When we think of world war, we tend to think of WWI and WWII, when whole continents waged pitched battle warfare against each other. That may be what history has taught us. During the Cold War, previous generations were worried about the prospect of WWIII breaking out between the Soviet Union and the United States of America.
That never materialised, but yet we are already experiencing WWIII – just not in the way we thought we would. This was is being waged by Islamic militants against innocent people – men, women and children.
The attacks in Nice on Thursday night are yet another indication that war is being waged by Islamic extremists all over the globe. The profile of the man who drove a truck through a busy promenade, killing (at the last count) 84 people, has not yet been assembled, but French President Francois Hollande has already said enough to show that this is being treated as yet another terrorist attack, committed by a French citizen of Tunisian heritage.
The perpetrator was known to have a criminal record for petty crime, but he was not wanted by the authorities in connection with terrorism or radicalisation. The fact that eyewitnesses said that the man, who was 31-years-old, seemed to be enjoying himself as he ploughed through the crowds, aiming for, and swerving into the path of people.
While there has not yet been any claim to the attack, it seems that this was another case of a lone wolf terrorist, inspired by hate teachings by Islamic State. It also shows that for all the security measures we have in place in the West, nothing can stop a crazed person hatching their own plan and wreaking havoc.
It is indeed quite hard to digest the fact that while progress is being made on the ground in the war against IS in Iraq, Syria and Libya, stemming the tide of hate and terrorism that it inspires is proving to be much harder.
The reasons are numerous, ranging from radicalisation and hate speech, through to disenfranchisement of youth, economic conditions and the general state of society. But Thursday night’s events are proof that if you have a person who is crazy enough to be ready to die in the process of causing as much death and destruction as possible, then there is very little that can be done to prevent it.
Nowhere is safe. Sadly for people who are Muslim, and citizens of Western European countries, the actions of these few are harming them. Normal Imams need to work harder to spread the message to their flocks that these attacks have nothing to do with Islam. They are simply brutal and inexcusable acts of mass murder.
France is rapidly becoming the hotspot in Europe for such attacks. The numbers speak for themselves. But it is also becoming very apparent that anyone can be influenced by these murdering animals. Malta cannot sit and hope that it will never happen on our shores. All it takes is one crazed gunman to go on a rampage and it could cause untold damage to our reputation as a safe country and a tourist destination. We are not immune. No one is immune, as President Hollande put it, we are at war.