The Manchester suicide bombing wasn’t “cowardly” – it was far, far worse than that

May 25, 2017 by Jill

by Daniel Hannan, Conservative Home:

It is conventional to describe terrorist attacks as “cowardly”, and world leaders did so in the aftermath of the abomination in Manchester. But I’m not sure it’s the right word to apply to a suicide bomber.

[…] One leader who got the tone exactly right – surprisingly, you might think – was Donald Trump. He made a point of calling the murderer an “evil loser, not a monster”. Quite. Many of these jihadis are textbook losers, with histories of petty crime, substance abuse and anti-social behaviour. Like terrorists in every age and nation, they are looking for something that might validate their otherwise wretched lives and bring them a measure of fame.

They are losers, too, in the literal sense that they are being defeated. Al-Qaeda was crushed in Afghanistan. Islamic State gives ground every day in Iraq. Whereas, ten or fifteen years ago, Muslim leaders would condemn acts of terrorism, but then tack on criticisms of Western foreign policy, now the condemnation is unadorned and unequivocal. Isolated, lacking weaponry, up against some of the finest anti-terrorist forces in the world, the evil losers are driven to seek softer and softer targets: sports grounds, nightclubs, concert halls.

On Monday, one of them found the softest target of all: a foyer full of girls. Picking that target was far, far worse than cowardice. It was an act of supreme negation, a mockery of every human instinct, a denial of light and life and hope. And, if you are religious, it was something even more chilling. Salman Abedi’s final act was to spit in the face of God.

In a statement following the outrage, the Muslim Council of Britain expressed the hope that its perpetrator would face justice “in the next life”. Oh yes: he will wish that there were a great distance between him and his evil.

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