The barbaric attacks in Paris cry out for a swift and firm response 鈥� but against those responsible for the attacks, not against the refugees who are fleeing the evil jihadists who are responsible for Friday鈥檚 killings.
And the response should be, as much as possible, measured and level-headed. Knee-jerk reactions, based on emotion rather than reason, will do the terrorists鈥� cause more good than harm. Reprisals are in order, but indiscriminate and hasty bombing that kills innocent civilians, for example, will strengthen, not weaken, the terrorists.
That isn鈥檛 to say the solutions lie in negotiating with them. Diplomacy will never suit the purposes of the Islamic State criminals.
They are not interested in any perspective but their own insane, murderous view of the world. There is no talking to them; the only solution is to destroy ISIS and its various fanatic tentacles.
That is more easily said than done. There is no frontier to conquer, little territory to take back. They are anywhere and everywhere. Yes, leaders and terrorist strongholds have been destroyed by drones and other weapons, but it is an endless game of Whack-a-Mole 鈥� strike one down and another one pops up somewhere else.
We are in for the long haul. The battle to stop this scourge cannot stop, but it will not be easily accomplished. It will require co-operation and co-ordination that has hitherto been lacking among the countries waging the war on ISIS.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised to pull Canada鈥檚 CF-18s out of the conflict, with Canada focusing on training Iraqi and Syrian troops on the ground. Will that be enough for the other countries involved? Will that be enough for 91原创s?
While force must continue to be used for defence and to ward off more attacks, diplomacy should not be abandoned. The countries involved should convince Syria鈥檚 corrupt president, Bashar al-Assad, to step aside 鈥� he bears much of the blame for the strength of ISIS in his country.
The fear and anger sparked by the Paris attacks should not be directed toward the Syrians who are fleeing the cruel Assad regime and the murderous jihadists. The racists and Islamophobes should not be allowed to have their way. The attacks have increased opposition to the flood of refugees into Europe, and yet the Islamic State鈥檚 victims have been predominantly Muslim.
And in Canada, someone set fire to a mosque in Peterborough, Ont.
This isn鈥檛 a case of Islam against the rest of the world 鈥� it鈥檚 a case of a relatively small group of radicals co-opting a religion for their own purposes. Families looking for safety and freedom need our help, not our enmity.
Trudeau鈥檚 goal of bringing 25,000 more Syrian refugees in Canada by Jan. 1 is a noble aim, but it鈥檚 unrealistic 鈥� the challenge of physically moving that many people to Canada in six weeks is daunting, if not impossible.
And yet we cannot turn our backs on them, as the country did in 1939 to the MV Louis, the ship carrying more than 900 Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany. Canada should accept the refugees, but those refugees need to be adequately screened. No doubt, the vast majority of them are well-intended and law-abiding, but it would be foolish to think ISIS would not try to plant agents among them.
It鈥檚 not easy to balance firmness and compassion, openness and vigilance. We need to be welcoming and wary at the same time.
As badly as we would all like quick and simple solutions, there are none. It鈥檚 a complex situation; the answers will be difficult.
