Terrorism can make terrorists of us all, if we let it.

To be clear about the war on terror, The United States of America habitually kills more perfectly innocent people by dropping bombs in places like Pakistan, than those shithead terrorists just killed in Paris.

Data published in The Guardian stated that in order for American drones to target 42 known terrorists, 1,147 people had to die. That number of innocent casualties seems hard to believe, and hopefully it’s not true, but it is a fact that The West and its allies are killing innocent people in the war on terror.

Terrorism can make terrorists of us all, if we let it. And it seems as a society, Canadians do not seem as uncomfortable as they should be with air strikes “over there.” Instead our papers, even alternative media like Vice, are calling Justin Trudeau “weak” for pulling our fighter jets from those kinds of air strikes.

This implies our country does not see “their” children’s lives as important as our own. That indifference is scary and dangerous. Without empathy for the other side, we’re capable of doing anything to it. Including provoking them to throw bombs back.

Fighting terrorism in a way that harms any country’s citizens who do not side with radical extremists is wrong. If a country invaded mine, because of a few rotten monsters among us in Canada, I’d be pretty pissed off. Just stop what you’re doing right now, and imagine how insane it would be if a drone dropped a bomb in Newfoundland today. And know that there are places in the world living with air strikes.

There are parents desperate for these air strikes to stop. They’re laying large print-outs of dead innocent kids on the ground, in hopes US drones will see them and stop dropping bombs. There are kids saying “I don’t like blue skies anymore, because it means there’ll be drones today. Grey skies mean no drones.”

We are being told by civilians in these countries that terrorist cell leaders are using these air strikes to make The West seem wicked in order to recruit more terrorists. The idea is, if we kill five terrorists this way, we breed ten more. Because terrorist leaders can radicalize new followers by saying, “Look what they’re doing to us!”

But we’re not listening. We’re ignoring intel from the citizens on the ground in places like Pakistan. Actively. Some of these people have tried desperately to have North American media print this information, to little avail.

Our media are too busy milking melodrama and printing controversial headlines about Trudeau being “weak” to pull Harper’s precious fighter jets. I think he’s being incredibly strong, not to just cave for public opinion. Pulling fighter jets is not the same as “doing nothing.” There are innumerable ways to deal with ISIS. And from what I can tell, years of air strikes hasn’t been working anyway.

Bombs fight wars, but only education, compassion, and intelligent strategy can diffuse them. Get informed. Stop blaming a religion with over a billion people for the actions of a few radical asshole monsters. We have radical monsters too, like the KKK, known for tearing people from homes to hang or rape them.

Imagine if, after every school shooting in North America, we white people had to deal with global racism towards us – distrustful looks in airports, beatings laid on pregnant white women in a Canadian mall, the burning down of a community place of worship.

The people who burned down that Canadian mosque this week: that was totally an act of terrorism and hate. And now the leader of a terrorist group can tell their radical followers “they’re burning mosques in Canada!”

More importantly, if a Muslim burned a Christian church, we’d all be hearing about the act of terrorism on Canadian soil this week. Instead, the reverse scenario was a blip in the media pan.

We’ve got to wonder why that is, what that says about us, and how dangerous it is to have so many people in France, Canada, and the U.S feel blind contempt for 1.57 billion people, on account of the actions of a few assholes. The internet is lighting up with racist sentiments, and that “us versus them” attitude is exactly what ISIS wants.

As Newfoundlanders — sorry, silly Newfies — we more than anyone should know what it’s like to be judged by the actions of cohorts. Some of us are dumb as rocks, so people up in Canada have a demeaning notion of us as a simple people. It’s misguided.

Media milking one-sided tragedies and politicians caving to peer pressure from an angry electorate, or a barrage of kneejerk headlines from Canadian media, might just breed the propaganda that starts WWIII.

Stand with your prime minister on his decision to yank those fighter jets, because a decent society wants no part of a war that kills innocent people. Out of compassion, and, out of concern we’re poking an angry bear with radicalized terrorists watching us do so.

Remember this: Isis wants a West versus muslim global pandemic. Don’t let them have it.

If you are angry, sad, and need to direct those feelings somewhere, use it to diffuse the misguided contempt someone in your life has towards 1.57 billion people forced to take global judgement every time a small group of monsters with the same religious heritage do something terrible.

As for this week’s widespread panic about taking in refugees, just stop, be human. A good person cares for refugees seeking shelter: they’re moms and dads and friends and siblings just like us, scared as hell for each other’s well being.

They are, as you would be, running from hell on earth, and not taking them in is a death sentence. Isis wants you wary of them and turning them away, for various reasons. Firstly, the West will look evil in the eyes of to-be-radicalized terrorists, and our racism will play into the “us versus them” attitude they want in the world.

It’s working, our politicians, from Premier Paul Davis, to 20+ US governors, are suddenly standing stronger against taking in Syrian refugees. ISIS planted a FAKE Syrian passport on one of those asshole bombers in Paris, to illicit this very reaction from the West. We are playing right into it.

The truth is, ISIS hates refugees. Because refugees are running from them, which makes them look bad to their own. ISIS see refugees as traitors, they’ll harm them. We make that easier on them by not taking in refugees.