The commentators 05-02-15...on Isis atrocityWe aren’t going to negotiate Islamic State and its supporters out of existence or into moderation. The longer they exist, the worse things will get; the sooner they are extirpated the better. Or to put it concretely, places such as Mosul and Raqqa must be retaken.
- David Aaronovitch, The Times The prospect of US warplanes providing air cover for an Iranian-directed ground force is a nightmare scenario for the Sunni Arab coalition states such as Saudi Arabia, since at a stroke it would extend Iran’s influence deep into their orbit. Isis understands all this only too well. And despite the medieval barbarity of its violence, its political game-playing is becoming more sophisticated by the day.
- Michael Burleigh, Daily Mail ![]() I had never watched an Islamic State beheading video. Why pollute your mind with such hatred, I figured. But I made herself watch Flt Lt Moaz al-Kasasbeh being burnt alive. Something happens at a cellular level when you witness a fellow human suffer that much. It has taken us many centuries to leave such savagery behind. Civilisation, however, cannot be taken for granted. It can be threatened by corruption, religious extremism; by cruelty to women and children and animals, and by good men averting their eyes from inconvenient truths.
- Allison Pearson, Daily Telegraph Isis has certainly murdered foreign hostages, Yezidis and members of other ethnic and religious groups. But the overwhelming majority of those targeted have been Muslims. No one is in any doubt whose war this is, or that Isis is capable of the stuff of nightmares. Films of its crimes are superfluous and risk distracting us from the continual suffering of those who live under it. So why keep looking?
- Nesrine Malik , The Guardian In the cold light of day the evidence shows that revenge rarely works. The Greek tragedies are full of the curse and the poison of revenge as it invades memory, wrecks individuals and destroys the fabric of society. Grievances inherited across generations keep communities stuck in the pain of the past, locked to their ancient hatreds.
- Marina Cantacuzino, The Independent
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