Terrorism Is Not New
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Terrorism is not new

Terrorism is not new although it has many names.

From the year 1096 till 1229 some large armies of Christian soldiers, left Europe for Palestine and because they bore the Cross as their mascot, their campaigns were called the Crusades.  They were promised by some church leaders that if they died, even on the way to Palestine, they would go straight to heaven; modern day suicide bombers appear to have a similar arrangement.

These Christian Crusaders, over a hundred-year period, killed thousands and thousands of Muslims who had been living in peace with other religious groups including Christians and Jews for centuries.  Some of these Crusaders while on the way to Palestine killed thousands of local Christians as well.  Modern day Christians would never condone these actions in the name of Christianity as most Muslims would not condone such acts in the name of Islam.  One glaring axiom about most religions is that they are about the control of their adherents by fear, of both mind and body.  In the old Catholic Church, the men had a terrible fear of women (especially very intelligent women), as do the old men of Islam today, which is why there are strict laws to keep women under control.

Starting around the year 1500 and lasting until the 19th Century in the Americas, the Christians repeated it all again, although this time they were not called Crusaders, they were just normal people like: adventurers, settlers, explorers and, there were others who were there to save souls.  The farther south in the Americas, the more the killings were carried out in the name of the cross.

There were thousands upon thousands of people killed.  Does the name �Conquistador� not ring a bell?  Well, if it does, what do you think they were doing there?  They were bringing the people Christianity to save their souls; unfortunately they killed most of the people whilst they did it.  They saved countless souls of men, women, children and babies in this way.  Oh yes, and they were looking for a bit of gold as well.

In much of the Americas, and Australia for that matter, diseases that were brought in by the explorers killed many of the original inhabitants.  It is amazing though that these diseases wiped out so many of the locals and were most virulent in areas where the land was fertile and valuable for farming.  As history shows, you just can�t trust a disease.

Since the Second World War, much terrorism has occurred unabated in the poorest of countries, especially in those parts of the world that just happen to have some valuable resources available.  These resources can come in the form of: forestry, minerals, diamonds, oil or cheap labour.

The Americans have already lost thousands of soldiers in Iraq and the number is still growing.  Many thousands of ordinary Iraqi civilians have been killed and that number is still growing; unfortunately many of them are just innocent children; but they were born in a land with oil; so that is their crime.

There is a group of mercenary soldiers working in Iraq; they work for an American company called Blackwater.  There are many documentaries and books on the subject of Blackwater; some of their soldiers have the job of killing people, especially civilians.  It would appear that their job is to keep the hatred of the Americans alive which is guaranteed to keep the war alive; you might well ask why.  It is easy to learn about Blackwater.  Just buy a book on the Blackwater Mercenary Army or Google it.

Yes, Saddam has been knocked off his perch, he was brutalising his people with a reign of terror, and was supported during his reign of terror by those who eventually deposed him.  Those that kept him armed to the teeth, while he brutalised his own people, knew exactly what he was doing; so it is a little disingenuous to say �well we had to get rid of him because he was a tyrant to his people�.

By today�s standards, would the Crusaders and the Conquistadors be called terrorists?  In the history of the world, peace-loving Christians, have killed more Christians and non-Christians than any other religious group.  Most of those fighting for peace in Iraq and Afghanistan believe what they are told, but do they have any idea what they are actually doing there?

Be careful in your research, as the old saying goes �the victors write the history�.  The results of your research can be met by diatribe, scorn, denial or character assassination.  Beware also of those who would use patriotism as defense for their ignorance or agenda.

As the old saying goes: �Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel