The women were laughing at an inside joke as they looked at the menu and slowly choose what they wanted to eat. Upon choosing their main dish, they called the waiter over and placed their order. Showing each other photos that they had recently taken, they were unware of a man with a strange coat walking by them. Sadly, they never saw it coming as the young man pulled out a weapon and began firing at both girls, instantly killing them. But the young man didn’t stop there. He began shouting and unloaded the entire magazine into the restaurant, hitting many people and seriously injuring a few. In fact, all around the city on that fateful day there were similar attacks simultaneously taking place. Innocent people that were out enjoying a Friday night were never to return home to their loved ones. Now, this wasn’t an 80s blockbuster movie that could be paused or even rewound, this was the really real deal that took place in Paris, just last week. At the end of the night, nearly 130 people had died and hundreds more were injured in 7 different attacks.
The terrorist attacks in Paris weren’t the only ones in recent times, however. In fact, just the day before in the Middle East, in a place that used to be called — “The Paris of the East”, there had been a terror act that had also killed scores of people. The Daily News reported that — “Forty-three people were killed when two suicide bombers detonated their devices in the middle of a busy market street in southern Beirut.” That’s right. More innocent people, just going about their business, buying groceries or just coming to work or going home, maybe even just out for a walk, never made it to their final destination. In a flash and a loud bang, they were gone. Dead.
It goes even further. The attacks in Paris and Lebanon weren’t the only terrorist attacks in the last couple of weeks. No, in fact, just three weeks ago, in late October, a plane full of people returning from a sun-soaked vacation was blown out of the sky. The Washington Post reported that — “an internationally charted passenger jet operated by a Russian airline was the target of a terrorist act in northern Sinai and that 224 people had been killed.”
But these three attacks haven’t been the only ones. Just those that are the most recent and that got the most time in the media. A quick search on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reveals that — “In early October, “four coordinated attacks involving suicide bombers left 22 dead in Aden, Yemen.” Or a few weeks before that — “15 killed in a mosque bombing in Saudi Arabia.” A few weeks before that — “38 dead in beach hotel attack in Tunisia. A gunman disguised as a tourist opened fire and kills 38 tourists staying at a Tunisian hotel.” In fact, the list goes on and on, with a terrorist attack occurring every few weeks and scores of people dead. And what is the common thread among all of these attacks? ISIL. Better known as radical Islam.
The attacks in Paris seemed to have awakened the West in the sense that for the first time, the average person on the street is talking about how the events in a far-off land are affecting what is taking place around them. The French President has gone on record as saying that — “France is at war”. But with whom? At this point in time, it seems as if France is gearing up to battle those that it feels would destroy the French way of life. In addition, the French are asking other nations to come together and put an end to those that would take away the better parts of Western liberalism.
Seemingly, the cause put forth is a clear one. Destroy those who would harm you. And this is what Russia has done by attacking radical jihadists in Syria, the current epicenter of the war on terror. Russia began bombing in September of this year and has, at least so far, been wildly successful. News organizations all across the world have daily headlines proclaiming — “Russia bombs more targets and Russia has destroyed more terrorists”. Which begs the question as to what has the United States Air Force been doing for more than a year? Maybe nothing, as US President Obama has called them “the JV team” or even by going on record just hours before the Paris attacks as saying that “ISIL was contained”. In any case, the Russian bombing in Syria has changed the game, taking the fight to those who would openly kill innocents.
With this in mind, and with backing of the French people, the French President Francois Hollande has decided to team up with Russia in bringing the fight to the terrorists. Hollande is also asking the United States to join the group. Seemingly, the answer should be clear Yes! Everyone around the world agrees that ISIL are terrorists. Is there anyone that could argue against that statement? And yet, seemingly at the behest of Beltway Insiders, and let’s remember what Joe Biden said in a speech at Harvard a year ago – ”America’s leadership had to embarrass Europe to impose economic hits on Russia over the crisis in Ukraine – even though the EU was opposed to such a motion,” the WSJ reported just today that — “EU leaders are expected to discuss Russian sanctions at their mid-December summit unless the issue is resolved before then.” The article continued — “Officials say three options are being floated: extending the sanctions again by another six months, a one-year rollover or a shorter three-to-four month extension to signal to Moscow the bloc’s recognition of some concessions over Ukraine.”
That’s right. In a time of trouble, in a time of need, in time when the blood of innocents cry out for justice, in a time when women and children are being killed in more and more gruesome ways and with increasing regularity, there are still those that refuse to put aside their differences and work together to defeat a common enemy, much like the Allies came together to defeat the Nazi threat of the past.
There is no doubt about who the enemy is. And there is no doubt about what should be done.
The path forward seems clear.
So, what do you think dear listeners, “Why the West talks about more Russia sanctions after the Paris attacks?”
