History is the autobiography of a madman – Alexander Herzen
By now I’m sure that everyone is aware that there was a massive terrorist attack in Paris several days ago. As soon as I heard it I knew what would come after. Facebook posts about tolerance or hatred, political posturing, and a new blow to innocent Muslims.
I believe the severity of a terrorist attack can be judged in the aftermath and the reactions. Take 9/11 for example. Perhaps the only thing worst than the actual carnage of 9/11 was everything that 9/11 brought after. Certainly more deaths, of both Americans and Iraqi and Afghan citizens. It also slashed many freedoms and protections that Americans have relied on for centuries.
If I would have explained the “post 9/11 world” to someone in the 90’s you would have thought I was crazy. “The government is going to listen to your conversations, and your e-mails will be read as well!” “The TSA will make you take off shoes and will look at a close representation of your naked body just to fly because planes are now a weapon” That would have earned me a tin foil hat before but now, everyone would say yeah I know…
The political posturing I mentioned earlier, was also hard to stomach. Politicians like Ted Cruz said that “The gloves are off!” As opposed to yesterday Senator Cruz? The U.S. has ordered of 6,000 airstrikes against ISIS (mainly of which are not accurate but more on that later) but it’s not like we didn’t have them on the radar before. But Senator Cruz would like to up our killing in the Islamic State. Which is exactly what they want. It’s what all terrorists want.
I start my blogs with the quote “history is the autobiography of a madman” because everything that I talk about is something crazy or interesting I see and I comment on it. But that is all modern history and perhaps should more accurately say “society is the autobiography of a mad man” but I would like to delve into some history tonight and tell you a story. A story of Nazis and terrorists and gore, I’ll keep it sensational. And I’ll keep it real.
Most people know that World War I was started by Serbian terrorist, Gavrilo Princip, who assassinated arch Duke Franz Ferdinand but you never heard much more about them as the war quickly started after their attack. The attack was carried out by the terrorist organization known as “The Black Hand” but it would be gone before the end of WWI.
When WWII breaks out there are many different terrorist attacks against Nazi Germany. In America we would call them “Freedom fighters” but one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter, so we’ll just call them “terrorists” for consistency sake. Terrorist attacks were seen mostly in smaller countries that didn’t have anything close to a national army that could stand up to Germany. Denmark had several attacks, sinking their own vessels as the Nazi’s approached so they couldn’t take them. But a lot of this “terrorism” was in the Balkan states. And the Nazis came down on all the perpetrators HARD. They were hung in the streets, sent to concentration camps, shot on raids. Hundreds of “terrorists” died and the reason why the Nazi’s were so concerned about them is that the terrorists’ attacks were so effective.
They were so effective they began to make an impact on the war and divert more and more Nazi soldiers to less notable fronts to combat these “terrorists” that their own fronts began to weaken. But they didn’t stop. The Nazi soldiers would find a “cell” of terrorists and two more would pop up the next day, the harder they crushed them more and more citizens would become “radicalized.” This is because the Nazis began to widen their scope and often would kill or harm innocent people to get to the “terrorists” However, once they harmed a member of a family, their family members would want vengeance, join up with the “terrorists” and boom you’ve just created more enemies.
This is the same situation we’re doing with ISIS. Imagine you’re a twenty something “moderate” Muslim working on a farm with your family and you go to a market to get supplies. You come back and your farm is devastated, your family is dead and your livelihood has been taken away. The remains of your farm are the tell tale sign that it was hit by a drones inaccurate missiles. What would you do? Would you want revenge? It is admirable if you say “no” and would just try to pick up the pieces and rebuild your life. It’s very human to do want you can to avenge your family, and the best way to do that is to join up with ISIS, an organization you previously wanted nothing to do with. So that particular strike eliminated 0 terrorists and created 1 more.
I’m not saying that we should stop them, because they do take out some high profile targets. Putting “boots on the ground” would certainly focus the scope of attacks but would put our brave men and women at in a risky situation that many aren’t willing to take.
There’s only one way to beat terrorists and it’s not with missiles, guns, or bullets. Terrorism will only be an existential threat if we let destroy ourselves. If we legislate our freedoms away, get wrapped up in endless wars against stateless entities, and become a shell of a country.
There’s a sign in Paris that says “Resist in Peace”. And that’s how you beat terrorists. That’s the antidote. The terrorists “win” when we let them change our lives. They win when we do EXACTLY WHAT THEY WANT US TO DO (which is a military 101 no no) Stand strong, resist in peace, and fight the fear with living your life.
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