The Islamic State is as monstrous an enemy as we have seen in recent history. It crucifies and decapitates its victims, holds teenage girls in slavery and burns captives alive. It is wrong to call it a medieval force, because such institutionalised barbarity was seldom seen in medieval times. As far as five centuries of records from the Ottoman Empire can establish, stoning was authorised only once. Isis now regularly stones suspected adulterers to death. It is not seeking inspiration from the Middle Ages. We are witnessing a modern form of evil — and it is spreading fast.
Labour MPs, now accustomed to receiving threats from hard-left activists, were told this week that they would have ‘blood on their hands’ if they voted for Britain to join the coalition against the Islamic State in Syria. That, in itself, is an extremist refrain: the idea that it is wrong to take the fight to any enemy, no matter how monstrous.
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