Piecemeal world war

It is very good that Pope Francis has finally seized the bull of continued terrorism by its horns, calling the series of attacks on Paris late Friday as part of "a piecemeal third world war." For we are indeed fighting a global war, not against a particular country, but against an ideology that cannot be anyone else's but the Devil's.

Destroying the modern world's concept of progress, order and harmony is the ideology of terrorism and it does not matter by what name the perpetrators may call themselves at a given time because they are all one and the same. Isis, al Qaeda, Jemaah Islamiya -- they are all the same and the world that is their target should not waste its time making distinctions.

It is hoped that the words of Pope Francis will finally jolt the world from its continued stupor that it is still okay to fight terrorism with the tools of democracy and law and order, There is only one way to fight terror and the terrorists themselves have made it plainly so -- a tooth for a tooth and an eye for an eye. Niceties only apply when the enemy faces you in plain sight, not when you turn your back.

Aside from niceties, the two other most crippling shortcomings of the modern democratic world is its blind refusal to depart from naiveté and hypocrisy. Long before Paris had Friday the 13th blow up on its face, I already wrote my concerns about all those refugees streaming into Europe. Not that I have lost compassion for the human race, but compassion and foolhardiness takes no one to heaven.

Many may not have a very nice appreciation of Donald Trump, but I feel vindicated that at least someone of stature with the ability to speak his mind actually shared my apprehensions about all of those refugees coming in not only virtually unchecked but actually welcomed and encouraged -- despite the fact that many of them were clearly very young and able-bodied men who outnumbered the old and women with children.

To me, and I am glad Mr. Trump also noticed, those young able-bodied men did not seem like refugees. After the Paris Friday the 13th attacks, a growing number of people are starting to sit up and consider the possibility that among those young able-bodied men some Isis fighters may have mingled in. The refugee crisis that Europe naively and hypocritically embraced and welcomed with wide open arms could have been the perfect Trojan Horse to bring the war on terror to new heights.

Sometime ago, I got this email entitled "How bloody silly!" I think it has become more relevant in face of recent events. Here it is: "The Muslims are not happy! They're not happy in Gaza. They're not happy in Egypt. They're not happy in Libya. They're not happy in Morocco. They're not happy in Iran. They're not happy in Iraq. They're not happy in Yemen. They're not happy in Afghanistan. They're not happy in Pakistan. They're not happy in Syria. They're not happy in Lebanon.

"So, where are they happy? They're happy in Australia. They're happy in Canada. They're happy in England. They're happy in France. They're happy in Italy. They're happy in Germany. They're happy in Sweden. They're happy in the USA. They're happy in Norway. They're happy in Holland. They're happy in Denmark. Basically, they're happy in every country that is not Muslim and unhappy in every country that is!

"And who do they blame? Not Islam. Not their leadership. Not themselves. They blame the countries they are happy in! And so they want to change these countries to be like the countries they came from where they were unhappy! How bloody silly can anyone get?" How bloody silly indeed. And yet, we have now gone past mere silliness. It has become just plain bloody. And I think the world should start considering that truly it is at war, piecemeal or otherwise.