Paris Bombing Blog

On November 13^th 2015 a bomb went off outside one of France’s most beautiful soccer stadiums. The Stade De France known as the home of the French National Soccer Team and the French Rugby Team. A match was being held between Germany and France, two powerhouses of world football when at 9:20 EST an explosion was heard outside of the stadium, then 10 minutes later the next, and finally at 9:53 PM the last bomb would detonate. But these incidents were obviously no “accident”. They were conducted by the radical Islamic group ISIS and three of their many suicide bombers. According to http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34818994 “Shootings and bomb blasts left 130 people dead and hundreds wounded, with more than 100 in a critical condition.” The French and people all around the world had to deal with the topic of loss. Not only did the French lose some of their people, they also lost some of their passion, businesses were shut down, events were cancelled, and professional athletes were given time off such as Olivier Giroud who plays for Arsenal whom was given a week off to recover from the traumatic event as it happened right outside the stadium he was playing in. Loss is something that can only be healed through acceptance and time. Once you come to accept the fact who you’ve lost or what you lost you can begin to gain again. It was not until the 26^th of July 2016 that France’s president François Hollande declared war on ISIS. His statement read “Our country is at war. We are at war externally, in Syria and Iraq, and internally, against radicalization, against individual jihadists. [We are] eradicating the criminal networks, and we will continue. I also owe you the truth – this war will be long. What it’s aimed at is our democracy. Our democracy is the target and it will be our strength, because our unity is our strength. It’s with perseverance that we will succeed. In that way we will be able to win the war against fanaticism and pain, and we will win this war.” http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2016/07/27/27-jul-16-world-view-frances-francois-hollande-declares-war-isis-terror-attack-kills-priest/ But after 8 months was it really worth declaring war on ISIS?

Guest of the Nation Poem

They came as prisoners

They were strange lads

Our superior wouldn’t like how much we laughed

They met the old lady

And she liked them too

It’s hard to believe some of the things that we do

We lied to their faces

Then took them outside

After the first shot I almost cried

They came as prisoners

We shot them dead

But in the end they were still our friends

My poem is meant to describe the events that occurred in Guest of the Nation. Belcher and Hawkins were meant to be prisoners of war held captive by Noble and Bonaparte but they all eventually grew to become very good “chums”. Belcher always aided the old woman in the house even though Hawkins resented her and the two of them along with Noble and Bonaparte played cards together quite often. When intel was given to the guards that four of their men had been shot by the enemy they had no choice but to eliminate Belcher and Hawkins in retaliation. Bonaparte was never the same again. A major topic in Guest of the Nation is brotherhood which I portrayed in my poem. The beginning of my poem describes a happy relationship between the parties at hand but at line 6 my poem hits a turning point, it starts to become dark and miserable as the plot did in the actual story. It is also an accurate reflection of Hawkins and Belcher’s feelings, the two were kept in the dark and made to believe Noble and Bonaparte were their chums with Hawkins even claiming “They aren’t the kind to shoot a pal!” unfortunately things took a turn for the worst and Bonaparte and Noble met their untimely demise. A pathetic ending for such a promising beginning. Was it right of Noble and Bonaparte to kill Hawkins and Belcher or should they have found a way out to maintain their brotherhood?