<p>Much has been said about the asymmetry of western grief, which weeps for Paris and shrugs at blasts in Beirut or Baghdad. But that is not the only disparity in the way the east and west reacts in the face of terrorist attacks. When terror strikes the west, it is rare that just tears flow. The blood of those we bomb flows, too.</p> <p>Like many, I shed tears for Paris. I have lived there and spent much of the weekend grieving with friends who know and love the city. But our grief was interrupted by a declaration of what French president Franois Hollande <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2015/nov/13/shootings-reported-in-eastern-paris-live">called</a> a pitiless war. Blood was being demanded.<br /></p> <p>Hollande <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/17/world/europe/paris-terror-attack.html?_r=0">said</a>: Terrorism will not destroy the Republic, because the Republic will destroy it.</p> <p>His first statement is correct. Terrorism will not destroy France; Isiss black flag will never fly over the Assemble Nationale. As foreign policy expert <a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/authors/stephen-m-walt">Stephen M Walt</a> recently <a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/middle-east/isis-revolutionary-state">argued</a> in Foreign Affairs, Isis neither has an ideology contagious enough to topple stable governments through popular revolution, nor the firepower to spread its ideas through conquest. Isis, in other words, poses no existential threat to the western world. </p> <aside class="element element-rich-link element--thumbnail"> <p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/17/terror-cooperation-paris-attack-response-war-isis">Terror can only succeed with our cooperation | Simon Jenkins</a> </p> </aside>  <p>As for Hollandes boast that France will destroy Isis, history tells us that he will be sorely mistaken. Isis  especially the ideology that motivates its members  cannot be eradicated through bombs. That is why the world is trying to reach a negotiated ceasefire and peace in Syria: we know that the best way to contain Isis is to restore peace to the few tumultuous places in the Middle East where it has established a quasi-state.</p> <p>Hollandes belligerent response  <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/16/france-launches-massive-airstrike-on-isis-stronghold-in-syria-after-paris-attack">dropping 20 bombs on Raqqa </a>on Sunday alone  will not protect France from further terrorist attacks, especially when they are planned in <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/17/terrorists-belgium-paris-attacks">neighboring Belgium</a>. Nor will it rid the world of Isis. So why has the French leader responded to violence with more violence? </p> <p>What happened in Paris has been described as a <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/paris-terror-attacks-the-lessons-of-mumbai-were-learned-by-the-jihadis-a6734836.html">Mumbai-style attack</a>, but it did not provoke a Mumbai-style response. I wish it had.</p> <p>I was living in Mumbai in 2008 when <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/mumbai-terror-attacks">10 gunmen from Lashkar-e-Taiba</a> held the city under siege for three days. The terrorists struck numerous sites, including Mumbais most <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/10/15/uk-india-taj-idUSLNE69E04I20101015">luxurious</a> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/21/business/21hotel.html">hotels</a>, a popular <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Leopold-remembers-scars-of-26/11-attack/articleshow/6985398.cms">cafe</a>, a heritage <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/apr/21/chhatrapati-shivaji-terminus-cst-mumbai-railway-station">Victorian central train station</a> and a <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/jewish/news/1.612577">Jewish religious center</a>. More than 160 people were killed. It was devastating, physically and emotionally.</p> <aside class="element element-rich-link element--thumbnail"> <p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/16/norway-breivik-massacre-hate-attack-paris">Norways Breivik massacre taught me you cant conquer hate with hate | Bjrn Ihler</a> </p> </aside>  <p>When the gunfire ceased, many of us in Mumbai and throughout India felt the fear of terror replaced with another fear: that there would be war. We worried that there would once again be <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1994/04/17/world/riot-scars-are-gone-but-bombay-is-still-healing.html?pagewanted=all">communal violence between Muslims and Hindus on the streets</a>; we dreaded the thought that politicians would exploit the attacks to foment suspicion between people in our diverse country, in which people of different religious, language and ethnic groups all live together.</p> <p>Then-Prime Minister Manhmohan Singh instead responded with <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/15/opinion/15fri2.html">admirable restraint.</a> The attackers were <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/nov/30/mumbai-terror-attacks-india3">all</a> Pakistanis, who had trained in Pakistan and whose handlers were instructing them during the attack from the other side of the border. Yet, when the then prime minister addressed the grieving nation, he refused to order military strikes against that country.</p> <p>Thanks to Singhs restraint in the face of public grief and shock, war with Pakistan was avoided. It was for the best. Places of conflict and turmoil are breeding grounds for terrorist groups, and any Indian attack on Pakistan would have only increased the appeal of terrorism among some young men in the region. <br /></p> <p>Yes, there have been more attacks in India since 2008. But those isolated bomb blasts did not drag the country down a long and uncertain path of war, because the government chose to not to let that happen. <br /></p> <aside class="element element-rich-link element--thumbnail"> <p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/16/isis-military-france-paris-attacks-nato-article-5">What would the world look like if we defeated Isis? | Paul Mason</a> </p> </aside>  <p>Some people will say that, while Hollandes strikes may not prevent further attacks, they cant harm either. But they can. By deepening Frances involvement in the conflict, Hollande risks giving Isis more firepower for their propaganda campaign, which decries western crusaders invading Middle Eastern lands. <br /></p> <p>The French president must remember those assuring words he delivered to his own nation: Terrorism will not destroy the Republic. I would go further and say terrorism has not and will not destroy any of the stable nations that have had the misfortune of experiencing it. <br /></p> <p>Mumbai jumped back on its feet after the 2008 attack and experienced many moments of joy and triumph. In 2011, India <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2011/apr/02/india-sri-lanka-cricket-live">won</a> the cricket world cup finals that were held in the city. The streets through which people had once run with fear at the sound of bullets and grenade explosions were filled with jubilation. Indians, both Muslims and Hindus, celebrated that night. And that was the greatest victory of all against the terrorists: unity.<br /></p>