The English could not be brought to their knees by bombing alone during the Second World War.
Neither could the Germans.
And neither could the Japanese — well, not conventional bombing anyway, and I'd like to think no one would consider that alternative ever again.
The accumulative number of civilian casualties suffered by all sides counts well into the hundreds of thousands.
The proud people of all these nations would continue to push on in the face of terrible air attacks, confident their sacrifice and persistence would yet yield victory. The Nazi bombing raids against England followed later in the war by the V-1 and V-2 rockets and the intense Allied bombing campaign in Germany and Japan did little to demoralize the target populations. If anything, the citizens were galvanized and united through the hardships endured, and their resolve to fight on was merely solidified and even strengthened.
So what in the world makes us think Islamic extremists will be defeated by airstrikes alone?
To be frank, the thought is stunningly naive.
Granted, modern airstrikes are far more accurate than the random carpet bombings of the Second World War, but to pretend there's never any collateral damage would be to kid oneself. Smart bombs are only as smart as their operators, and mistakes happen in the chaos and confusion of conflict. There are stories of children slain in air strikes that occur with frightening frequency, but that doesn't seem to generate as much outrage as the attacks in Paris.
And this comes from someone who immigrated to Canada from France. I'm as appalled as anyone else by what happened in Paris. But I'm equally appalled by this knee-jerk reaction so many people seem to have to simply want to just try dropping more bombs.
Because you know, that's worked out spectacularly well over the past 15 years or so since 9/11.
Let's bear in mind extremists essentially take local populations hostage. Any resistance is most likely met with a death sentence.
Left to its own devices, groups like IS would quite possibly implode. There are already stories of villages that have been reduced to ghost towns under their draconian rule. They could not last if their own populations are desperately fleeing from them.
But every time coalition bombs destroy more homes and infrastructure — not to mention lives — a once hard-working father who yesterday was simply trying to get by and do the best for his family today seeks revenge for his slain son or daughter. Perhaps both.
Efforts should be made to undermine extremist organizations' ability to recruit, not bolster it.
As Malala Yousafzai, who survived a gunshot wound to the head at the hands of the Taliban merely for wanting to learn, has recently said, “With guns you can kill terrorists, with education you can kill terrorism.”
