The Iraq War, Operation Rolling Thunder in North Vietnam, the Korean War, the firebombing of Dresden, Hamburg, Tokyo, plus many other cities and obviously the two atomic bombs that targeted population centres. There were an incomprehensible number of non-combatant deaths directly resulted from these actions. Sadly in war nations usually only attempt to lessen civilian casualties when they feel they have the upper hand.

During modern interventions we tend to focus on the deaths of soldiers and westerners but pay little attention to local non-combatant deaths resulting from the operations. Generally western lives are perceived to be more valuable than others. Where the more foreign the victim the lesser the loss. The political and media apathy to the ISIS bombings in Beirut that occurred just prior to those in Paris is a recent example.

But to be frank as western civilians we are privileged, but also isolated and mostly sheltered from the world’s ills. Those are things I feel are often forgotten by many after these kinds of tragedies. Despite the paranoia, I image the vast majority of people still feel safer living in the west than elsewhere. Certainly compared to those civilians who live in a country that has been singled out for political military intervention or targeted covert operations. As statistically we’re westerners are more likely to be victims to an “act of god” such as weather or a natural disaster than to one of terror or war.