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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: 2) by K_benzoate on Monday November 16 2015, @08:15PM
Add up all the violent crime in Arizona in a year and it's probably less than what you get in a single day in Syria. Or to make my point in the form of a question: would you rather live in Arizona or Syria?
And there is a right answer. It's not Syria.
Climate change is real and primarily caused by human activity.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 16 2015, @08:22PM
> Add up all the violent crime in Arizona in a year and it's probably less than what you get in a single day in Syria.
You do know that muslim countries average much lower murder rates than the US, right?
Furthermore, the problems in Syria existed before IS. You are doing that thing bigots do where they pick one isolated fact and pretend that it defines the entire situation in a way that boosts their tribe and denigrates the other tribe.
(Score: 3, Informative) by K_benzoate on Monday November 16 2015, @08:40PM
You do know that muslim countries average much lower murder rates than the US, right?
You're disingenuously pulling out a subset of causes of death by violence and ignoring war and civil unrest when for this purpose they are all relevant. And you're probably forgetting about every Muslim majority country in Africa which, even using your inappropriately strict definition, outrank us in murder rate.
And my point wasn't contingent on when ISIS began to exist, so your digression was meaningless.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate [wikipedia.org]
Climate change is real and primarily caused by human activity.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 16 2015, @08:49PM
> You're disingenuously pulling out a subset of causes of death by violence and ignoring war and civil unrest when for this purpose they are all relevant.
Actually that is false too. Muslim countries average lower rates of death from war and civil unrest than non-muslim countries.
> And you're probably forgetting about every Muslim majority country in Africa which, even using your inappropriately strict definition, outrank us in murder rate.
You are disingenuously counting countries not people - your analysis gives equal weight to a tiny country of a million people as it does to a country of 100 million people.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/02/15/no-islam-isn-t-inherently-violent-and-the-math-proves-it.html [thedailybeast.com]
(Score: 0, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 16 2015, @09:28PM
Throwing in Indonesia, an Asian country, to gin up the stats of the Middle East is obviously silly--and a transparent bit of sophistry for every reader here.
It's true. Indonesia proves Muslim countries CAN be just as peaceful as any other (although they still have trouble respecting women and gays). But I never made the claim that Islam is solely responsible for the violence of Middle Eastern Muslim countries--so bringing up Indonesia as a counter-example is a straw man fallacy.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 16 2015, @09:56PM
> bringing up Indonesia as a counter-example is a straw man fallacy.
Did you actually read the link?
What part of "Homicide rates in Muslim-majority countries average about two murders per annum per 100,000 people. In non-Muslim countries, the average rate is about 8 per 100,000." Do you think is cherry picking? The numbers for civil unrest were for all countries too.
Indonesia was used to compare like to like for population size of the USA. The author also used Turkey, Senegal, Iran and Egypt as examples to compare against smaller non-muslim countries.
To paraphrase the article - any way you slice it, you are wrong.
> I never made the claim that Islam is solely responsible for the violence of Middle Eastern Muslim countries
Sure sounded like it. Maybe that's what you get for trying to be vague. Spit out then. What do you claim?
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Monday November 16 2015, @09:08PM
would you rather live in Arizona or Syria?
Having spent time in Arizona, that would be a tough call.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 16 2015, @11:14PM
Not for me it isn't. Don't get me wrong. Arizona has it's share of problems. I know; I lived there for over a decade. But I am absolutely certain that I would take life in Arizona over Syria any day of the year. Just sayin'.
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Monday November 16 2015, @11:31PM
would you rather live in Arizona or Syria?
Having spent time in Arizona, that would be a tough call.
Not for me it isn't. Don't get me wrong. Arizona has it's share of problems. I know; I lived there for over a decade. But I am absolutely certain that I would take life in Arizona over Syria any day of the year. Just sayin'.
I guess snark isn't as obvious as it once was. My apologies.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr