"Who Are These People? What Do They Want?"

On the morning of Sept.  11, 2001, I got up as usual at 5 a.m. PST to go to work.  I waited for my carpool downstairs and switched on the T.V. (CNN) at 5:50 a.m.  A reporter shakingly said an airplane had crashed into a building in New York.  Over and over they showed the plane hitting the building (8:46 a.m.  their time).  Then, right there in front of my eyes - another plane crashed into a building (9:03 a.m. EST) - but that's impossible!  How could 2 planes crash!  I called my carpool inside - over and over we watched the impossible.

Over the next few days, information leaked out - something about terrorists?  Freedom fighters?  What?  The common thinking was - Ok, Ok - track down these crazy psychopaths whoever they are and just get rid of them.  But I thought "Who are these people?  What do they really want?".  Then a bigger picture began to emerge.  President Bush talked about a "war on terror".  He and British Prime Minister Tony Blair warned about " Weapons of Mass Destruction"  that could reach London in 45 minutes.  What?  I was working in London at that time and I read about this claim - especially from BBC journalist Andrew Gilligan who had interviewed an "anonymous" UN weapons inspector.  This whistleblower said the claim (45 minutes) was a lie.  But when his identity was revealed, Dr. David Kelly,  committed suicide (or did he?).  Four months prior to Dr. Kelly's death, Iraq was invaded. Big mistake.  But I still couldn't figure it out.  Who are these people?  What do they want?

On July 7, 2005, I was on the London underground going to work.  Then terror struck again.  And again.  The questions.  Who are these people?  What do they want?

Flash forward to August 2014.  I can't find words to describe the barbaric atrocities - the genocide - committed by the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS), but I have noticed the world is beginning to wake up.  Even the Pope, a man of peace, urges the international community "to take action to end the humanitarian tragedy now underway".  His ambassador to the United Nations went further:  "Maybe military action is necessary at this moment".  As far as my questions - Who are these people?  What do they want? - I don't ask them anymore.  We don't have the final answers but the puzzle is slowly being pieced together - the dots are beginning to reveal a clearer picture.

For a comprehensive, unique, perceptive analysis of the real issue, I urge all of you around the world to read an article in Canada's National Post newspaper,  August 14, 2014.  It's called "The Battle of Our Century", by father Raymond J. de Souza.  Here is a sample:  "It is not a war between religions, and not a war between Islam and Christianity.  It is a theological war in Islam that has lethal consequences for all those it touches, including non-Muslims......The unspeakable brutality taking place in ISIS - controlled Iraq, offers a clear picture of one option.  It is powerful and growing, manifesting itself in both Sunni and Shia forms in parts of the Islamic world.  Its defeat will require from within Islam a century - long struggle involving theology, politics, social and cultural reform and sheer military power..... When the 21st century began with the carnage of September 11, it was tempting to ignore that a bloody new century had begun.  Thirteen years into the jihadist century, it can no longer be ignored".