Here We Go Again

Intolerance, disguised as extremist religion, has struck again. This time the location was Paris. Now the world is getting behind the French to respond to the terrorist attack, which the French President Hollande has called an “act of war.”

Support for decisive action is already strong in this country. The social media outlets - and in particular Facebook - are overflowing with calls for supporting the French in their fight against ISIS. This is good, considering that America has been the lead country in a coalition fighting ISIS since 2014.

Oh, you didn’t know we were engaged in combat activities? Surprise! I would have thought that the news reports of our unmanned drones hitting the ISIS leadership would have been a dead giveaway, no pun intended. Don’t be surprised if in the coming months the United States starts assuming a more assured war footing as we take steps to contain ISIS.

As well we should, because, well, not that many Americans want to admit to it, the ideology known as ISIS is pretty much our invention. The current Republican field of presidential hopefuls loves to paint ISIS as a product of President Obama’s foreign policy that appeared overnight. In reality, this blood-thirsty off shoot of al Qaeda was seeded by the Bush II war in Iraq. While the Bush Administration struggled with its exit strategy, a political power vacuum in Iraq allowed ISIS to be nurtured/simmered/boiled/festered/whatever to the cancer which it is today.

So thank you, Darth Cheney and Sith Rumsfeld, for your contribution to world terrorism.

So now, we go forward and meet ISIS' challenge with whatever we got. And we do have a lot to give…

The news from Paris was shocking and depressing. The good news is that many countries are uniting in a common cause against hatred. Yes, it does feel like 9/11 all over again, but perhaps this time we’ll get the job done right. Warrior Queen beat me to the punch by posting the "La Marseillaise" scene from Casablanca, and it seems to be a perfect way to show solidarity with our fellow world citizens beaten back by the forces of evil. 

  

As I reviewed it this morning, I noticed for the first time Ingrid Bergman as Ilsa as she watches her husband Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid) lead Rick’s orchestra in "La Marseillaise". At first, she looks worried that the Nazis in the café may drag him away; then, resignation that her husband as a leader of the French Underground is going to do what he has to do for the cause. This gives way to a seconds long transition from a look of “here we go again” to inspiration that his fight is a fight worth waging.

See for yourself.  Indeed, here we go again.

(Thank you for reading. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of France.)