As I write, the death toll in Paris is 128, and likely to rise. Praying for the families of the victims, for the survivors, and for the police and EMTs helping them.
The Guardian's live blog has all sorts of information, including some excellent graphics.
The accounts from the Bataclan, where terrorists took time to reload as they calmly executed people, had me thinking of April 16th.
Glad that Geraldo Rivera's daughter is all right. She was talked into going to the friendly between the German and French teams. There's some speculation that that attack might have been an assassination attempt on President Hollande. But honestly the terrorists don't need to be so exacting. That's part of what makes fighting them difficult. They can plant their bomb anywhere and create fear. We have to protect everything.
Many outlets are asking what France missed. French intelligence agencies and counter-terrorism units are pretty good. They had actually raised the threat level recently, and foiled an attack at the French naval base at Toulon. The truth is, it's impossible to stop every attack. And even if you know they're planning multiple attacks, and even if you knew the date of the attacks, Paris is brimming with targets. Are people ready for cities to be shut down BEFORE an attack? At that point, the terrorists have already paralyzed thousands or millions of people, even before they take any lives. We know a Syrian passport was found near one of the scenes in Paris. We don't know if it's authentic. If it is, we don't know if this terrorist traveled among the Syrian refugees, or how long they had been in Europe.
Yesterday Laura Ingraham asked if the EU would "reexamine the absurd & obscene mass migration it has permitted from Muslim countries". I asked where the refugees should go, which prompted her fans to propose ideas. Apparently they're ok with refugees coming to America, because a lot of them suggested my house, or office, or the White House lawn. Others said Saudi Arabia, and many said "stay in Syria and fight". Those are at least serious suggestions. I'm no open-borders advocate, but we can't ignore that SOMEthing has to be done with the refugees.
First some facts. Here's a chart that provides some data on the refugee movements. Some reports say that most of the refugees are men. Other numbers show more women and children. It's also unclear how many of the refugees are actually from Syria, many are coming from Afghanistan or Eritrea. Amnesty International says many gulf states have refused to take in ANY refugees. Most reports agree that the vast majority of the refugees are Muslim. In ISIS-dominated areas, many Christians have been killed, but they're somewhat safer in Assad-controlled areas. Indeed, the Archbishop of Aleppo supports Russia backing Assad, whose more secular regime is seen as the safer option for Syrian's various Christian groups. There's no way of knowing how many jihadis are among the refugees, but chances are good that there are some.
So, with all that we know (and don't know), the question remains. Where should the Syrian refugees go? A popular answer is to the Gulf states. Why is Saudi Arabia, for example, not taking all the refugees? The Saudis probably have more to fear from the instability brought by refugees than most countries. They're worried that they could be the next domino to fall. But perhaps they're a safe location for refugee camps administered by the U.N. But they won't agree to take in a potentially destabilising population without a lot of pressure.
Speaking of which, what has the U.N. done on this crisis? You would think this is one issue that you could get the security council to agree on. So far, they've called for global action. They've raised money But they're basically just shuffling paperwork. Isn't it time for a UN peacekeeping force to set up a safe space for the refugees? If the President Obama isn't willing to lead a war against radical Islam, couldn't he at least spearhead efforts to create a temporary safe space for refugees?
I like the idea of arming the refugees and urging the them to fight ISIS. But our early attempts to arm moderates in Syria was a huge failure. And we've got too much experience in arming people who then drop their weapons on the battlefield for ISIS to use. This seems like an area where leadership could make a difference.
Clearly many fear the prospect of taking in terrorists among legitimate refugees. But the greater threat may be the people already in our countries, being radicalized by youtube videos and tweets. France is a big source of ISIS recruits, and hundreds of those recruits have gone back to France. France has closed its border, but that seals in a lot of radicals.
Lastly, what happens to all of those young muslim men among the refugees if countries keep turning them away? There's a real danger that scared, moderate muslims fleeing ISIS will be pushed toward radical action. The longer we delay in dealing with the problem, the more danger we're creating.
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