50 dead in Orlando

Stuff reports:

At least 50 people have died and 53 are injured following a mass shooting at a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender nightclub in the Florida city of Orlando, in the United States.

The gunman was named as Omar Mateen, a US citizen aged 29. He called 911 to pledge allegiance to Islamic State (Isis) before opening fire.

I think this is the worst mass shooting in the US.  An awful assault on not just the families and friends of those at the night club, but the entire US.

Actually more than the US. This is one of numerous assaults on basically any country which doesn’t run its government based on 7th century teachings.

Terrorism in the past had goals generally aligned to some sort of political or geographical dispute. It might be UK our of Northern Ireland, a civil war in Sri Lanka, even US foreign policy.

But Islamic State is different. There is nothing that will appease them, even if you wanted to. They want a global caliphate and have a message of hate that appeals to tens of thousands. Any target in any country is fair game. Their justification is people living a lifestyle that is at odds with their 7th century beliefs.

While wider Islamic terrorism will be with us pretty much forever, the Islamic State version need not be. Their legitimacy and power comes from holding actual territory. Their appeal will be diminished if they are evicted from their cities across Iraq and Syria and Libya.