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Sunday, May 26, 2013

What just happened to the World?

One of the two murder suspects, with hands bloodied, and holding a knife and meat cleaver in Woolwich.

The world has been shocked by the events that unfolded at 2.20pm on a street in Woolwich, South London on an ordinary afternoon in May, 2013.

A soldier, now known as Lee Rigby, aged 25, left his barracks dressed in civilian clothes. He was immediately stalked by two men in a car, who, at the earliest opportunity ran him over on the sidewalk, then pounced upon him with a gun, and knives and a meat cleaver and had at him in a frenzied attack, apparently trying to cut his head off. Lee Rigby died in the attack. His self-confessed killers then dragged his body into the road, and then stood around talking to people while awaiting the police.

One woman, who was riding the bus, got off to give help at what she thought was a car accident. Upon realising what had actually happened, instead of running to safety she engaged one of the culprits, asking what he wanted or intended to achieve. His answer: to start a war in London tonight. Instead he has moved people to the peaceful degree that is beginning to look like the outpouring of emotion that the world saw for the late Princess Diana.

When the police arrived the men attacked the first car in an attempt to do the driver harm. They were shot and disabled. 

One man gave a statement to camera in which he apologised that women and children had to witness their attack, but said that the only reason they killed the soldier was as an act of an eye for an eye because Muslims are dying daily as they are killed by British soldiers.

The British war machine was called into theatres of operation in Iraq and Afghanistan, and indeed they will have killed Muslims that they deemed to be the enemy. However, the soldiers react to the orders that they are given, just as the two men seemed to be obeying orders given to them by some shadow command. That will make them no better than the man they killed. Should we now expect foreign wars to be acted out on the streets of towns and cities around the world?

Almost as an answer, a demonstration in London against violence by Islam brought out around 2000 people that resulted in a fierce clash against police. Meanwhile, over in Paris a uniformed soldier was attacked and stabbed in the neck by a man who fled. These are dangerous times when less than cool heads could set the bonfire that gets completely out of control.

America has always thought that it acted in good faith in its foreign adventures, but as time has proven it has often been mistaken. The Vietnam War was about keeping the Communist North from invading the South. America lost, and the South is now in Communist hands, and America is doing limited business with them.

On a day in September, 2001, America was attacked on its own shores, and it pushed back when it discovered that Afghanistan served as the base for the Taliban and Al Queada that authored the attack. It was seen as only normal that America would go after those who had done it harm, but the problem arose when America decided to attack Iraq on a contrived story that Iraq was planning to attack America by using a stockpile of Weapons of Mass Destruction.

They brought down Saddam and his family, and good riddance to them, but so many Muslims have lost their lives, and continue to do so that it is not difficult to see from where the passion of the two assailaints comes from. However, that has to be traced back to one single man and his misguided decision that has caused so many people unnecessary loss of life and suffering. That was wrong, and what the two men did against Lee Rigby and the British Army was wrong. The London demostration and the attack on the soldier in Paris are all wrongs, as will be anything along those lines to come. We need actions that are right, actions like those of the two women who tried to help, but although in spite of their apparent good intentions, I think they placed their own lives at great risk.

Lastly, I have to question what was in the mind of the woman, who was pulling a personal shopping bag on wheels, who left a small pocket of people and walked toward a lone killer with a knife and a meat cleaver still in his hand. I presume she walked right past him, when she should have gone the other way.

Sometimes, at moments like these people will do the strangest things. 


Copyright (c) 2013   Eugene Carmichael