In a world that’s gripped with political uncertainty, the week that was, drove home the logical importance that countries are affording to homeland security. Territorial borders and coastal outposts are intensely guarded, while conscious efforts are being made to keep potential trouble out.
Is EU missing the boat on global terrorism?
In the troubled waters off Europe, the sale of inflatable boats to Libya will be severely limited per a decree from EU. The latter is troubled by the fact that over 100,000 refugees and migrants who crossed the Mediterranean Sea in search of safer habitats in Europe, arrived in Italy from Libya, often braving the rough seas in the sturdy and seaworthy inflatable boats. Looks like Europe is cutting back on its earlier generosity and acting in line with its own homeland security demands.
Love thy neighbor : Israel plays the selfless humanitarian
While the rest of the world views Syria as an unavoidable problem, Israel has been silently playing its part as a caring and concerned neighbor. This week however, the Israeli government finally lifted the curtains on its humanitarian efforts, calling it aptly ‘Operation Good Neighbor’ and spelling out the scope of this program that sees these two erstwhile combatants working on a difficult problem. Military officials noted that they coordinate with the Syrian doctors and village leaders directly and execute these relief and humanitarian efforts without much fanfare.
US intensifies its ties with Syria, and Turkey isn’t happy
This week also saw the US, getting all its ducks in a row with regards to the Syrian question. Heavy duty armored US combat vehicles were seen entering into Syria, as photographs of MRAP, M-ATVs, and up-armored bulldozers were posted on social media websites by Syria based Kurdish activists, as on July 18th. The US has played an important part in the Syrian ‘resistance’ by actively arming the Kurdish militants in the northern half of the country, to the chagrin of Turkey that has strongly objected to this move. As of now, it looks like the US will continue being a major force in this war of attrition, in one form or another.
Self-appointed vigilantes aim to keep Europe ‘safe’
And finally, a self-professed vigilante group has vowed to patrol the Mediterranean and avoid would-be migrants from reaching the European mainland. Calling themselves the ‘Defend Europe’ vigilante scheme, this group of far-right, anti-immigration activists have raised over 76,000 euros (USD 87,000) in crowdsourced funds that was needed to hire a boat for the aforementioned purposes. The group aims to expose the humanitarian organizations as willful collaborators with smuggling mafias and the consequence of their deadly actions at sea. A recent report pointed to the fact that over 2000 refugees have drowned this year in their attempts to reach the safety of Europe. Maybe, just maybe, the ‘Defend Europe’ combine can help trim that number down.
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