BALTIMORE – Manuel Valls, the prime minister of France, says the risk of terrorism will hang over the country for many years.

Whether this is prophecy or wishful thinking, we don’t know.

But it seems at odds with the recent promise to “annihilate” ISIS made by French president François Hollande.

But the fight against terrorism is full of contradictions and paradoxes.

In Fredericksburg, Virginia, for example, plans to expand the local mosque were met with a torrent of objections…

All of Christendom – or at least that part of it in central Virginia – was horrified.

Some of the protesters shouted, to Muslims who had celebrated Thanksgiving in their midst for as many as 20 years, that “Muslims are evil!”

Others urged listeners to “look at history… the Muslims have always been our enemies.”

This sentiment is so widely shared – not just by rednecks and yahoos in remote and benighted precincts of the Republic, but also by some of its leading historians, presidential candidates, and state governors – that we thought we should give it more consideration.

We looked at history…

Civilized people have lived in Fredericksburg for 400 years. The first settlers may have been menaced by the local tribes of “Native Americans.”

And then the British posed a threat – in the American Revolution and again in the War of 1812. But the only real enemy attacked 50 years later, from the other side of the Potomac.

The history posted on the town website offers this account:

On December 11, 1862, the Union Army of the Potomac, after bombarding the town with artillery fire, crossed the Rappahannock River and landed at the foot of Hawke Street.

The Union Army charged into town and ransacked homes and businesses searching for Confederate soldiers.

Caroline Street became a stronghold for the Confederates and thus received the brunt of the battle which extended south to William Street. Several churches and dwellings, including Federal Hill at 501 Hanover Street, were used as makeshift military hospitals, and the basement of the town hall served as a refuge for slaves during the battle.

By nightfall, the Confederate Army retreated to Marye’s Heights to the south of the town. Two days later, on December 13, a second assault was mounted at Marye’s Heights.

Confederate soldiers were strategically placed behind a stone wall along the Sunken Road. The battle resulted in significant casualties for the Union Army. The entire Battle of Fredericksburg resulted in 12,653 Union casualties and 4,201 Confederate casualties.