Thoughts on Paris

Once again, hundreds of peoples' lives have been changed by a few radical madmen.  Doing hideous acts of violence in the name of religion defies sensibility.  How can they believe their God (whoever he/she be) would condone the slaying of innocent people in their name?

And why keep hitting Paris? It's not as if the French Armed Forces, while being involved,  are at the forefront of the activities in the East.  There just seems no logical reason, but then maybe that's the point. Perhaps these cowards attack people they know cannot fight back and therefore are guaranteed success in whatever they believe their mission to be.

There have been reports that one of the teams that hit Paris recently was an asylum seeker. Again this is a possibility. I am sure that nearly all the souls looking for help at the borders are genuine, but how do we know that there aren't "sleepers" among them, ready to radicalise the home populations or carry out similar atrocities? Answer: we don't. But this should not stop us assisting those who are escaping the same dangers in their own homelands. It is, without doubt, a complex situation.
On my trips to France I have found the majority (not all, I admit!) of French people to be very friendly, without animosity and, just like most right-thinking people, a peaceful nation.  But where does that leave the countries that ARE at the forefront? We sit here waitng for when (not if) they attack us on our home soil. Security is heightened everywhere, as it should be. Because no-one knows  how it will happen or who by.

But rather than causing nations to cower, these attacks just strengthen resolve to find and eradicate the  inhumane animals that are leading these mis-guided ideals.

This is NOT an anti-Muslim rant. I have friends who are Muslims and are as appalled as I am at the events in France this weekend. They ARE a peace loving religion. It is just some that use the Qoran for their own means and interpretation. I do worry that acts like this will rear an anti-Muslim faction in the countries that get attacked. This is not going to help anybody and certainly not get back at the people that are causing all the problems.

I am ex-RAF and proud of it. I have several colleagues that I keep in contact with around the same age as me, which is approaching retirement.  All of us are of the same opinion that, despite our advanced years, we would gladly, once again, take up arms in the fight against these people, hiding behind their misguided beliefs, and fight for Queen and country.

All we can do is hope and pray that one day a positive outcome can be found.