A visceral rage over Manchester Arena attack

She was eight years of age and Saffie Rose Rousso was attending her first concert.  We can well imagine the excitement Saffie Rose was feeling and with little effort we can hear the shouts of glee as Saffie’s ticket to Ariana Grande’s concert in Manchester was presented to her.

A little girl would have shared the news almost immediately with her friends, some who may have been similarly delighted.

The excitement built to almost uncontrollable anticipation on Monday, May 22, 2017.  The hours, then minutes leading to leaving for the arena would have seemed tortuously slow to pass.

READ MORE: 3 more arrests made in connection to Manchester attack; authorities work to secure London tourist sites

May 22, 2017, would have been a day of grotesque final decision-making for 22-year-old Salman Abedi as he prepared to snatch Saffie Rose’s life from her.  He didn’t know Saffie Rose, but he also didn’t care. Abedi’s plan and that of his likely co-conspirators was to kill as many Saffie Rose-like children as possible.  Abedi’s objective was to commit mass murder and his weapon of choice was a wearable bomb filled with nails, screws, bolts and the like.  Against these projectiles small bodies, any bodies, would have no defence.

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In an instant as a joyful Saffie Rose and thousands of concert goers were leaving the arena, their post-concert, happiness was shattered and the lives of twenty-two innocents in the immediate proximity to Abedi ended as he detonated his bomb.

Today Abedi is considered a martyr by those who share his malevolent hatred.

British Prime Minister Theresa May was reduced to solemnly declaring soldiers and police officers would combine their efforts to locate and stop any future Abedi-like attacks wherever and toward whomever they were intended for.

Will they be successful?  Likely frequently, but always? Most likely not.

There is a war underway in which people going about their daily lives are not unfortunate collateral damage. In this war, they have become the intended targets.

READ MORE: ISIS claimed responsibility for Manchester attack – now what do investigators do?

Police and military displaying automatic weapons while wearing face covering balaclavas have become symbols of frustration and impotence.

And the answer?

So far, assurances of resolve, complemented by declarations that freedom loving societies will never bow or be defeated appear to be the first line of homeland defence.

Saffie Rose Rousso’s lifeless little body bears mute evidence the enemy is unimpressed.

Roy Green is the host of The Roy Green Show and a commentator for Global News.