ISIS aren't the cause of these attacks, they're the label.

It is interesting whenever there's some sort of terror attack to see how the media is to portray it.

It is then more interesting to see how the public interpret and react to it.

Of course it's never nice to read about the death of a person(s) and of course the world would be a much better place without such events. 

But it always reveals a lot about someone.

The majority of the time you'll have the sympathies and heartfelt messages from the international community spilling out onto social media and the regular media - as it should by the way.

But sometimes, as with everything, you have the ignorant few who degrade a religion, ideology, government... etc etc. 

I'm not here to talk about those few because frankly I'd rather talk about how fast grass grew. I have plenty of times before attempted to educate those who have racist or ignorant opinions and I feel as if it's a waste of time to do so. If they have those opinions then I will just have to respect that... or ignore it, one of the two. 

No, today I'm trying to collect my thoughts after yet ANOTHER killing in France. 

A couple of days ago we had a huge amount of people killed in Afghanistan which, unsurprisingly, didn't get nearly as much coverage as it deserved.

And today we had a priest murdered by two 'soldiers' and reportedly beheaded.

Sadly this event isn't very surprising and it hasn't made people gasp but more sigh. 

We now live in a time whereby these attacks are expected and not thought of as part of a nightmare. 

So, what's so interesting about this particular killing to me?

According to reports the two murderers pledged allegiance to Islamic State (IS or ISIS). 

Shortly after ISIS came out and said they were two 'soldiers' sent from them to kill. 

Now this is where it got my attention. 

Neither of the men had been formally trained by ISIS. In fact, some reports claim one of the men wanted to go to Syria for training but was unable to.

My point is that ISIS isn't what people think it is. 

Westerners have this idea that ISIS is a group organised under one rule, by a higher line of people, with millions of dollars behind it and state of the art weapons. 

And ISIS love that! 

Nothing will give those extremist bastards more pleasure than having us shaking in our lovely warm homes, watching our big-screen TVs, fearful of an attack from people who are delusional and most likely living in a cave.

But the truth is anyone can kill in the name of Islam, pledge allegiance to ISIS and they will more than happily take credit for it.

See, ISIS aren't the problem, they are merely the tip of the iceberg (exclude the cliche).

ISIS was formed during the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan. The Arab Spring gave it air, an extremist view of Islam gave it fuel, and an invasion widely considered as criminal from the West gave it the spark it needed. 

They formed in the hills and caves of the middle-east with nothing but a few guns, an unimpressive amount of money and an obsession on revenge. 

What irritates me is how we try to label every attack as being directly coordinated by ISIS when it isn't; it is far far worse than that.

We are being destroyed one by one by an ideology. 

Yes ISIS are horrible bastards who wish to take credit for every killing but don't think they're so powerful.

If ISIS didn't exist the killings still would. 

What we're seeing in Europe is an identity crisis. We have men and woman of a certain faith being downgraded. They are then subject to abuse and racism. Afterwards they are vulnerable and go towards an extremist point of view because they are lured in like rats to poison. On the other side you have 'nationalists' who detest everything immigrants represent and would rather see them sent to a country ravaged by war than in the same cafe.

There's frustration and hatred out there at the moment, and I get that completely. Each time I read of another attack I want nothing but the people responsible slaughtered. I want the people in charge bombed to oblivion. 

But the reality is that this isn't possible. 

We have people saying we have to invade or air strike them out but that just won't work. 

We're not talking about a group of people who are conveniently under one roof, ready to be destroyed. 

We're talking about an ideology, an ignorance, a state of mind.

Bombing them will just piss them off more and kill civilians. Civilians that will then, and arguably rightfully, see the West as murderers and want revenge. *Did you know the US allegedly killed 73 Syrian civilians last week in air strikes? Funny how it didn't make the news, eh?*

To be completely honest I don't know what can be done to stop this apart from preventing the individuals from committing the killings in the first place - easier said than done, I know.

All I know is that fighting fire with fire will leave us all burned and all we'll have left is a crumbled, burnt mess to clean up.

How unbelievably believable the Nice attack was.

They were watching fireworks.

Children with their parents were stood watching fireworks.

They weren't working for a satirical magazine, finding humor at someone else's expense. They weren't government officials. They weren't political activists.

They were families watching fireworks, celebrating a national holiday.

Let that sink in for a moment.

Let it sink in that in the past year people have been murdered for going to a concert, a football match and now a fireworks display.

And yet am I surprised?

Sadly, no.

I woke up this morning next to my girlfriend. She gave me a hug and said 'there's been another terrorist attack in France'. My morning eyes soon woke up and I looked at her as if to urge her to tell me she was joking or that she had grossly misinterpreted a news article.

But she hadn't.

I had to write about the attack. I simply HAD to. But as I opened the web page, placed my fingers upon the keyboard, I froze.

I try to write these posts without structure, without plan, without fear of expressing an opinion. For me they should be spontaneous, therapeutic, and raw.

But this one was tricky.

I was speechless. I was sickened. I was desperately sad.

