July 11, 2012
So far the picture is that of a suicide bomber launching himself into a crowd of police cadets killing about ten of them and wounding many more as they poured out of their academy at the end of their classes. The attack is likely to be in retaliation for President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Al-Hadi's crackdown on terrorist organisations operating from Yemen and it has been suggested that Al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula (AQAP)has already claimed responsibility for the atrocity. Last May, a similar explosion in the capital, Sanaa, killed 90 soldiers during a military parade rehearsal.
One of the saddest things about this kind of slaughter is how immune we have become to it; that is, as long as it happens where we would expect it to: Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria... Countries with fanatical elements that terrorise the peaceful majority. Of course, they can mushroom anywhere, but when they do they are the exceptions we take note of. The bombers, suicide bombers and those who manipulate them, however, must be even more immune. They believe they have been given the divine right over life and death, even though no known scripture exhorts: "Blessed are those that kill, maim and terrorise in the name of God, especially their own people, for they shall bring joy into the world." I have said it before and I will say it again, unless religious leaders unite and make it abundantly clear that gratuitous violence is anathema, people will continue to deceive themselves and others that "the end justifies the means".
Etcheded on a toilet wall, I once read these no so foolish words: "fighting for peace is like f***ing for virginity." Whoever wrote this had a point.
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