The Suicide Vest, as defined in the Cambridge Dictionary defines it:
“a piece of clothing worn on the upper body with a bomb or bombs attached to it, used to cause an explosion that will kill the person wearing it as well as others:”
Has been a popular and effective weapon of the military and terrorist organizations.
The explosion that took place this morning at 7:30 am at Port Authority in New York marks the arrival of the suicide vest to the West. The use of the suicide vest has been contained to the Middle east and parts of Africa. This morning marks a turning point, but it should not come as a surprise.
The fact is this is the logical conclusion of the acceptance of terrorism into our culture. Whether it is mass shootings, pressure cooker bombings, or vehicle attacks, the Western world has been so busy closing our eyes and plugging our ears and screaming Islamaphobia that our elected officials have allowed terrorism to become “part and parcel” of living in our society and it is disgusting.
As long as we do not see this as a threat and just a minor inconvenience, we will continue to put ourselves at risk. Just understand this, In 2015, 9,109 civilians were reported killed or injured in suicide attacks around the world – lives shattered in 248 incidents in mosques and markets, checkpoints and restaurants. It was a year where 21 countries saw men and women blow themselves up in a rising tide of violence that seems to be spreading by the day.