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By : Mshari Al Thaydi

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:: It is obvious that the strange meal the Philippine President, Rodrigo Duterte has offered to eat, has a story that goes beyond an ISIS appetizer dish.

It is a strange statement from the eccentric president. But the edgy and unpredictable Duterte should not be blamed as he always acts and talks differently from others.

A few days ago the Philippine police found four bodies belonging to sailors of a cargo ship, with their heads cut off by a known ISIS-affiliate terrorist organization called Abu Sayyaaf in south of Philippines.

Directing his threat to the terrorists, President Rodrigo Duterte told reporters and local officials, reviewing the pictures of the sailor victimes late on Wednesday: “I will eat their livers if you like,”

“Give me salt and vinegar and I will eat it in front of you. I eat everything, even if it is not edible,” he said.

Yes, pursuing and killing and imprisoning these devils is a dutiful business of the security forces, the prosecution and those in the judiciary, but there is a task that goes beyond that to achieve a long-lasting impact.

Mashari Althaydi

Duterte was looking at a mobile phone with the photo of the two killed sailors on the screen, saying “Are we going to let them enslave us?”

If only it ends at this act which reminds us of the lead character of the film ‘Silence of the Lambs’ and the insane psychopath Hannibal Lecter.

In spite of the barbarity of the meal, the situation on the ground is rather more difficult and ruthless than this barbaric ritual dish.

Past atrocities

The native Indians used to skin their opponents’ heads after killing them . The Portuguese, in their barbaric campaigns over the Arabian seas and ports in the 16th century, cut off the heads of their victims and then stuffed them with straw. They then engraved the image of this head on the leading warrior’s shield to set an inspiring example for him and his descendants.

The way it was done to Muqrin bin Zamil by Count Lousa as the Arab king resisted the Portuguese invasion of the island of Bahrain.

Getting back to today’s world, Obama was proud to kill Osama bin Laden, the devil of Al Qaeda, and throw his body to the bottom of the Arabian Sea. Also, that of Al-Zarqawi the butcher of al-Qaeda who was killed by a massive air strike. Abdul Aziz al-Muqrin, the al-Qaeda criminal in Saudi Arabia, was killed by a direct attack from the Saudi security forces in Riyadh.

As well as the recent claims by the Russians regarding targeting the successor of black evil ISIS, the Iraqi Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi … all of that is not the end of the story.

The answer

Yes, pursuing and killing and imprisoning these devils is a dutiful business of the security forces, the prosecution and those in the judiciary, but there is a task that goes beyond that to achieve a long-lasting impact.

How does the states and society succeed in uprooting the appeal of these ideas? How do you create an environment that prevents breeding the spawn of the devil?

This is the responsibilityof the leaders of major countries who should adopt innovative, new and bold ideas. This has not happened yet. Thus, the solution for some lies in a pinch of salt and some drops of vinegar!

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:: Saudi journalist Mshari Al Thaydi @MAlthaydy presents Al Arabiya News Channel’s “views on the news” daily show “Maraya.” He has previously held the position of a managing senior editor for Saudi Arabia & Gulf region at pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat. Al Thaydi has published several papers on political Islam and social history of Saudi Arabia. He appears as a guest on several radio and television programs to discuss the ideologies of extremist groups and terrorists.

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:: Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in the Column section are their own and do not reflect RiyadhVision’s point-of-view.

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