Britain has to stand up and fight IS

Earlier this month, Islamic State (IS) spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani called on Islamists everywhere to turn the holy month of Ramadan into a “calamity for the infidels”. The lone wolf terrorist attacks in Tunisia, France, Iraq and Kuwait appear to be a direct response to this call and there will undoubtedly be more to come.

Over the past few years, IS terrorists have deliberately massacred innocent families, communities and tribes; burned and beheaded Christians, Yazidis, journalists and aid workers; tortured and enslaved hostages; filled mass graves; thrown homosexuals off tall buildings; attacked power plants; destroyed churches, historical sites and ancient artefacts; and groomed teenage boys as suicide bombers and teenage girls as sex slaves.

And what has been our response to this catalogue of atrocities?

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Many on the Left simply shrug and blame our overthrow of the vicious Taleban and Saddam Hussein regimes – as if the Islamofascist threat hadn’t been growing exponentially prior to 9/11 and 2003 - and ignore the fact that IS and the aforementioned despotisms have murdered more Muslims than anyone else.

Many on the political right adopt an isolationist stance, apparently under the impression that we can avoid (or subcontract) this fight. We can’t. We must use our armed forces and military might to annihilate this group, its supporters, its affiliates and propagandists or we will be living – and dying – with these horrors for decades to come.

Keith Gilmour

Netherton Gate

Glasgow

As THE horrors of the shootings of the British holiday-makers in Tunisia unfolded over the weekend it is worth reminding ourselves that for many of the younger generations in modern Britain this is a shocking introduction to the horror of close-up danger and bloodshed.

The peace between Britain, Germany and France in central Europe for the past 70 years is the longest in history. It is a treasure beyond all value and Britain’s younger generations should never for a minute take it for granted.

Of course the Common Market, Europe and the euro are clumsy, imperfect organisations. But they are the best we can cobble together and after all they are fulfilling their primary purpose of keeping the peace. To continue to follow the line David Cameron has been pursuing in recent months of not getting involved in the world outside our shores is rank stupidity.

Of course he burned his fingers intervening in Libya, and even worse by inciting rebellion in Syria. But much nearer home and the present day, Europe needs Britain and Britain needs Europe, warts and all even more.

France and Germany have been left to carry an unfair burden on the world stage in recent years while the British people and their politicians have engaged in what are little more than small-minded trivial pursuits at home.

The problems of radical Islam and mass migration from over-populated parts of the world are more than we in Britain can ever hope to deal with on our own. Against that background, for us to pretend that a “pick-and-mix” approach to our international responsibilities is feasible may seem an attractive proposition in London’s drawing rooms, but we have to understand that out in the real world it is a no-brainer.

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Quite apart from the crucially important matters of trade and finance, we need the security of being whole-heartedly at one with our near neighbours in Europe and the sooner Britain sticks in and pulls its weight in that respect the better.

Irvine Inglis

Reston 
Berwickshire

The terrorist group Islamic State (IS) is capable of striking anywhere at any time as the only resource it needs is one or more armed suicide terrorists to attack any vulnerable group and cause carnage by the slaughtering of innocent people.

IS grew out of the Taleban organisation and purports to be an Islamic group which is fighting for the rights of its ­religion.

This cannot be further from the truth as its entire purpose is to radicalise young men and train them to kill in the name of Islam.

Owing to its extreme beliefs, it is difficult to imagine any circumstances where it would be possible to get the IS to negotiate any form of peace.

Dennis Grattan

Bucksburn

Aberdeen

The barbaric attacks on Tunisian beaches were so shocking and so horrendous. Terrorism has proved once again that it does not respect borders.

Terrorists do not represent Islam, in the same way as the white supremacist who gunned down churchgoers in South Carolina, does not represent Christianity; and as the Israelis who slaughtered innocent civilians in Gaza last summer do not represent Judaism

Divine religions eschew violence and terror. They espouse compassion and tolerance. Equating an entire religion with terrorism would only deepen mistrust and discord at a time when communities need to stand shoulder to shoulder in the global fight against terror.

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Poverty, unemployment, hopelessness, corruption, mismanagement and economic, social and political disparities are rife among the youth, who constitute a significant majority in the Middle East and North Africa. Efforts should be intensified to address these root causes upon which terrorism feeds.

Munjed Farid Al Qutob (Dr)

Chartley Avenue

London