You can't kill an idea

This is something that I wrote about a few years ago, but cannot seem to locate. It is possible I wrote it and did not post it or if I did I just cannot find it. However, it is important and I feel worth repeating. I also mention this as a preface, that this is not wholly an indictment against the bad policies of our current federal executive administration, but rather something that many people believe and have for a long time. The world is a shrinking place, no longer can we pretend to live isolated from the world or pretend that the things which are said and done in one place will not have significant impact in other places and cause many other reactions. Guns and bombs will not kill ideas, people must be persuaded to change their mind through discussion or shown that there are better ways. Violence only begets violence and hate more hate. Before moving on, I will say I support our military and I even served in USAF and believe it is necessary to have a military. The radical and conservative elements in the Muslim world and in the religion of Islam want the West and the rest of the world to be fearful of and to hate Muslims. I’ll repeat that so it is clear. Radicals and conservatives in the Muslim countries and Islamic faith want everyone to hate them. They want all the countries of the world who are not Muslim and do not practice Islam to hate them. They want sanctions, they want violence directed toward them, they want the people and the masses of the Muslim world to be feared and persecuted everywhere on earth that is not the Muslim world. The radicals and conservatives want control in their countries, they want to be seen by their people as the only ones who will fight back against the West and the non-Muslim world. They want to be viewed as the defenders of Islam. They want their people to fear leaving and living outside of Muslim communities in non-Muslim countries. Giving rise to the radicals and conservatives. Using the argument that we are only safe together. Once the average Muslims and followers of Islam fear the rest of the world, the radicals and conservatives can institute strict adherence to very conservative and radical practices of their faith. And say we cannot protect you if you don’t follow these standards or live a certain way. We will throw you out to the outsiders, and to the infidels. So, the people stay and they live conservatively. The new policies of the current administration are playing the game the way the terrorists want it to be played. The continued aggression by non-Muslim forces only pushes more people toward the extremists. Turing our backs on the moderates and liberal people of the Muslim world who are fleeing war and persecution by others in their faith and nations serves only to harden those who would be normalizers and moderates in their own countries if they were safer. The forces fighting the Islamic Terrorist will run missions and bomb civilian areas where the terrorists are hiding with no regard for the non-combatants in the area. The city of Aleppo and many others are examples of this and they are used by the radicals to say, “the West hates us all, because we are Muslim.” From the outside, it is easy to say, if the terrorists didn’t hide in schools, or near hospitals or in neighborhoods we would not kill non-combatants. It is cowardly for the terrorists to act this way. I agree but is only one point of view. However, if you are fighting against the most powerful nation in the world and their allies who have planes, tanks, laser guided bombs, and highly trained and equipped ground forces and you are a person with a gun, not a lot of training or ammo, you maybe even have a car. Not a military vehicle, just a regular Toyota or Volvo or some other car. Do you fight in the open or do you fight using guerilla warfare tactics? A terrorist to one nation is a patriot to another. The policies of hate and the constant warfare that we in the West wage against the Muslim world does not makes us any safer. It gives the Radicals power over the people in their nations. It turns moderate people into radicals. Should we and our allies be strict about who we allow to seek refuge, certainly. Our efforts should be diplomatic ones and missions of humanitarian aid and equipping the moderate citizens of those nations to stabilize their countries. Working as peace keepers not invaders and occupiers. Seeking out and establishing safe zones in those nations. If we show them we are not killers and we are not hateful towards them and are compassionate and will protect them, we take away power from the radicals and conservative elements. Our current policies instead give the radicals and conservatives all the proof they need to convince their people who are suffering that it is the fault of the greedy West and the infidels who are the cause of their suffering. We should respond with force when necessary, but it should absolutely be the last thing we do. We should not be doing the things that give the radicals and extremist more power and influence but that is exactly what we are doing now. Well, that’s all for now, other stuff to follow most likely Happy Birthday if it’s your birthday and a very merry un birthday if it isn’t your birthday Thank you for reading, please subscribe, Have a great day and play nice in the neighborhood. Ciao, Invisible Don PS 3 / PS4 Gamer Tag: invisible don Invisible Don PO Box 4425 Roanoke VA 24015 Send me Post Cards … I love Post Cards