After Manchester, We Cannot 'Carry On Exactly as Before'

by Raheem Kassam

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Originally published under the title "A Very Real War on Women Arrived in Manchester, England, Last Night."

Teddy bears, tears, candles, cartoons, murals, mosaics, flowers, flags, projections, hashtags, balloons, wreaths, lights, vigils, scarves, and more. These are the best solutions the Western world seems to come up with every few months when we are slammed by another Islamist terrorist attack. We are our own sickness.

If the words above look familiar, it is because they are. They are the same words I wrote on March 23rd, 2016, just over one year ago, after coordinated suicide bombing attacks in the NATO/European Union capital of Brussels, Belgium, which left 32 dead and 340 injured.

Last night, another 22 people died, and at least another 60 have been injured at a former Disney star's concert in Manchester, England.

The targeting of an audience predominantly comprised of young girls should haunt even the most callous of cynics, and the most relativist of liberals. But it won't.

Already we have witnessed large news sites demanding Britain refuse to change its approach to terrorism and extremism. Just keep sucking it up. Keep watching your friends and family die. After all, according to London's mayor, terrorism is "part and parcel" of everyday urban life, right?

All of it, ultimately, is a distraction. I don't know if it's meant to be or not. But it is a massive distraction from the facts of this case. And the reality of European life today.

There has been one attempted terror attack in Europe every nine days in 2017. 

Let's take 2017 alone so far. Yesterday marked the 142nd day of 2017. There have been, this year, at least 15 attempted terrorist attacks on European, British, or West Russian soil, killing dozens, and injuring hundreds. That's one attack attempted every 9 days in Europe.

Think about that. One attack every nine days.

In the meantime, the Independent website wants us to "carry on exactly as before."

I suggest we don't "carry on exactly as before." In fact, I suggest we do away with the trite "Keep Calm and Carry On" mindset that has been adopted by hipsters and tourist tat sellers.

Instead, I suggest we look back in history a little further, for how we deal with this scourge.

St. Augustine of Hippo — not to be confused with the homonymous St. Augustine of Canterbury who brought Christianity to England — once said: "Hope has two beautiful daughters. Their names are anger and courage; anger at the way things are, and courage to see that they do not remain the way they are."

This is our new mantra.

The targeting of young girls should haunt even the most relativist of liberals. But it won't. 

This is our new slogan.

This is our new way of life.

For news sources like the Independent, the ostensible fight in defence of multiculturalism is even more important than the news story itself, let alone pro-security positions. Over the past 16 hours, the Independent has published and promoted at least seven separate articles targeting the critics of mass migration or lax security.

I cannot for one second imagine being that editor and having the callousness to shout across the newsroom: "Let's hammer Nigel Farage for what he said on Fox!" while young girls are still bleeding in hospitals in England. I encourage you to read their article, by the way, and find anything wrong in what Mr. Farage told Tucker Carlson last night.

This is their new normal.

Terror attacks are now political footballs for the left, while they, without a scintilla of self-awareness or irony, accuse the right of using these events for partisan gain.

How heartless does someone have to be otherwise, to tweet something like the tweet at top left?

At bottom left is a small insight into the mind of the author of that tweet, David Leavitt, for context.

We now know that girls as young as eight years old died in the terror attack in Manchester last night.

We know in neighbouring communities, young girls were targeted, groomed, and raped by Pakistani, more often than not Muslim, men living in the United Kingdom.

And while the political left hurls accusations of a "war on women" at the right, for refusing to accept taxpayer subsidy of contraception or abortion, the real war on women is taking place in British towns and cities, conducted by fellow travellers of the high chiefs of multiculturalism.

We must protect our beautiful daughters with the beautiful daughters of St. Augustine: courage, and anger.

Anyone who cannot agree to this basic statement should find no support in public life.

Raheem Kassam is a Shillman-Ginsburg fellow at the Middle East Forum and editor-in-chief of Breitbart London.