A suicide bomber killed 22 and injured plenty more when he let off a blast at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester Monday. ISIS has already taken credit for the attack, which is disgusting but not surprising.
The fact that this suicide bomber purposely targeted an event largely attended by teenagers is especially reprehensible and psychotic. Targeting children is the most monstrous thing anybody could ever do, and I truly wish the perpetrator had lived to answer for what he did.
I’m not normally a vengeful man, but as a father, I cannot even begin to describe how sad and enraged the news of this attack made me. My daughters are both fans of Ariana Grande and easily could have been at the concert if they lived in England. Even worse, a friend of mine has a younger brother who lives in Manchester and wanted to go to the concert, but couldn’t because he had a test the next day.
I know I’ve said this many times before, but these people need to be wiped off the face of the earth. And to be clear, I do not mean Muslims, or anything even remotely close to that. I’m talking strictly about terrorists who believe blowing up children is a morally justified act.
I’ve heard the saying that one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter, but once you involve intentionally trying to kill children, there cannot even be an attempt to justify it. This is straight up evil, plain and simple.
Prime Minister May and President Trump both had strong words for the attack, but the truth is, words are nice, but they are no substitute for action. These extremists must be destroyed and the only way that is going to happen is through global cooperation.
I have been vocal in the past about invading countries and nation-building. The results never turn out well and many innocent lives end up needlessly being lost.
But that doesn’t mean force is never justified. I’m a Jewish man, but I’m very familiar with the Christian theory of a Just War: the only proper war is a war of self-defense.
Well, I’d say this qualifies.
I’ve never liked the phrase “war on terror” because it is too open ended and could mean literally anything. I also don’t want the United States unilaterally invading the sovereignty of countries to chase down these violent extremists.
But what I do want – and what we should all demand, quite frankly – is that the major heads of state finally do what should have been done years ago: put their heads together and agree for the sake of all humanity to align against these monsters.
We don’t have to be best pals with countries that might otherwise be hostile to our interests to see that on this one issue, we are ALL on the same side.
Black or white. Christian, Muslim, Jewish, or Atheist. Republican or Democrat. European, African, Caribbean, American, Asian, Indian or Latin American. This cuts across EVERYTHING. Whatever disagreements we have can still be fought about, and that is fine. But on this one issue, if we are going to survive as a civilization, unity is the only answer.
Follow me on Twitter: @mk1157