Paris attacks reaction, the clash of civilisations narrative and the war machine

This blog is named in reference to the tragic Charlie Hebdo events and the aftermath. You can read the background here. 10 months later and Paris suffered a different kind of attack, targeting random individuals in what these psychopaths identified as typical representations of western liberalism. They are psychopaths because they have no real ideology because what ideology calls for the random killing of fellow followers of that ideology. Many muslims were killed that night yet still we hear how this is a clash of civilisations between two opposing ideologies. The same night "Muslims" trended on twitter bringing about predictable bigotry and hate speak. And there is Ahmed Merabat, the French police officer who was coldly executed defending the satirical magazine that mocked his religion #JeSuisAhmed

Post Paris the agenda of elites consists of divide and conquer, propagating the clash of civilisations myth as an advertisement for war. This is a fake construct because firstly ISIS/DAESH are not muslim and secondly, divisive narratives are short-termist. The lack of hope in mainstream rhetoric is telling. They would prefer a hysterical and fearful public ready to accept blind militarism regardless of the viability. Goebbels used such tactics to great effect  during the Nazi regime.

Here are some revealing reactions from establishment commentators, some while people were being murdered outside Stade de France stadium.

It was also interesting to see bigotry and hate speak from Facebook profiles featuring Tricolour flags under many news articles. Opportunists who on another day are happy bashing the French or whoever else is different. This echoes those who say we should take care of the our own citizens instead of immigrants - while abusing single mothers and benefit claimants because the tabloids tell them to.

In the midst of this there were some other more informed reactions from ordinary decent people that were cause for optimism:

The war machine is grinding into gear with the establishment media doing free marketing for the military-industrial complex delivering profits for the arms industry and its war lords.

It's telling to go from that morally and physically courageous survivor, to the political machinations of war-mongering. #Newsnight

— Sally Lewis (@Sallyapiacere) November 16, 2015

For a great ideas-based documentary about the geo-political charade and fog of war, please watch Adam Curtis' Bitter Lake - summarised by himself below:

Fear and mistrust are so often engineered by those with the means to do so. We must not let insidious power agendas on any side create a climate that prevents solutions.

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Murdered muslims are not a concern for US police and news

It might have escaped the attention of many but about a month ago (Feb 2015) a white gunman murdered 3 muslims in the US college town of Chapel Hill.

Many agreed there was very little media coverage especially when usually many are so robust in their quest to expose and report on extremism in far off lands. Here they were relatively muted with this attack on American soil.

The police played their part by parroting the killer's wife Karen Hicks guess that the murder was a parking dispute despite the absence of any offending vehicles on that day. Even the Hicks' lawyer said 'Nobody knows'.

Why let facts get in the way of speculation.

Of course the media pandered to their authority and soon Facebook algorithms were playing their part in the misinformation:

What we do know that the gunman was a self-confessed atheist and the victims were concerned about him as he openly showed his weapon in encounters and they were all shot in the head - like an execution. There are many, many persuasive cases that this went beyond a petty dispute, terrorism perhaps or at the very least a hate crime. Compare these pieces with the angle from a Murdoch-owned outfit.

Let's also remember there would be no measured responses over the question of terrorism if Craig Hicks were a muslim.

The authorities have recognised the seriousness of the facts, although the death penalty does nothing for a decent society and is only a deterrent as a simplistic myth.

And just a month after Chapel Hill an Iraqi who escaped ISIS only to be gunned down in 'the land of the free', asks more questions of its culture of hostility.