Thoughts and prayers with the people of Paris tonight. The most recent terrorist attacks appear to be the work of Al Qaeda, but that remains to be seen. Two things come to mind with the incident - and perhaps they are related. In the 1970 there was rampant terrorism in Europe, as left wing and right wind radical goups, as well as the IRA and some Middle Eatern groups, wreaked havoc. They kidnapped and killed the Italian Prime Minister (Red Brigade), kidnapped and killed Lord Mountbatten, a member of hte royal family (IRA), blew up a major department store in London (IRA), kidnapped and killed many in the Israeil Olympic Team (PLO),and in Germany the Baader-Meinhof Gang (Red Army Faction) kidnapped and assassinated busines and political leaders. So, the current terrorism is tragic but not new.
One thing that brought the terror down was purposeful work to identify the terroists before they acted. The press and governments worked together to identify potential terroists - although it can be argued that different governments often worked against each other for their own interests, which resulted in worse outcomes.
The difference with today's terrorism is that it doesn't appear to be native Westerners but instead Muslims from the East, Africa and the Middle East, who often live separately from the native population.The separation of the ethnic and religious groups makes it very difficult for authorities to identify the potential terrorists. The ONLY solution to this is for moderate Muslims to identify and isolate radicals, for if they don't the time will come that Western societies will have little choice but to engage in a generalize oppression of Muslims - not a good approach but at some point desparation will bring some nations (and, in all likelihood, individuals) to take generalized action. If the Muslim community does not take it on as their own responsobility to control these radicals their own safety and liberty will suffer badly.
This isn't a suggestion or a wish on my part, but a prognostication made with dread (and if you know me you know I am an optomist).
Anne Bayefsky
