By Rab Bruce’s Spider

There’s nothing very much anyone can say about the horrors that took place in Paris. It has, quite rightly, dominated the news over the weekend. But, as efforts to identify both victims and killers continue, attention on the political front turns to what reaction the West will make. Sadly, this is all too predictable.

The French Air Force has already undertaken further bombing raids and there are calls for the UK to join in. It seems likely that David Cameron will get his wish and be given authority to bomb Islamic State in Syria. While this reaction is understandable because revenge is a basic human instinct, resorting to this sort of violence is not going to solve the problem. The war on Terror has been going on for fourteen years now and bombing doesn’t seem to have made things any better so far. Surely it must be time for a re-think?

It is easy to pontificate, of course. The problem is apparent and the cause – Western imperialist attitudes and interference going back over a century – undeniable. The solution, however, is far from simple.

The fact of the matter is that it is impossible to negotiate with religious fundamentalists like Islamic State, or Daesh, or whatever you want to call them. Violence is their first and only response to every situation. Yet responding with violence isn’t going to eliminate them; it only escalates the conflict and gives them more recruits.

As I say, the answer isn’t easy but perhaps it is time the Western powers took a serious look at their policies in the Middle East. If bombing won’t solve the problem, perhaps cutting off resources might. It’s a bit like the debate over gun control in the USA. Every week sees another shooting of innocent civilians and gun lobbyists in America think providing more guns for people to defend themselves is the answer when, in fact, looking at other countries where guns are banned clearly demonstrates that removing access to firearms reduces the cost in human lives. It doesn’t prevent violence, of course. Every country has its violent citizens as any perusal of newspapers on a Monday morning will show as weekend fights and stabbings are reported, but it does diminish the scale and effect of such violence.

So it could be with Islamic State. Cutting off their funding and access to resources would reduce their capability to carry out atrocities. And here, the West is complicit. It is a more or less open secret that Saudi Arabia is supplying and funding Islamic State because it wishes to keep the region unstable to prevent the Iranian form of Islam gaining supremacy in the region rather than its own Wahhabi sect. And the Saudis are backed by the UK and USA. If we cut that funding, the threat of Islamic State would be significantly reduced. Cutting direct CIA and MI5 backing for other terrorist groups in Syria would also reduce the effect of the current conflict and might go a little way to stemming the flow of refugees.

On that Point, the rush to link refugees with the terrorists is appalling. Some people seem incapable of understanding that the Paris killers are the very sort of thugs the refugees are fleeing from. Indeed, our media is virtually silent on the bombings and shootings that are a regular feature of life in places like Yemen, Lebanon and Syria.

The solution is not to block the refugees but to attempt to resolve the conflict in their home country so that they can return there in peace. That may sound idealistic but surely it is better to attempt to find a peaceful solution rather than resort to a bombing campaign which is doomed to fail.

Sadly, this won’t happen. The War on Terror suits the neo-liberal, right wing agenda. It makes politicians look tough and decisive and it provides them with the perfect excuse to impose restrictions on their own citizens. Authoritarianism requires control and that is precisely what the terrorist attacks provide. Under the guise and banners of protecting freedom, our freedoms are slowly being eroded.

Of course, we need to defend ourselves against violent attacks but there is a big difference between using force to defend yourself and using aggressive force to attack others. Unfortunately, those who control Western societies are firm believers in the mantra that the best form of defence is attack, despite all the evidence which shows that their attacks have been having precisely the opposite effect to the one they claim to be seeking. It’s enough to make you weep, if you weren’t already weeping for the tragic loss of life in Paris.