Wartime words

I agree with Allan Massie (Perspective, 1 July) that quibbling over what to call the Islamist caliphate is pointless – it is like insisting Cosa Nostra (Our Thing) is an inappropriate name for Sicilian thugs.

The fact is that the West has overthrown or fatally undermined every neo-secular ruler in the Islamic Crescent who protected minorities and kept extremist jihadis under control.

Colin Powell warned George Bush before he attacked Iraq: “You break it, you own it” but Tony Blair threw his weight behind the US president’s reckless warmongers.

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During the media-hyped Arab Spring our coalition helped destroy Libya’s Gaddafi and Egypt’s Mubarak and even supported the proto-IS rebels fighting Syria’s Bashir.

Today President Obama and David Cameron are reduced to claiming IS is not part of mainstream Islam but the silence of Saudi Arabia’s Sunni religious leaders is deafening.

(Rev Dr) John
 Cameron

Howard Place

St Andrews

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