"What happened in Manchester is despicable. As an American, I keep thinking about how fragmented we felt after events such as the Boston Marathon, which, similarly targeted a broad range of people: men, women and children. But at the same time, I think of Yemen. Two months ago, as the President had just come into office, the US admittedly killed up to 30 civilians in a botched raid which garnered no usable intelligence. Our media doesn't report what kind of civilians, but what if I told you that it was men, women and children? That raid wasn't a product of Trump, but of a broken international attitude (shoot first or be shot) and indifference to human life. As we mourn those children who were murdered unnecessarily in Manchester, we also need to remind ourselves that we are not blameless for other, albeit, unrelated "terror" attacks. And, we should be reminding our government, both nationally and internationally, that an eye for an eye doesn't work. We need to be better humans."
I received a number of comments about it. One person asked me if I thought that we (Americans) were terrorists? I guess that depends on perspective. Certainly, the evidence emerging from Manchester is pointing to a group effort. It could be argued that our fight against Isis on their home turf is not terribly different than agents from Isis fighting us on ours. The example of the Yemen raid above, unfortunately is not an isolated event. In today's news, this headline ran: "US military investigating if airstrikes caused nearly 300 civilian deaths."
Can you imagine? The bombing at the Boston Marathon killed how many? Three people. I don't say that to diminish their lives. Those were three people with futures, with families. Innocent people who were intentionally murdered to make a political statement. In Manchester, the purpose was the same but with greater horrific result. So, imagine you're a Syrian at your mosque. By the time the distinct whistle of bombs is identified, it's too late. When all is said and done, survivors are taken to make-shift medical facilities. The targets have been reduced to rubble. And, there's no one to blame. There's no one to be held accountable except invisible nation-states and coalitions.
Now, I know there's an argument where our military has identified that enemy forces hide arms and chemical agents and secret meeting places in these public buildings specifically to use the other occupants as human shields. I don't know what the answer is for achieving our National Security goals when it's impossible to discern enemy combatants from civilians. However, I do believe that when we make our mistakes, and we make many, it has the potential of acting as the catalyst to recruit others to take on the fight against us: both those in their countries as well as people living away from their homeland, sympathetic to their people's plight.
What the terrorists have done in England, France, the US and all other nations is despicable. However, with a wider world-view, we should also consider that our countermeasures can be equally evil. Unintended, maybe...but we need to open our eyes to the whole picture, and overall, become better humans.
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