Sunday, September 11, 2016

Since 9/11

The horrendous coordinated terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001 were done in the name of Islam by Al-Qaeda, using nineteen mass-murderers to hijack four passenger jet planes and bring down the two World Trade Center towers, hit the Pentagon, and unsuccessfully attempt to hit either the White House or Capitol building.  Some 3,000 people died from this abominable perversion of a great world religion by a few. And a few of us here in America may sometimes come to the erroneous conclusion that we brought it on as retaliation for something we had done, like supporting Israel or stationing troops in Saudi Arabia in order to drive Saddam Hussein's Iraq out of Kuwait in the Persian Gulf War.  Or maybe they just didn't like our liberal society with social freedoms of which they disapprove with their distorted view of the way things should be.  But before some of us go too far with this self-assessment...and before any of us condemns the entire religion of Islam for the actions of some who seem to be demonically-possessed and who commit their atrocities in that name, let's just take a look at the list of countries since that infamous day in 2001 who have likewise been victimized by Islamic extremist terrorism, whether by Al-Qaeda, ISIS (or Daesh, as Muslims derogatorily call it), Boko Haram, other terrorist organizations, or lone-wolf attackers (the list comes courtesy of Wikipedia):

India, Israel, Pakistan, Tunisia, Philippines, Indonesia, Russia, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Turkey, Spain, Iraq, Bangladesh, Egypt, Netherlands, Lebanon, United Kingdom, Jordan, Yemen, Somalia, Uganda, Iran, Sweden, Germany, China, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nigeria, France, Bulgaria, Libya, Algeria, Niger, Afghanistan, Syria, Australia, Canada, United Arab Emirates, Cameroon, Denmark, Mali, Chad, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Belgium,...and of course, the United States...

These terrorist attacks over the span of the last fifteen years have happened on five continents and in at least forty-six countries, of which twenty-two...nearly half of the total...have majority Muslim populations.  So, you see, it isn't just us in the U.S.A. they're fighting...don't you think it's about high time the world came together to firmly stand up against this perversion...and openly recognize it for what it is?