It was interesting and quite reassuring to see so many people, representing and speaking for such a diverse background voicing similar views to those here on Question Time last night.
I truly don't think that anyone wants more war, death and destruction. Those who feel angry and upset enough to want to physically hit back will not be swayed to think otherwise, of that I am quite sure. They have every right to feel anger, and in their situation I would probably feel the same. But such vengeance will be only a short-term emotional crutch, along with some sort of twisted elevation of Western national pride.
I don't believe that any of the kids in the USA who walked into schools and killed their schoolmates really wanted to kill people and then kill themselves. These were the last desperate acts of young people so ill-at-ease with the society they were in that they thought there was no point in doing anything else. A final cry for help and a desperate last statement from those too weak or alone to solve their problems. If you think I am being simplistic in drawing parallels between this and the huge fractures in our world society, then I am doing it for a reason. The schools didn't just employ armed guards and install airport style security at the entrances; they looked long and hard at the driving forces behind the violence, the reasons for upset, and started counseling those at risk.
The biggest issue here is not one of physical security, tit-for-tat retaliation and proving a point. Ultimately it is about adjusting foreign policy, learning to understand, and compromise. We will never see global peace in our lifetimes; since civilisation began we seldom have. But it doesn't mean we can't at least make a better effort than we have been. Even surgically removing those behind terrorism will be of limited benefit. Bombing Afghanistan and even taking out bin Laden to solve the problem would be like giving an aspirin to a dying man. We, the western civilised world, would feel better for a while, but it won't make the problem go away.
Swift and firm justice is certainly required in the short term. Let's hope it is true justice, without the death of more civilians. The military hard line will only provoke more violence.
Floppy & NVG, you use the term "pussy footing" with some disdain, but in dealing with such sensitive issues and short fuses I believe that this approach is often necessary. Compromise is not a word that one presently associates with the aftermath of the tragedy in America. Ultimately compromise and understanding is the only way to reduce or irradicate the presence of terrorism in the world.
I wonder what those silent people of Bradford and the Ardoyne road were thinking about at 11am today?