A light in the darkness

And essentially from an unlikely source in the country of Lebanon where they realize that burning things down and uttering death threats everywhere is not a civilized method to get your point across. Why do these idiots not realize that only the weak, or unarmed, is going to be intimidated by the threat of violence?

Here's an analogy for you. If a gang goes into Beverly Hills and tells everyone that they must stop driving their expensive gas guzzling cars or die, chances are there will eb a lot of SUVs sitting idle. This does not happen because an equal and opposite force in the police ensures that there is balance. The same goes for an area controlled by another gang with a balance in firepower.

These riots go on because the police and armed forces will not fire upon the crowd first (unlike the army of Saddam Hussein that routinely did just that). The suicide bombers continue to be effective because there is no fear as an innocent person that one would be immediately shot if you crossed a stated line int he sand. So, the bombers are able to cross it, with multiple warnings and are able to get close to their tagets before someone attempts to stop them with force.

The civilized world is handcuffed by the moral ideals on how to deal with the extremeists. Surely, we cannot simply shoot anyone that crosses that line right? Of cours enot because not only will the civilized brothers and sisters cry out in outrage, so will the very people trying to kill us (and the ones who support them).

Now, think about this scenario. If one were to go into a village, ask for the terrorists to be shown to them so that the village can be liberated, do you think they will tell you who these people are? Of course not because the terrorists have already threatened them and their families with death if they say anything. Now, same scenario but you start shooting a person randomly, one by one until they are either all dead or someone speaks up. How long before someone speaks up? Yep, not very long. Say nothing and they die in succession. Say something and hope the liberators can kill the terrorists before the terrorists can kill you.

But of course, we don't do this anymore (Heart of Darkness/Apocalypse Now) as we are civilized nations and those acts are not considered civilized. As such, they will never be able to weed them out and will never win the war because when you are facing such a twisted mentality that does not have the capacity to stop itself, you are dealing with an enemy with nothing to lose and everything to gain. You would have to make the losses pile up so much that the gains no longer look worthwhile. no one is ready or willing to have that kind of blood on their hands... yet.

The day may yet come when the terrorists kill the wrong person or bomb the wrong area and someone with an itchy red button trigger finger wipes a part of the continent from existence forever. No one should have to continue to live in this kind of fear. Honestly though, I am not yet ready to push that button myself. It could very well lead to a loss than can never be regained; one's soul and humanity. People who have children, then train and brainwash them to strap explosives on their chest, walk into a crowded hotel lobby and blow themselves and many innocents up in the misguided sense of accomplishment for their goal have totally lost their soul and humanity.

I am simply not ready to become one of them yet.

Peace.


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