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Pakistani attorney and author Rafia Zakaria wrote an op-ed in Al Jazeera America about the Islamic extremists' war on fun, including sports, music, even dining in a fine restaurant. Zakaria points out that this apparent obsession predates the existence of ISIS by several decades (at least); he suspects this is a big reason why the attackers chose Paris, renowned worldwide for its brilliant culture and joie de vivre.
Terrorism’s targeting of the merry is universal and indiscriminate, a division of the world between those who wish to live and laugh and hope and those who kill and destroy. The latter are deadly and relentless, and they have already squeezed out the mirth from too many of the world’s cities, from Karachi, Kabul and Baghdad to Nairobi and Beirut.
Zakaria experienced this aspect of terror firsthand. A high school friend had just passed a big exam, and was out celebrating with his family at a restaurant in Karachi, Pakistan, when terrorists struck.
Al Jazeera America provides a separate analysis warning that military action alone cannot defeat ISIS (aka ISIL), which of course is not a "nation" in the traditional sense, but more of a guerilla outfit like Al Qaeda, that opportunistically seized a stronghold in chaotic regions of Syria and Iraq. The piece's author, political scientist Rami G. Khouri, recommends that both the West and Muslim nations of the Middle East spend more resources on addressing economic and political problems facing impoverished youths who are potentially attracted by the ISIS' recruiting pitch:
If the underlying threats to ordinary citizens’ lives in autocratic Arab-Islamic societies remain unaddressed — from jobs, water and health insurance, to free elections, a credible justice system and corruption — the flow of recruits to movements like ISIL or something even worse will persist and even accelerate.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 16 2015, @02:44PM
One of the more interesting bits of evidence left behind by one of the attackers was what appeared at least to be a Syrian passport. Now, if you're going to engage in some good old-fashioned mass shooting, why would you bring along a document that identifies exactly who you are and where you came from?
That was my initial thought. But consider this: if you are on your way to a mass shooting then you've got a car full of guns and ammo. If you get pulled over by the police for something stupid like running a red light or a fender bender you don't want to do anything to give them a reason to search your vehicle. So everybody in the car should be as squeaky clean as possible and that includes carrying identity documents.
Now that doesn't mean the passport wasn't stolen from a guy who looked close enough to the terrorist to pass. That would serve both purposes and probably wouldn't be that hard to do.