I was talking to The Misanthrope yesterday and I mentioned that in Great Britain we'll probably see some fighting in the streets if the bombings continue. I was actually talking about the skinheads there and other possible vigilante groups who will take the law into their own hands if they lose patience.
Then I woke up this morning to see that the London police had shot and killed a suspected suicide bomber. Good. If you're walking around in the middle of summer in a heavy coat (and I hate to say it, you fit the profile), acting suspicious, and not standing down when ordered by the police, then you risk being shot.
We live in a scary time, and it's getting scarier. If the police don't do it, then vigilantes eventually will. Then we will have chaos.
As my dad always told me -- if you hesitate, you lose.
3 comments:
From what I'm reading now in the British press, it sounds like it was just that: an innocent guy who fit the profile was killed in cold blood. I don't understand why they don't come out and say this, (it's couched in a lot of assurances about security, and explanations of the "method") and why people aren't sounding more upset about it. If I lived in London, and my skin were slightly darker, I'd be very worried.
I wish I knew more about the present story. Were there four guys coming after this guy with guns? We had a big fuss when a man was shot after resisting when shoplifting a pair of jeans. I know the present situation lifts it into a whole other realm, but would hate to see London turn into modern day Jerusalem.
I think some of the radicalisation comes out of a lack of communication. If they had more of a connection with the moslem community, they might be able to root some of this extremism out. Instead, they're instilling the message that if you're of a certain background, you're in danger of getting shot, and that may drive the more marginalised segments into this sort of terrorism.
Time will tell, but I don't think the same thing would happen in Montreal, for instance, because there's a bit more connection among the communities. Even though there are some tough things happening, like what went on at Concordia University a couple of years ago (google Concordia palestinian, I guess).
Still, there are always some radical nutboxes out there, but the proof will be how they deal with them. I'd like to think the violence can be ended, or at least mitigated, with communication and respect, and not a hard line, and escalation.
Watching "The Fog of War." a doc about Frank MacNamara, a wise thing he said, which he and his government didn't do in Vietnam, was "Put yourself in your enemy's place." I don't see it happening here yet (or anytime soon), but imagine it would be crucial for both sides, to avoid further hatred and bloodshed.
Post a Comment