After Paris Attacks, a Call for Justice—Not Vengeance
By Phyllis Bennis
Source: The Nation
November 15, 2015
France is in mourning and in shock. We still dont know how many people were killed and injured. In fact, theres a lot we still dont knowincluding who was responsible. The ISIS claim of responsibility tells us virtually nothing about who really planned or carried out the attacks; opportunist claims are an old story. But the lack of information hasnt prevented lots of assumptions about who is obviously responsible and what should be done to them. Already the call is rising across Francethis time its all-out war.
But we do know what happens when cries of war and vengeance drown out all other voices; weve heard them before.
A few days after the 9/11 attacks, we at IPS and some of our allies organized a public statement whose lead signatories included Harry Belafonte, Danny Glover, Gloria Steinem, Rosa Parks and many more. The statement reflected the deeply-rooted fear we all shared, that however horrific the attacks of September 11, it was George W. Bushs statement in response to those attacks that threatened the world. That was the moment he announced that the response to this enormous crime against humanity would be a warthat he would lead the world to war against terror.
Wars of vengeance wont work for France anymore than they worked for the US.
Full article:
https://zcomm.org/znetarticle/after-paris-attacks-a-call-for-justice-not-vengeance/