ShareThis
by Fred C. Wilson III
May 1, 2013
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
–Franklin Delano Roosevelt–
On Income Tax Day April 15th two bombs detonated killing three people injuring over 200 others at the Finish Line of the Boston Marathon. Bloody mangled remnants that were once whole human beings littered streets, walls, and sidewalks of that historic city. What was supposed to have been a sunny Bostonian day celebrating their 116th marathon ended in carnage. Thousands fled terrified except for the heroes who lingered behind to save what was left of those of who had once been happy human beings. The damage inflicted on nearby properties numbered in millions of dollars; in terms of human collateral the cost can never be measured. At the time of this writing the U.S. Department of Justice charged remaining terror suspect 19 year old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev with “using a weapon of mass destruction against persons and property at the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013 resulted in the death of three people and injuries to more than 200 people.”
On March 5, 1770 a squad of British soldiers fired in to a drunken crowd killing three and injuring scores. Captain Thomas Preston the officer in charge was arrested and charged along with eight of his men with manslaughter. The crowd had heckled and snow balled a lone British sentry. Preston’s men came to the sentry’s defense. Many historians believe this infamous event known later as the Boston Massacre help set the stage for the Revolutionary War. Both Boston attacks were politically motivated. The original Boston Massacre took place as a violent response to the British Empire’s domination of American commerce. ‘Boston Massacre II’ was the latest Jihadist attempt at hobbling America’s perceived domination of the global economy, culture, and morals.
Last week’s two man attacks was radical Islam’s attempt at showing ‘arrogant’ white Americans of their vulnerability to Jihadist onslaughts. There is a lot of sympathy ‘out there’ for these Islamic ‘holy warriors’ though no one dare voice their real opinion over the awful acts of April 15th. I remember watching television as the events of 9/11 unfolded. I asked a Muslim associate his thoughts as that second tower crashed and burned. He half-jokingly replied “chickens coming home to roost.” Even as I write this article a Chicago area man Abdella Almad Tounisi has just been charged with trying to join an al-Qaida affiliated Syrian terror group!
Latin America has a long laundry list of grievances against ‘El Norte.’ In the glory days of American expansionism many people thought the United States and its government exercised a sense of civic infallibility contemporary Americans can never imagine. The Philippine-American War netted this country millions in natural resources both human and mineral not to mention the transformation of the Filipino from earlier Afro-centric features to near Caucasian thanks to half century of miscegenation after American soldiers obliterated over 500,000 Filipino males on Luzon Island alone. Colombia lost the Isthmus of Panama to United States so that the Canal could be built. This later turned out to have been an economic boon for the US. In mid-point of the 19th century Mexico lost over half of their country; the rich half to Manifest Destiny. Hawaii was seized by greedy American planters for its fruit. The damage caused by African slavery still haunts us today. The Native Americans near extermination left that race ravished by alcoholism, despair, illiteracy, and extreme poverty. America’s consumption of nearly half of the world’s resources via bayonet, ‘banksters’ and business people continues to wreak havoc to third world economies in the name of Globalization. The grievance list can reach from Washington, D.C. to the Moon and back. One Internet poster wrote: “Chicken or egg? Which came first? The CIA engineered coup d’etats…CIA organized brutal military dictatorships…CIA installed oppressive monarchies or 911. Wake up America…our white hats are pretty dirty. We reap what we sow…”
This writer doesn’t think America is being punished per se for past wrongs by an avenging GOD waving a Quran wearing a bomb vest. Historically every country has committed heinous acts. No one nation can cast stones on any particular country. The Bible says all have sinned and that includes individuals and national bodies. International cooperation is needed if we’re going to combat evil. One of the positive outcomes of the terror attacks upon U.S. soil is that people refuse to run and hide. These enemies of humanity underestimated the tenacity of the American people; we don’t scare easy. Americans don’t flee from adversity; we face and fight it! Hit us we hit back harder. But how do civilized societies punish people who glorify their own deaths as well as those they target for destruction? Aforementioned in an earlier article on the Philippine-American War General John ‘Blackjack’ Pershing of World War One fame used his enemy’s religious philosophy to his advantage. During the latter stages of the Philippine-American War Pershing knew of the Muslim prohibition against pigs. He would execute prisoners and sprinkle their dead bodies with pig’s blood. This served a warning to others. He would free one prisoner to warn others what awaited them if they persisted with their hostilities. In quick time Islamic terrorists desisted from terror acts against the U.S.
Then there’s the appeal of conscience used to shame terrorists into confessing their guilt and repent. Black Hand terror cell leader Gavrio Princip assassinated Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914. Soon after his arrest and failed suicide attempt he was imprisoned. World War I started immediately after. As part of his punishment prison authorities showed him pictures of people being blown apart and fed him grim statistics of those killed and injured on a daily basis. In great agony dying slowly of terberculous then incurable coupled with the horror he had caused. The murderer died screaming shortly after the general armistice.
Americans can expect near lockdowns or declarations of martial law in coming marathon host cities. The Chicago Marathon passes in front of my house. My neighborhood will be swarming with blue shirts and S.W.A.T. teams on Marathon Day. Neighbors told me that they will spend the day out of town. My church is two blocks across the street. I’ll have to attend Mass Saturday evening before race day at a different church. St. Joe’s doesn’t have Saturday Anticipation Masses. For safety’s sake I’ll stay inside on Marathon day. People will be jumpy on race day. I don’t dare aim my camera out my window to snap pictures of the runners. I managed to take some lovely pictures of the 2010 run and spent the better part of three months painting a panel picture of the runners. I placed my granddaughter and me in the picture wearing numbers.
Reader I wasn’t planning on doing this piece; situations on the East Coast prompted it. Maybe next edition I can return to travelogues about my Philippine adventures. We’ll see; GOD bless and be safe if you can. (vamaxwell@yahoo.com)