One Week.

One week ago was the attack on Paris.

Was it a cause or an effect?

It will serve as a cause for some to want to restrict our freedoms (as guaranteed by the Constitution). For others it will serve as a cause to fear others. (The opposite of love is fear. Being of the Christian persuasion, I go by a biblical definition - “Perfect (unconditional) love drives out fear.” (Personal comment – some of the most fear filled comments that I have heard about this situation came from people who espouse a Christian faith. Don't ask me why. I did it after 9/11 and it was wrong then as it is now.)

To me, the actions of those people were an effect. They were an effect of misguided US, British, and European policies that relate to colonialism and imperialism.

There is sufficient evidence that they were "from" Syria and affiliated with the ISIL. (aka ISIS.) This does not mean that they were native Syrians. Many extremists have gone to Syria in order to set up a caliphate under strict Wahabist rules. I would like to make that distinction.

The Syrian war is an effect of another war – Iraq – that went horribly wrong from the start. It was based on lies (weapons of mass destruction, 9/11) and accomplished what exactly? The people of Iraq are less free now than they were under Saddam Hussein. They were even more free before the CIA backed coup in 1968 that put Hussein in power.

But the 1968 coup was an effect of another coup in Iran in 1953 . It was done to offset the fear that the CIA had that the people of Iran were going to overthrow their (actually US & British oil companies) hand picked dictator – the Shah. If you want to see a brutal terror state, look at the Savak and how they ran roughshod over Iranian people that wanted democracy. The democracy that they had under Mossadeq.

The terrorists came from ISIL – they are an offshoot of al Qaeda. Al Qaeda is a creation of the CIA, Pakistani Intelligence Services, and fundamentalists in the Middle East (Saudi Arabia being the most notable.) They were created to fight a proxy war against a democratically elected socialist government in Afghanistan. So in effect, the terrorists were an effect of another misguided US policy of undermining democratically elected governments that we do not like or approve of.

Is Paris a cause or an effect?

To me, it is all one big mess created by those that refuse to learn the lessons of history.

And that will affect us all unless we demand something different.

For me, I use it as a cause to explain to others the history of the Middle East that the textbooks and corporate media don't explain or choose to lie about. I use it to talk about how corporations are using the military and the CIA to put in power pawns that will do what the corporations want. I use it to tell the truth. Some people listen. Some people refuse to. However, I have my cause – the truth. And sometimes people find it informative and want to do something to stop all the senseless violence.

And that's an effect I think the whole world would like.