Before we bomb again...

ISIS / ISAL whoever - have been portrayed as mindless thugs, more willing to die then talk or listen. A few of them may well be but this is true of a few members of any group. By singling out the atrocities of the actions taken in their name, we mask out any reasons they may have for letting their madmen act on their behalf. If we westernised, modernised politically capable societies simply bomb our adversaries, we destroy our moral right to stand in judgement. If we will not listen to what is said about us or look ourselves in the face then we condemn ourselves to live inside a bubble of blindness that obscures any realities which we could use to our advantage. We can't be better than them by acting worse.

The best form of defense is to understand why someone may wish to attack. I believe that the main reasons other societies may dislike the way the west is run are down to the tremendous waste of resources and despoliation of nature that has typified our economic growth for so long. I believe that we have now reached the point - standing on the shoulders of that waste and destruction - from which we can see a better way forward that will chime well with anyone who cares to look at it. Our new Green technologies should be enhanced, supported and given away free to anyone who asks. If we become the savior of the world then who would want to kill us ?