To wonder how all the people wearing the French flag on FB feel now they've bombed Syria?

[TheHouseOnTheLane]

So..."everyone" popped a French flag on their FB profile in sympathy with Paris.

Now France has shot over there and dropped 20 bombs on ISIS HQ and training centre.

So...people are happily condoning war really.

Why not all change profile pics to a peace sign?

I know ISIS are bad...but as we all say, violence solves nothing. Nothing.

For all the naysayers banging on about people being more proactive, WHAT is it that you want us to do?

I hate crap like this - you know it's possible to do BOTH

how sneery

You must know that vast majority of people don't do both though. Doing something on social media, then following up with actual action, doesn't go hand it hand at all - quite the opposite.

As evidenced by: www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/als-ice-bucket-challenge-over-half-of-brits-polled-did-not-donate-to-charity-afterwards-9696690.html

This is not a unique case study.

I actually have to do some work now, so apologies should you not get my response as quickly as you might like it.

This letter from today's Telegraph struck a chord with me.

^SIR – The Muslim Educational Centre of Oxford (Meco) utterly condemns the loss of innocent life in Paris. The perpetrators have besmirched the good name of Islam. Not only is their fanaticism completely at odds with the teachings of the Holy Koran, but they seek to heighten tensions between Muslims and those of other faiths.
For this reason, British Muslims must combat the poisonous ideology of Isil. It is essential that its absurd theological propaganda, championing a medieval concept of violent jihad, is exposed as totally non-Koranic.
While the slaughter in Paris should be denounced unreservedly, France and other ex-colonial Western nations must be held accountable for their foreign policy in the Middle East. In recent times, the US, Britain and France have all tried to reinforce Western imperialism – first by their invasion and occupation of Iraq, then by their illegitimate government change in Libya, and now by their interference in the Syrian civil war. Such actions have alienated Muslims and accelerated the emergence of Isil.
The only way out of this cycle of murder and mayhem in the Middle East and Europe is a two-fold strategy. First, Muslims must put their house in order by tackling extremism while establishing true political democracy. Secondly, Western powers must forgo their historic control of the riches and resources of the Islamic world and deal with Muslims as respected partners.^

We need a change in strategy away from violence.

I've changed my FB picture, that's all I'll be doing. I've done it to show my support to the people of France. No one forced me to change it & I'm the least 'bandwagonny' person I know. I did it because I wanted to.
There is nothing else I can do.
& to all those who keep sanctimoniously banging on about 'shallow waste of time'
what exactly are you doing?
Is wearing a poppy a waste of time? - a minutes silence to remember the dead? - it seems anything in the way of support & respect annoys some people.

I give it 6 months, at the very most, before there are boots on the ground against ISIS. The air strikes aren't enough, that's been proven. They need to get in and weed them out and the only way to do that is boots on the ground.

That makes me shit scared, because those boots will include my son's.

Appeasing violent tyrants is rarely the right thing to do, they seem to see it as a weakness to be exploited and an opportunity to take demand more.

SurferJet - well said.

It's interesting that the guardian have flagged up that the French bombing of Syria may not be legal

www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/16/isis-attack-on-paris-may-be-an-act-of-war-but-retaliation-might-not-be-lawful

I think it's great to see how so many people have changed their profile pics in support of France. I'm not usually a great fan of France - rather indifferent to the place really. But, on this occasion, I absolutely stand with them.

ISIS is evil... pure evil. And I am thankful to anyone who is able and willing to stop them.

I think Europe has just become a little less passive. Certainly France has.

and of course, massacring more than 120 innocent people is completely within the law

I never understanding how acts of war can be legal or illegal.

Who makes the bloody rules?

Pretty happy I would imagine, considering the French are bombing ISIS, a terrorist group who have killed, raped and tortured hundreds of thousands.

Ex researcher
:)

It is harrowing to see the (albeit horribly predictable) political response to the tragedy in Paris (whatever the - undoubtedly highly complex - reasons this tragedy came about).

Another putative reason to reinvent and garner support for the never ending "war". Another nonsensical "justification" of further mass killing in areas of the world known to be politically and materially important to powerful western nations.
Another reason to "hurry through" all the increased surveillance initiatives in the UK (three days in and this is already being pushed through).

United nations.

The only reason I worry about the bombings being lawful is because of the increased risks to civilians in attacks like the one on Paris. I don't give a monkey's arsehole about the legalities of killing the ISIS members.

The man who masterminded this attack is still on the run. He tried to bring an attack on a high speed train to Paris in August. They have to be stopped.

I don't think Daesh care one way or the other who puts a French flag on their FB page, do you? They don't care about your hand wringing either. They just want to annihilate you. I can't believe I'm taking the time to respond to this rubbish.

I'm not sure what your point is anyfucker

"You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it's an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before."
So said Rahm Emanuel, American politician (and a good few other people, too).

Just the right reaction on this thread to facilitate such avoidance of "waste". Bravo.

You must know that vast majority of people don't do both though. Doing something on social media, then following up with actual action, doesn't go hand it hand at all - quite the opposite.

For some people, perhaps the young generation of people who dont know who Nelson Mandela is, or has ever heard the word Apartheid and know nothing of the IRA (there seem to be many like this), taking stock for a moment and posting a flag may be the FIRST socially conscious action they do.

Lets not slam it outright, ok? My 13 year old put a flag over his profile picture, he knows he is not doing anything else but showing respect, and as a young soul the horrors of the world is new to him. Lets not discourage empathy!

I feel absolutely fine thanks. What these terrorists did was absolutely dispicable and I'm glad that France have retaliated, if it were our country and down to David Cameron bugger all would be done, but he's a coward so it wouldn't surprise me.

On my facebook I see that the UN symbol, or a mix of all the flags of the world on a globe, or peace signs are appearing. Some from people who did not post flags on saturday, and some from people who did and replaced their flags with something more "all embracing".

To me it shows that people are really thinking about this. The flag may have been a knee jerk reaction, but it does not necessarily end with just posting a flag once (and then discussing kittens and cakes). Evolving mindsets as as we think and react.

Sometimes I wonder if the Allies would have been allowed to defeat Hilter and the Nazis if they were around today. I imagine a lot of "liberals" would not allow it.

I am no fan of David Cameron, but I think he is right about only taking refugees from the camps.

We should be putting our money and effort into making safe areas for camps for everyone, particularly women and children, who seem to be pretty much left behind while large numbers of young men are coming into Europe via Greece, with all the chaos and confusion associated with that.

Angela Merckel appears to have taken leave of her senses. Surely anyone with a brain cell must have realised that it would be impossible to check everyone?

I am not sure what we do about the home grown terrorists TBH. It is all too little too late IMO.

I was only half joking about the LSD - it couldn't be worse than killing people.