France and Terrorism

The dreadful killings in Nice cause grief even for those not personally affected. For those who have relatives and friends who were killed or badly injured, the events of Bastille day in France were particularly shocking and tragic.

Doubtless some will seek to criticise the French governmental policies in the Middle East or the failure  of those concerned, to ensure that the French security services were made as strong as possible by for example creating a national security agency like that in the USA.

Others may argue that  French domestic politics preclude some younger people from securing employment  and yet other arguments that the unlawfulness of wearing the hijab  in certain situations in France is to blame, may be made.

All such arguments seem weakly to deny that murderers and killers are alone responsible for their hideous maimings and killings. There are doubtless many young men and women who are without employment in France as indeed there are in every country of the world but killing innocent bystanders is not the consequential  step taken by youth elsewhere.

If the killings had an understandable objective, such as that of the killings by the IRA in the 1980s, then although many deeds done by the perpetrators  then, as well as sadly some by those who opposed them not excluding actions by people in the UK military, were appalling, the context of their actions at least had a logic to it.

The killings bombings shootings and deliberate maimings in France have no such logic. Whatever unfairnesses there are in society  and all human societies are imperfect, there is no justification at all in killing innocent bystanders to shock governments and others into submitting to such ruthless alien cultures.

May those who have died so needlessly RIP.