Terrorists

I'm writing this blog after reading an article on the BBC magazine entitled "Do terrorists really think they're going to win?"

The article detailed how the state will always defeat them, and I thought that's a rather sad article to have to write when taking that stance, borne out of a naive belief that there is a clear, visible divide between good people and bad people.

Jeremy Corbyn was described as naive recently when he said he would not condone a shoot on sight policy on the streets of London. He was naive, because he didn't understand what people wanted to hear after the Paris attacks.

I'd disagree with this. I think Jeremy Corbyn was naive, but he was only naive about the naivety of people. People want to believe that there are good guys and there are bad guys and everyone can clearly see the difference between the two. The SAS are the good guys, and the terrorists are the bad guys. And they should shoot them on sight to protect us and I'll never end up like Jean Charles de Menezes.

In America, their 2nd amendment, the right to bear arms, was originally introduced so that the people could rise up against their government should they become oppressed by them. By the definition of the BBC article, everyone who exercises their 2nd amendment rights is a terrorist in waiting,

In the film A Few Good Men, Lt. Cdr Galloway describes the US Marines saying "They stand on a wall and say 'nothing's going to hurt you tonight, not on my watch.'"

This is that naive view that Americans have, that there are good guys with guns keeping them safe from the bad guys under instruction from a government that just wants to protect them.

Donald Trump said during his presidential campaign that he wants to build a wall to keep the Mexicans out of America.

In the film Mississippi Burning, Ward asks Anderson where all the hatred for black people comes from. He responds with a story about how his dad was jealous of a neighbouring black farmer who owned a mule. One day, he killed the mule and the black farmer moved away, but what his dad didn't realise was that it was just his poverty that was killing him.

You can kill the mule, and make the people who are different from you go away, but when they're gone your problems will still stay the same.

If the BBC's article is to be believed, and terrorists are at war with the state, then anyone who's being oppressed is in danger of becoming a terrorist. One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.

Margaret Thatcher believed Nelson Mandela was a terrorist. Did he win? Did he defeat the state? And if he did are we supposed to feel bad about it?

One free man defending his home is more powerful than ten hired soldiers, the Crusades taught me that. Well actually, Robin Hood Prince of Thieves taught me that, but men defending their home have already destroyed a Russian jet and a helicopter.

Russia, America, France... these countries send multi million dollar jets to attack men who have nothing. Acts of terrorism like the Paris attacks become their only way to respond, the only way to hit us back where it hurts.

The lessons of Vietnam still haven't been learned, when America destroyed the poor country by blanket bombing it with state of the art napalm. They were then surprised to find the Vietcong digging tunnels and using guerilla warfare tactics as their only way to fight back, and were even more shocked when the locals whose country they were destroying to "protect" them turned against them.

The great thing about history is that it will always be there to be learned from. When Kaiser Wilhelm II started the great arms race at the start of the 20th century, the only possible conclusion to it was war. Similarly, David Cameron has just approved massive spending increases on the British military.

To have wars, you need enemies. Ironically, "the war on terror" creates terrorists. By definition, a terrorist is someone who uses fear to get what they want. If your government tells you you're at war with someone you will fear them, so you make them terrorists.

In a similar vein, the Islamic State was only legitimised as a state when someone declared war on it.

Infamous Nazi Hermann Goering once said: "the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country."

Think about that every time David Cameron tells you we are under threat.

In fact, the whole point of this blog is just to make people think about things. Always ask why. If a politician says something, ask why. If the media tells you something, ask why.

Recently, The Sun newspaper owned by Rupert Murdoch stated that 1 in 5 British Muslims sympathise with ISIS. What reason could mega rich people like Rupert Murdoch and his mate, the aforementioned Donald Trump, want normal people to focus their hatred and blame on those who have nothing? Whilst they avoid billions of pounds of tax and make a living by taking from the poor to give to themselves. Legally, of course.

Malcolm X once said: “If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”

Blame your fellow farmer and his mule.


@adamheath