Dealing with Isis

The bombing in Kobani in Syria - little of the town remains

The behaviour of the barbarian organisation known as Daish or Isis is known to all and we can expect nothing better. Nothing excuses the brutal atrocity illustrated by the treatment of journalists and aid workers by Isis.

There are none the less some shortcomings in international policy that continue to foster support for Isis:

1. The failure to insist on the total repeal of Bremer's de-Ba'athification law by Iraq; and
2. The failure to insist that allied ground forces take prisoners alive, whether our allies on the ground be Kurdish, Iraqi, Syrian or Iranian. Daish invariably kill all their prisoners but our allies should not stoop to the same level and the capture of Daish prisoners would send a powerful message; and
3. Excessive collateral damage from bombing as in Jurf Al-Sakhar. Though bombing has been a vital weapon in curbing ISIS expansion, it must be a tactic employed with far greater caution or it may become counterproductive (as have been the Yemen drone strikes for example).