Attacks on innocents make me sick. Most are naturally appalled by it again and again and again. Terror attacks on the defenseless have been perpetrated in nearly every continent on earth by religious or political extremists (including right wing extremists.) They make me ill and, worse, make me feel impotent to stop any of it. Memories take me back to childhood when at 10 years old thoughts swam around my head that I was so lucky among millions around the world who did not share that luck that in this nation I could say anything, go anywhere and associate with whomever I wished without fear for my life or fear of arrest by powers that did not approve of my thoughts or my friends.
It
is crystal clear those days of historical good fortune, the
geographical luck permitting our safety and the freedom from fear have
fled. In all probability, within my lifetime those feelings of what it
is like to be truly free and feel safe are forever gone. No longer can
one do the simplest act like shopping or movie going or riding a bike or
even walking or window shopping without risk in the most benign
settings. It is abundantly clear that mantra swimming around in my head
is now "if you see something say something" and I cannot stop that
thought swimming in my mind like fish swimming in an aquarium as it
keeps going round and round and round without end. If you see
something say something even if it is so seemingly non-threatening as an
empty bag or a truck rental. The reality that bag could explode and
kill innocent hundreds is chilling. Our nation's civilians, too, are
armed to the teeth even though most here do not have guns but the few
that do have multiples of them and possess attachments to them that
create a slaughter like Las Vegas. Outrage of it goes silent.
It
has been said more attacks have come in the west because ISIS is taking
its last breath defeated in the Middle East in their capital Raqqa
cities of Mosul and more. I believe, though, ISIS is not defeated
because it is an idea easily spread from one alienated human and
religious fanatic to another and most especially on that ubiquitous
invasion of all of our lives the Internet. Moreover, ISIS is setting up
camp now in Africa. ISIS may be gone in their once stronghold Raqqa
but the ideas of ISIS will never be gone and require constant vigilance
and upgrades of those forces who want to prevent the poisonous ideas
that injure often permanently and kill so many. ISIS is an entity in
and of itself and is a murderous belief for which most major religions
do not advocate.
Our greatest challenge is to resist the indictment of all because of the perpetration of the few.
The fear I loathe along with all the innocent lives upended going for a
bike
ride in New York on a gorgeous fall day is that the murderer, Saipov,
according
to the NYT, came to the United States from Uzbekistan in 2010, and
according to the Times had a
green card that allowed permanent legal residence. That gives Trump
and those who support his indictment and hatred of the many for the
actions of a few ammunition for imposing his travel ban and other
discriminatory acts so far restrained by the courts until Trump places
in the courts extremist right judges who will sweep up those they do not
politically like under the guise of keeping everyone safe. If that
becomes reality none of us will be free or safe --- ever; not here not
abroad nor in our living room at home fearing the ubiquitous knock at
the door questioning our patriotism.
It
should not be lost to our minds and surely will not be lost to history
that ISIS would NOT have been born if it were not for the fracturing
beyond recognition of the Middle East through the US imprudent, illegal
and certainly immoral invasion of Iraq, a war killing thousands in a
country that did nothing to us. All those innocent human beings
killed by ISIS
one can trace back originally to the civil war in Iraq because George
Bush and his cohorts knew nothing of history and much less about the
history of Iraq and certainly not of the Middle East as a whole. ISIS was never in iraq until the US invaded it.
Millions have been slaughtered and millions of refugees are running for
their lives as the sectarian divisions became exacerbated when the US
shock and awe invaded Iraq ostensibly in retaliation for 9/11. Except
the perpetrators of 9/11 were not from Iraq. ISIS and those like it are
the fruits of insane US military
actions, poorly thought out, and ignorant of history. Now we are
existentially threatened by a presidential know nothing mental danger
who occupies the oval office in the White House
with nukes! Attacks on the west by ISIS give Trump cover for his
murderous actions and ideas bathed in hate. Elections have consequences. The ignorance of Trump should strike terror in all of our hearts.
RESIST -- your life depends upon it!
