Will someone please explain to me why there is this bizarre clamour to recall Parliament? Yes, the Middle East is ablaze and all of us are still in shock that a home grown Brit thug has been party to a depraved act of barbarism. It is all the more chilling be because he is one of us, with the faux Jamaican accent of swagger and menace which is usually the hallmark of a street gangster. And for the truly wicked, a desert adventure with beheadings, a cause, the thrilling power of sheer terror and that all important sense of belonging and eventual martyrdom is irresistible.
But it is not just one isolated act of pure evil that should truly shock us. It appears that nearly two thousand of our young have joined the fight for a caliphate. And that must send a chill through every decent person’s soul. We have that lovely, comfortable middle class belief that unless one of our own is seriously mentally ill they could not be capable of such atrocities. How deluded can we be.
The coalition is accused of not having a coherent policy so let’s recall that Tower of Babel, to preen and pose and grandstand but come to no conclusion except for the weasel words of the likes of wee Douggie Alexander that our voices must be heard. Squeals of horror are just what these young thugs want to hear. Recall Parliament now and it will show to our enemies our weakness and uncertainty. To our enemies we are weak because we believe in democracy and we are uncertain because we bear the collective guilt of the Iraq war.
To have a policy we need consensus with our international allies. And once the true savagery of the beheadings of Jim Foley sinks into the consciousness of middle America and then lights the touch paper of naked anger of red neck America there is the inevitable predictability of over reaction.
So there is a brief window of opportunity for cool heads to prevail. Of course, humanitarian aid has to be the first priority. But at home we have to ask ourselves why hate filled preachers are still invited to our Mosques and Madrassas. I know how tough and isolated it can be to be a Muslim but as the overwhelming majority are decent folk they are going to have to take action against the enemy within or else the scum of the British mob will wreak havoc in their communities.
If Baroness Warsi had not petulantly resigned over her lack of promotion she might have been in a position to help. It would be rather refreshing if the usual suspects took to the streets condemning the Islamists rather than calling for a boycott of Israel.
It is easy for us to demand instant action and policy solutions which haven’t properly been thought through. And the sky is black with Blairite chickens coming home to roost. But one thing is very clear ISL will not be defeated by rhetoric only by the bullet. At the moment the West is quite prepared to supply the weapons but is reluctant to pull the trigger. We probably have about two months to put together a policy that Western Democracies and sensible Muslims can rally around. After that we are in really serious trouble both here and abroad. It won’t be long before there will be another atrocity on our streets.
