To Call This Threat by Its Name
Marine Le Pen: France Was Attacked by Islamic Fundamentalism
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/19/opinion/marine-le-pen-france-was-attacked-by-islamic-fundamentalism.html?comments#permid=13872365
At the root of home-grown radicalism, whether in France or any other country, are economic and social discrimination. France's problems with Muslim monitories is a direct consequence of its colonial era, in which a geographically, ethnically, religiously and socially "foreign" country was declared to be part of "France". The fact that today France has the largest Muslim population in Europe is NOT the result of Europe's open borders or the EU's liberal political asylum policies - it is a result of its own misguided policies, both in the past and the present (continued neglect in assimilating the Algerian-French into French society).
The Paris "terrorists" were only coincidentally jihadists, they were primarily disaffected French youth, who early on got into trouble with the law, and from there were willing recruits to something that gave their lives "meaning".
Yes, "western" societies must protect themselves against this kind of religious fanaticism-based murder and terror, and in the short run, unfortunately, this will have to rely on the police. But in the long run these problems can only be solved by making good on the rhetoric of multi-cultural societies based on economic equality and mutual respect.
In our own country, the US, idiotic proposals such as those by McCain, that these terror attacks can only be fought by additional military attacks in the Middle East, show a complete ignorance of the limits of military power and its negative side effects.
The Paris "terrorists" were only coincidentally jihadists, they were primarily disaffected French youth, who early on got into trouble with the law, and from there were willing recruits to something that gave their lives "meaning".
Yes, "western" societies must protect themselves against this kind of religious fanaticism-based murder and terror, and in the short run, unfortunately, this will have to rely on the police. But in the long run these problems can only be solved by making good on the rhetoric of multi-cultural societies based on economic equality and mutual respect.
In our own country, the US, idiotic proposals such as those by McCain, that these terror attacks can only be fought by additional military attacks in the Middle East, show a complete ignorance of the limits of military power and its negative side effects.
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