There is really nothing to add to the two tragedies that have struck in the last 24 hours.
First, two young Frenchmen kidnapped outside a restaurant in Niger were hustled away by their kidnappers and followed by the Niger armed forces who asked for French military help. The intervention that ensued was meant to prevent the two young men from being taken into Mali, where 7 French citizens are already being held hostage. The battle led to the deaths of the two French victims, killed by their captors during the exchange of gunfire.
Second, a young congresswoman was shot and critically wounded outside a supermarket in Tucson, Arizona. Six people were killed in the shooting incident, including a federal judge and a 9-year-old girl. The congresswoman is in hopsital and doctors are hopeful she will pull through. Five innocent bystanders were not so lucky.
Nothing we can say or think will do justice to these two mindless acts of violence. It can only serve to reinforce our duty to be vigilant and not let the forces of evil and terrorism overpower our resolve.
May the victims rest in peace. May their families be healed in mind and spirit. May the injured be made well. May the French in West Africa remember the accumulating trail of attacks, kidnappings and killings and take heed for their lives and those of their loved ones.
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