“Cheese eating surrender monkeys” – The Simpsons Groundskeeper Willie’s famous words are an apt summing up of the situation in France following latest Jihadist atrocities. The French authorities, from the president down, together with the majority of the French populace, have capitulated to the Islamist threat.
“They have guns but we have flowers”
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Several weeks have passed since Islamist attackers bloodied Paris. France’s President François Hollande is describing the killers as just “a horde of murderers” acting in the name of a “mad cause.” He adds that “France has no enemy.” He never uses the word “terrorism.” He no longer says the word “war.”
From the beginning, pacifism and appeasement filled the air. A German pianist came to play John Lennon’s Imagine in front of the Bataclan Theater; since then, other pianists have come. On the Place de la République, people assemble every evening to sing more songs by the Beatles: All You Need Is Love; Love Me Do. Candles are lit, and banners deployed, calling for “universal brotherhood.”
In a widely circulated video, a man tries to reassure his child. “They have guns,” he mutters, “but we have flowers.”
“The endpoint of war is to bring about an amenable state of mind in the enemy”
The following extracts from a story by Guy Milliere writing for the Gatestone Insitute illustrate the amenable state of mind of the French government and the French people.
- Those invited to speak on TV about what happened allude to “senseless acts.” They do not blame anyone.
- Some spoke of “resistance,” but to them, resistance meant listening to music. To others, it meant having a drink with friends in a bar.
- Heart-shaped stickers are posted on mosques. Words such as “We love you” and “We share your pain” are written on the hearts.