And I felt, and feel still, that whatever I wrote down was not going to come close to what was deserved to be said.

But I'm going to try and make some sort of point amidst the chaos.

For me there are two things I'm finding astonishingly powerful in this attack.

One is how unbelievable this attack is.

Two is how believable this attack is.

Confused? Allow me to explain.

It is unbelievable to think of young children being killed, lying on the road with 'toys and flesh lying besides them' - what an eye-witness said.

It is unbelievable that a single human being was capable of knocking down humans as if they were bowling pins and leaving them behind looking like road kill.

It is unbelievable that mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, and friends have lost loved ones on a day of celebration; out that evening to smile and laugh.

It is unbelievable that once again a nation fears to live.

But then again, is this not really quite grotesquely believable?

People are being slaughtered every day in the name of this-or-that.

There are murders every day in the Middle-East from extremists that receive little to no coverage.

*In fact, I will openly hold my hands up high and apologies for not writing about those incidents. I think the reason why we, as Westerners, do not talk about it is that we have come to expect it to happen in the backyard of Islamic extremism. It is a shameful outlook but a true one, I believe.*

We live in a world whereby terror slaughters peace every day.

The unrelenting love and sympathy from the world is being constantly torn apart and stitched back together like a wound that doesn't have time to heal.

We, as decent people, are forever findings new ways of saying 'let's not succumb to hate'.

And we shouldn't ever succumb to hate. But how much more can we take of this?

For me, hearing of this news and finding it believable marks a dark day in my time on this planet.

Terror attacks are no longer events of just shock and horror; they are events we have come to expect.

I can't imagine a world without innocent people being killed. I so wish I could but I simply can't.

My absolute sympathy goes out to France, a nation that has been ravaged by death and scenes of macabre nightmares.

It feels wrong to go about today as normal.

But once more we are required to go about our lives knowing that others are suffering grief, not able to do anything about it apart from love, sympathise, or in my case, write a few words down, hoping to make myself feel a little better about it.

It hasn't.

The US: killing for difference.

The US is a bleak reminder of how man without basic understanding of equality self-implodes without blinking, and those who are left vulnerable and isolated cry tears that are ignored by everyone apart from their own race.

The past 48 hours have been a reminder of this very point.

Alton Sterling, killed at 37

The deaths of Alton Sterling and Philandro Castile are perhaps not that well documented in the UK, with the Iraq war and the Chilcot Report being the issue discussed amongst the debaters and media.

But for those of us who use social media forms such as Twitter, the bleak news coming from the US is that once more two innocent black males have been murdered. Not killed in the name of the law but murdered. 

Not surprisingly the black community of both the US and the UK have been at the forefront of criticising the US police force and their gross misuse of their firearms. But why just them?

I appreciate it hits harder when you, as a black person, could have very easily been in that position.

But for me, I am just as disgusted as those who are black.

Forget race, forget nationality; as human beings we are equally sympathetic and feel grief in the same way.

However, I see Sterling's and Castile's death as deaths that are more grotesque than usual as they were motivated by a fear of colour. A hatred of culture. An extermination for being different to the police officers who fired the fatal bullets.

Demonstration at the site of Sterling's death

Without a shadow of a doubt there will be demonstrations against the law enforcement within the US.

And without a shadow of a doubt there will be criticisms of these demonstrations, branding them as 'ignorant' or 'hateful'.

Well ignorant they will not be.

Hateful they will and most certainly should be.

Hundreds of African-American citizens have been killed this year by the police officers of the US. Plenty of them due to one man firing without just cause.

Sterling was killed after selling CDs outside a shop. He was pinned down by two police officers and shot multiple times in the chest, bleeding out on the tarmac as his life left him. He was 37 and killed, leaving behind children.

Castile was pulled over for having a faulty tail light. He informed the officer of being armed because of his right to be so. The officer asked him to get his ID from his wallet and on doing so was shot multiple times whilst his daughter sat in the back and his girlfriend sat next to him, begging his blood-soaked corpse to not be dead. He was 32 and killed, leaving behind a child.

There are videos of both these incidents. I have seen both and feel horrified by the fact they are genuine.

The US is a remarkable nation filled with brilliant people.

It is a nation that claims to be the leader of the free world. A beacon of hope. A land that allows anyone to become someone, something, powerful or influential.

But how far off can a description be when having a different skin colour from white makes you vulnerable? How can a beacon of hope be a beacon when it shows light on racism and death and not hope?

I am a white male. I have had a good upbringing without prejudices. I have never feared for my life.

I cannot empathise with those who have been fearful for their life. I cannot empathise for those who have been put down for being a minority.

But I can sympathise for those who have been.

If it's only blacks standing up for blacks then whites will only stand up for whites.

The labelling of races isn't one I like but it is necessary when some kill because of this division.

Express an opinion. Make a point. Do not allow those responsible to get away with murder just because they claimed to be doing their 'job'.

No job requires the death of an innocent human.

It's another dark day in an ever darkening world.