The Spectator

Letters | 3 December 2015

Plus: Less forgiving parts of the Quran; and the riddle of anxiety

issue 05 December 2015

Bombers without borders

Sir: To define this week’s debate as being about ‘bombing Syria’ (‘The great fake war’, 28 November) is ludicrous. That’s not what it’s about. It’s about fighting Isis. Whatever you call them, and wherever they are.

The current deal, under which we bomb Isis in Iraq but not in Syria, is as if we are content to fight them in Yorkshire but not in Lancashire. If people do not think we should be engaging Isis at all, that’s a different argument. But I would ask, ‘Where do they need to get to before you would engage them?’

Two years ago, we had a similar situation to today. The vote was similarly not about ‘bombing Syria’. It was about fighting and punishing Assad, which was a bad idea. What we should be discussing is whether or not we are going to fight Isis, and whether we have a decent, executable plan and sufficient resources that we are prepared to expend.

Comments

Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months

Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.

Already a subscriber? Log in