Terror attacks carried out over the past 20 years or so have completely changed the world, the world seems like it's a lot more of a dark and scary place nowadays. With these incessant and unrelenting incidents being all the more frequent nowadays I can't help but think...are we as human beings becoming more desensitised to violence?
In my lifetime, nearly 26 years, there has been over 5400 terrorist attacks carried out around the world, with thousands killed and tens of thousands more injured. Below are just a few that stick out in my mind:
Columbine shootings, 1999 - Colorado, USA - 13 killed, 24 injured.
9/11 attacks, 2001 - New York, USA - 2977 killed (on impact), 6000 + injured, 1000 killed (result from 9/11 related illnesses), 37,000 ill (registered with 9/11 related illnesses).
Madrid train bombing, 2004 - Madrid, Spain - 191 killed, 1,800 + injured.
London bombings, 2005 - London, UK - 52 killed, 784 injured.
Mumbai attack, 2008 - Mumbai , India- 166 killed, 600 + injured.
Norway attack, 2011 - Oslo & Utoya, Norway - 77 killed, 319 + injured.
Sousse attack, 2015 - Sousse, Tunisia - 38 killed, 39 injured.
San Bernadino attack, 2015 - San Bernadino, California - 14 killed, 24 injured.
Charlie Hebdo attack, 2015 - Paris, France - 12 killed, 11 injured.
Charleston Church attack, 2015 - Charleston, South Carolina - 9 killed, 1 injured.
Paris attack, 2015 - Paris, France - 130 killed, 368 injured.
Belgium bombings, 2016 - Belgium - 32 killed, 340 injured.
More recently the spate of deadly attacks came closer to home, London saw the horrific attack at Westminster where a terrorist ploughed through pedestrians in a car followed by a fatal stabbing of an unarmed police officer. Subsequently killing four innocent people and injuring a further 50 people, some with life-threatening and life changing injuries.
Social media platforms allows terrorist organisations to gain access and radicalise people worldwide, which makes 'lone wolf' attacks all the more frequent. The way that terrorists now carry out attacks has evolved, they no longer just use bombs or guns. They are now using ordinary everyday objects (e.g. knives, cars etc) to create as much destruction as possible and makes these attacks all the more erratic.
Although we are all injected with fear we have to accept some measure of risk in order to live. How do we explain the unfolding events to inquisitive little minds when we as adults are trying to make sense of it ourselves?
Terror will never beat or stifle the love, resilience and spirit we all show to overcome extreme odd
Love Charlotte
The rants, quips and anecdotes of a twenty-something year old
Comments