to do this, we react instead in the only rational alternative way: we look upon what happened in Paris as a horrible tragedy, make sure everyone directly involved in it is brought to justice, and then get on with our lives. All too often when events such as these occur we do irrational things that don’t really address the problem. So let’s either fix the issue directly or not act rashly either way.
And I know that marching in and fighting with Daesh directly isn’t going to eliminate Islamic terrorism forever – that’s so obvious it shouldn’t need to be said. But it will eliminate a large purveyor of it, and at the same time get rid of the people who have taken credit for the Paris shooting itself. Closing European borders will achieve neither of these objectives.
I have some sympathy with this. I think Daesh perceive attacks by drones as cowardly, not without justification. It’s possibe that if there were boots on the ground against them in Iraq and Syria they’d be less tempted to atrocities like Paris.
However the big problem is there’s still no vision of what a just government in the Middle East would look like – the Kurds are probably the best but how to get others to use their model?
Up to now I believe the West has been terrified that ISIS will unleash a really dreadful attack in a major European city – and this has inhibited military action. Well, ISIS have now done that and Al Qaeda before them in New York. So yes, Nick. We must stop prevaricating. ISIS must be removed from the Middle East and North Africa. But first we need to do some deals – with Russia who would do a lot for respect, recognition and some trade advantages – with Iran who want much the same plus nuclear power stations – with Turkey who want stability plus better trade and investment and with the Levantine and North African Arabs who might accept an external body bringing them peace and the beginnings of prosperity without them having to accept a rival being in authority over them – and with the EU who want a reduction in migration (at least at the moment). This leaves the difficult problems which will be part of the deal making process. Assad must go but a secular state re-established, the Kurds need a separate state or autonomous region of their own, Israel’s expansion must be curtailed and the Palestinians recognised as a separate state from which some at least will emigrate to other Arab lands and a rapprochment must be arrived at between Israel and Jordan over the West Bank. But we need trooops on the ground – initially and then to police a UN protectorate of some sort. Saudi Arabia? Isolate them until they reform their state and their society.
Daesh must be crushed once and for all and the Califath and non-secular Islam. The Koran must be cleaned out of hate and terrorism and satanic verses.
Jan af klintberg, Mexican resident.