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Will Post-Attack France Be as Unwise as America?

Will the French be as stupid after the Paris attacks on Friday the 13th as America was after 9-11? For their sakes I hope not. But there are always those who seize on terrorist attacks to implement their own agenda, an agenda decided-on long before any attacks.

The two best editorials I've run across on the recent Paris attacks are described now:  The first was by Andrew Bacevich. This isn't the first time I've been impressed by one of his editorials.

The second recommendation appealed, in part, because I am a sucker for analogies. Bret Weinstein wrote in Salon that:
But to the nation as a whole that level of damage [from the 9-11 attacks] was about as dangerous as a bee sting.You may find that analogy suspect because bee stings are deadly to those with an allergy. But what kills people is not the sting itself. It is their own massive overreaction to an otherwise tiny threat, that fatally disrupts the functional systems of the body. And that is exactly what terrorists hope to trigger...
Let's hope the War Party and NATO don't use the Paris attacks as an excuse to create an even bigger disaster in Syria, as they did in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya.

Comments

I am sure he will win a few points for those French voters who want him to 'do something.' But he will just be bombing things that Washington has been bombing for the last year.

Do we have so little influence over the Persian Gulf states and Saudi Arabia that we can't work to eliminate ISIL's funding?
Anonymous said…
Bacevich is usually spot on and has the experience to back up his views. Peter Van Buren says this: "Leave the Middle East alone. Stop creating more failed states. Stop throwing away our freedoms at home on falsehoods. Stop disenfranchising the Muslims who live with us. Understand the war, such as it is, is against a set of ideas — religious, anti-western, anti-imperialist — and you cannot bomb an idea. Putting western soldiers on the ground in the MidEast and western planes overhead fans the flames. Vengeance does not and cannot extinguish an idea." And the Saudis---they are the most two-faced and hypocritical "allies" we have. They take our weapons; we take their oil (not so much anymore) and then behind our backs wind up being the most ardent supporters of Islamic fanaticism and terrorism in the Middle East. Does anyone remember one of the reasons we went after the Taliban? Their mysogynistic treatment of women as less than human. Saudi Arabia still sanctions that treatment in spades.

Chris
The House of Saud always gets a free pass from the MSM. It is one of the reasons I don't pay any attention to the MSM.
John V said…
Yet another in a long list of reasons to not get excited about anything good coming out of the upcoming election. Both Republicans and Deocrats kiss the ring of Saudi. Preserving the petro dollar is far more important to our "leaders" than anything else.
John V said…
(sarcasm on) I'm surprised that the French only took 24 hours to discover that ISIS has a capitol/headquarters in Raqqa. Apparently the US has been unable to find their central command for the last two years (sarcasm off).
Well, there you have it! Paris really is smarter than Washington DC.
Anonymous said…
To continue (if kB will permit) my comments about the mendacious Saudis (with a tie-in to the Paris shootings), please read Robert Fisk's comments: http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/francois-hollandes-war-with-isis-wont-stand-in-the-way-of-frances-arms-deals-with-saudi-arabia-a6738546.html Fisk is a stalwart critic of Western hegemony in the Middle East and regularly speaks truth to power.

Chris
Chris, I think I've read Fisk before, but I didn't know about this editorial. A good one.
Carl said…
...how long and well the termites have dined...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axHR8AOxxkc