Paris, Je t'aime

Came back from a nice, leisurely, slightly boozy lunch to the Paris Attacks.  It was shocking, terrifying and disturbing.  My thoughts were with the city and with those that were - when I tuned in - held hostage at the Bataclan.
In the hours since this first transpired I've run the gamut of emotions.  Sadness, shock, anger, righteousness, indignation.  Tiredness, even.
As a Canadian, I know little about the Middle East.  I know nothing of their politics or their culture or their history, which is embarrassing to me.  I remember the Gulf War.  I also remember that prior to Hussein invading Kuwait he had been funded by the US in his war against Iran.
Also, remember in the 80s when the US armed the Afghan mujahideen to fight for them against the Soviets?
Oh wait, prior to that: remember the US propping up Noriega?  Even I was around for that one.
So what I'm saying is that we've been fucking around in other countries' politics for eons.  We have created generations of people that hate us, and with good reason.  We have killed fathers, brothers, mothers, babies, bombed hospitals, propped up drug traffickers, armed terrorists and we are surprised when this comes home to roost?
And maybe you think "well, it's just some fundamentalists that are strapping explosive vests on and detonating outside the Stade de France".  And then I would have to ask you: how do you think fundamentalists are "born"?  I bet their day to day issues are much more significant than ours.
And our answer: to continue to try and bomb them into oblivion?
We created this mess.
The definition of insanity is to continue to repeat the same actions while expecting a different outcome.