.... Some will call the west’s dizzying shifts in foreign policy – Gaddafi from foe to friend to foe, Iran from arch-nemesis to de facto ally, and so on – realpolitik, the sort of pragmatism necessary in a complex world. Easy for the likes of me to carp. Perhaps, but 14 years of the “war on terror” has culminated in fundamentalist groups who are more extreme and powerful than ever.
A rational conversation about causes and possible solutions is all but impossible. We must simply say that Isis is evil in its rawest form, apparently more evil than anything that has gone before, and leave it at that. Bombs and prisons: that’s the only legitimate response, and anyone who says otherwise is an apologist, a traitor or both. And so the symbiotic relationship between western power and jihadism persists. [952 comments]
[TOP RATED COMMENT 218 votes] Not really sure what the author is trying to say here. Assad is bad, but the west was wrong to help the rebels. Gaddafi was bad but the west was wrong to help the rebels. Pol Pot and the Congo Civil War were bad (was the west supposed to intervene there or didn't it help enough?) ISIS have to be defeated and are very evil but not uniquely evil, but somehow the west is responsible for them. The Saudis are bad (is the West supposed to intervene there?). It's important to ask what caused ISIS but apparently anyone claims to know is a fool or a liar.
Nope. No idea what the article wants.
[ANOTHER 144] Carping is what Master Owen does. Actually designing and implementing a solution would be beyond he and most of the other Graun columnists - don't think I'd ever want them running a bath for me.
[ANOTHER 126] Number 1346 in the Guardian series of articles trying to blame the evil of ISIS on the West. [Guardian Cif] Read more
