No escape from terrorism

Bill Glasheen · Post by **Bill Glasheen** » Mon Aug 30, 2004 9:57 pm

At the risk of sounding cold, all I can say is that the following event seems only to validate my view of the world.

* It seems that no matter what you do, terrorists will find an excuse to torture and/or kill innocent people to get their way.

* Somehow the irony of the big picture here has me one step short of thinking it's funny. Unfortunately it isn't. I don't wish this on anyone - even the French.

Posted 8/30/2004 10:26 AM Updated 8/30/2004 4:29 PM

France says it will not repeal head scarf law

PARIS (AP) — France's government insisted Monday that it would go ahead with a ban on Muslim head scarves in schools, standing firm against scrapping the law just hours before a deadline set by Islamic militants holding two French journalists in Iraq.

Hours later, a French journalist being held hostage along with a colleague in Iraq called on French President Jacques Chirac to give in to militants' demand to rescind a headscarf ban to save their lives, according to a video shown early Tuesday on the Al-Jazeera television station

"The law will be applied" when school doors open Thursday, government spokesman Jean-Francois Cope said.

Muslim leaders at home and abroad rallied around France with statements of support and calls on the shadowy Islamic Army of Iraq to free the two reporters, Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot. Two marches in Paris converged on a square near the Eiffel Tower, with hundreds of people chanting "Free the hostages." (Related video: Official appeals for release)

In a video shown on Al-Jazeera television Saturday night, the militant group called the ban "an aggression on the Islamic religion and personal freedoms" and demanded it be rescinded within 48 hours — which would be sometime Monday night.

There was no explicit threat made toward the hostages, but a militant group with a similar name was believed to have killed an Italian freelance journalist last week after Italy's government rejected a demand that it withdraw its 3,000 soldiers in Iraq. Before the video, the last time anyone heard from the French journalists was Aug. 19.

The kidnapping has been a shock to many in France, which opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and has pursued generally pro-Arab policies.

"The French have discovered that having opposed the Iraq war does not make them immune from the wrath of Islamists," said Bruno Tertrais at the Foundation for Strategic Research.

***

- France says it will not repeal head scarf law

My, my, my... What's a peace lover to do?

My heart goes out to the families of the hostages. That should go without saying.

When innocent civilians are attacked, we ALL are attacked.

- Bill

cxt · Post by **cxt** » Tue Aug 31, 2004 2:25 pm

To my deep sorrow I think your right.

Extemists will kill for the thinest of rational.

No matter how mundane.

And they will keep on killing until they are stopped.

For good.

KZMiller · Post by **KZMiller** » Tue Aug 31, 2004 3:42 pm

My friends and I were talking the other night about how many people find the idea of this level of hate foreign. They assume that if they tell someone they're on their side, that someone will appreciate the support and value the friendship. It doesn't work that way always. The hate runs deep, and whether you respond with compassion or reprisal seems to make little difference. There's no motivation for terrorists to see the other side's point of view. Theirs is the only relevent point of view, and they can choose to be offended or not by any given gesture, and moreso, even if France were to give in to their demands, this would not earn the respect or friendship of the terrorists. The French would still be western devils like the rest of us.

It's really sad.

Kami

Bill Glasheen · Post by **Bill Glasheen** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 5:09 pm

Kami, this reminds me a lot of the appeasement of the Nazis before WWII.

There was a great piece on NBC about a well-known Greek marathoner who literally gave an Olive branch to Hitler at the 1936 Olympics. That and other peaceful overtures didn't stop the Nazis from overrunning their country, stealing their food, and leaving virtually a whole nation to starve.

We all know what the result of French appeasement was. Many Americans gave their lives at Normandy and elsewhere cleaning up the mess.

It is an incomprehensible level of hate that comes from a tiny minority, and a good number of Muslims in the Middle East would turn their backs on the atrocities if it meant a return to their Ottoman Empire status in the world. These whackos hate us for who we are and what they are not, no matter what we do. I can understand we aren't loved in the world. However, nothing short of subjugation and conversion will please this tiny but active group.

It takes the loss of 3000 innocent civilians on a single day for some to get the message. Many refuse to acknowledge it, as long as it doesn't affect them.

An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile - hoping it will eat him last.

- Sir Winston Churchill

- Bill