I have traveled through Paris’ Charles De Gaulle Airport twice but never had an opportunity to step outside. I have seen the Eiffel Tower lit up through my airplane window and I have feasted on croissants and coffee in the airport terminals, which arguably has the best fragrance emitted from the dozens of perfume shops. But travel to France or not, every person on the planet has a connection with the country because of what France has given the world; French kiss, croissants, French Wine, champagne, romance and French fries, among a list of other things.
As the events on Friday night unfolded, we couldn’t help but shed a tear for the 129 people from over a dozen countries who were mercilessly slaughtered on the streets of Paris. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) claimed responsibility within minutes of the bombing. As the story developed through the night, it was difficult not to think about the 26/11 Mumbai attacks that occurred roughly 60 miles from my home in India.
In Mumbai, on that horrific night, gunmen who were trained, born, bred and brought up in Pakistan hijacked a fishing boat off the coast and entered the island city launching massive open shootings at different locations, which included a café, a railway station, a hospital that also endured two bomb explosions and a hostage situation at the Taj Hotel.
In Paris, something eerily similar occurred, a bomb explosion outside a fully packed soccer stadium, shootings and an explosion at a popular café, plus a hostage situation and open fire at the Bataclan theatre.
French forces quickly zeroed in on the gunmen but before the situation could be contained, over 100 had lost their lives only at the theatre and dozens more on the streets of Paris. President Hollande quickly declared an emergency for three days and France began its retaliatory actions by Sunday morning. Over 10 French fighter jets hammered the city of Raqqa, which is allegedly the headquarters of ISIS. At least 20 bombs were dropped on the terrorist command centers, jihadi recruitment centers, munitions depot and training camps. A video emerged on Sunday evening of Dassault Rafale jets taking off from an unknown location.
It is never easy to recuperate from a terrorist attack in your city. There is always a sense of vulnerability. Being from India, we have had a long history of foreign grown terrorism carried out in our cities. I can tell you how it feels when you are attacked. You develop a phobia for public places; an abandoned bag is always mistaken for a bomb, there is always a passing thought of getting blown up in a crowded place, should you or should you not take the metro? Is it safe to go watch a movie at a theatre? In America there are shootings, but in India and now in France, there is terrorism. And the fear is real.
French President Hollande’s speech in the Parliament on Monday morning was inspirational and historic. He declared France was at war, and promised coordinated intelligence crackdown against ISIS. He announced he is meeting President Obama and President Putin in the coming days. He even said, “Terrorism will not destroy the republic but the republic will destroy terrorism.”
In the U.S., our agencies and men in uniform need to be vigilante. A new video released by ISIS on Monday said Washington, D.C. could be their next target. A collective coordinated effort by all right thinking countries must be implemented. Those who oppose boots on ground or U.S. involvement in the Middle East, we will keep that debate for later. Full involvement by our military and complete destruction of ISIS is a necessity not an option.
This is as much our war, as Europe’s. Our special forces, coordinated with the Air Force must strike at ISIS strongholds, and strike hard. Without ground support, airstrikes are only half-effective. This is the time to support our commander-in-chief on what he thinks best to safeguard and protect all of us.
And as far as Islamophobia, I can’t begin to think how the events will play out in the next few weeks. There will be many innocent Muslims that will be targeted with racial slurs and violence by fools who think a religion of over a billion and half subjugates violence. United Kingdom’s Independent already reported cases of verbal assaults on Muslim women; in one such incident a man said, “They need to all die, these Muslims need to die. Look what they’re doing in Paris.”
A Canadian Sikh man was photo shopped to be the suicide bomber in the Paris attacks, a religion that is not even remotely close to Islam. This is what the ISIS wants; divide among Muslims and the westerners. So next time you think of looking at a Muslim with a glass of suspicion or there is an urge to hurl a verbal assault, know that you are doing the ISIS a favor. I would like to leave you with a story that you will not hear from the media about that Friday night – a Muslim security guard named Zouheir stopped the suicide bomber who had ticket to the game from entering the soccer stadium, which had housed over 80,000 people for a friendly encounter with Germany. He detained the bomber outside who blew himself up and saved a potential stampede and hundreds of lives. Religion does not breed terrorism, those who bastardize it do.
To men like Zouheir, survivors, victims, distressed families and other men in uniform on duty– Nous t’aimons.
