Terrorism

Last year was very important for the West in terms of terrorism. It marked the ten year anniversary of the September 11^th attacks in which thousands of innocent people were murdered. Somewhat fitting it was that four months before the anniversary, the mastermind (or at least the figurehead) of the attacks was killed by US soldiers in a raid in Pakistan. The outpouring of joy from many Americans was not unexpected, but it was still slightly disturbing. I’m opposed to the death penalty on principle, but even more so for people like Bin Laden. In killing him the Americans have given him the death he would have wanted, to him and his followers it would be honourable (died fighting for his cause) and the Americans have also made him a martyr. A far worse punishment for him would have been to send him to an American prison where he would rot for the rest of his life.

What we need to think about is the people who lost their lives on September the 11^th and their families that feel the loss of Al Qaeda’s attacks every day.

Islamic extremists weren’t the only group to get huge international attention this year, for in Norway the right-wing extremist Anders Breivik set off a bomb in the centre of Oslo, targeting the government which killed eight people and then proceeded to travel to the island of Utøya dressed as a police officer and shot 69 people, most of whom were teenagers. The horrifying attacks were originally thought to be another Islamist attack, but instead it was soon revealed to be the opposite. The attacks shocked everyone as Norway is one of the world’s most peaceful countries, his actions were the worst incident of its kind since Nazi occupation during WWII. 

Fight war with peace, hate with love and repression with liberty.

The front cover of Time magazine following Bin Laden's assassination.