Letters: The dangers of falling into the trap set by Isis

These letters appear in the 15 September issue of The Independent

The best hope of the Islamic State (Isis) is that by broadcasting the brutal murder of hostages it will trigger a knee-jerk reaction in Western capitals to engage in military action against them.

Isis will then be able to bring substance to its claim that the West is engaging in a murderous anti-Muslim campaign, with its resultant propaganda acting as a recruiting sergeant to bring yet more disaffected young Muslims to its ranks. We won’t then have 500 UK nationals fighting in Isis – we will have 5,000.

Despite the natural urge to bring these cold-blooded killers to justice, we must avoid playing into their hands by giving them the response their provocations are seeking.

If Isis is to be defeated, it will only be by the Muslim states that border the territory Isis has seized. We should restrict ourselves to assisting these states in preventing the spread of a contagion of barbarity, but we should fall short of our own direct involvement, since this is exactly what Isis is playing for.

Alan Stedall

Birmingham

There are only two ways to get rid of an enemy. One is to kill him; the other is to turn him into a friend. Even sanctions are essentially a slow-motion version of the first, with the disadvantage of leaving survivors who will be more bitter, and so more dangerous than before. The Middle East is an impossible cauldron of hatreds. Do we really think those will vanish, even if – improbably – we achieve any military peace?

A noble example of an alternative, on a tiny scale, has been set in Israel by 40 intelligence servicemen who resigned en bloc, refusing to be used by their government as an aid to oppressing the Palestinians. Their government seems oblivious to the enduring hatred it is engendering for their children and for children’s children in every neighbouring country. And previous interference by powerful outsiders (usually out of selfish interest) has done nothing but harm.

The mindset all over that region seems always to win by confrontation, with no thought to the fires left smouldering under the ruins so generated.

Fighting fire with fire occasionally works – but only leaves a desert. Is that what we want?

Kenneth J Moss

Norwich

One individual who has seemed to be silent over recent weeks, as turmoil in the Middle East continues, is the Quartet peace envoy Tony Blair.

Perhaps his next role, given the announcement of the Pope’s forthcoming visit to a Muslim country, Turkey, should be his appointment as His Holiness’s envoy to the Islamic Caliphate, or Isis, as residential Papal Nuncio.

It would be difficult to imagine a more appropriate posting.

Professor David Molyneux

Kingsley, Cheshire

If UK splits, blame Cameron not Salmond

I am Scottish, living with my family in Chippenham for the past 28 years, and am devastated at the prospect of the permanent break-up of the UK.

Readers may feel that this is the fault of Alex Salmond and his Scottish Nationalist Party. Not true. We have always known that the SNP wanted this. The responsibility for this will lie completely with Prime Minister Cameron.

What the majority of the people of Scotland wanted, and asked for, was a third choice to be added, a “middle road” – a Scotland with more devolved powers and responsibilities. But Cameron in his folly made a disastrous political misjudgement and refused.

Then, with a week to go, he jumps up and shouts: “You can have the middle road and the powers.” I sincerely hope it is not too late, but many Scots will take this last-minute change of mind as an insult, by a man who did not listen to what they had asked for at the beginning.

Bill Douglas

Chippenham, Wiltshire

In 1974 a taxman in Kilmarnock was transferred, compulsorily, to Stourbridge in the Black Country. Leaving home for work has been the lot of hundreds of thousands of Scots who, like me, are disenfranchised in this referendum. I am proud and passionate in my love of Scotland. The cemetery in Hurlford, Ayrshire, houses at least four generations of my family. I’m Scottish first but also comfortable calling myself British. I fear for the future of my country and for the well-being of the five million people who live there.

Some points to ponder before voting:

What’s in it for me and my family?

Yes is a vote for Alex because he is basically saying: “Trust me, it’ll be all right on the night.”

Is Jo(e) Scottish Public being asked to pay too dearly for Alex’s place in history and does he really care about the cost?

Division will linger in Scotland, whatever the outcome, but if it’s Yes, will the other 60 million easily forgive the chaos caused and agree currency union?

Is it only me who sees Alex as Kaa in The Jungle Book, swaying and singing “Trust In Me” in an effort to mesmerise his prey?

Nigel Haydon

Stourbridge, West Midlands

A number of grocers have indicated that the cost of groceries in Scotland may rise as a result of the increased distribution costs across a large and relatively thinly populated country.

This would appear to imply that there is currently a cross-subsidy of delivery costs across England/Scotland.

I have not yet heard from these same grocers that a Yes vote would lead to a fall in grocery prices in England. Or could it be that the increased Scottish distribution costs may be quietly added to their bottom line?

Ray Noy

Wigan

I read your report “Young ones bored, bored, bored by ‘Big, Big Debate’” (12 September) and was highly unimpressed. I was at the debate, and your article does not accurately represent all the students who attended.

Being in my fifth year at school, I am acutely aware of my examinations coming up in May and very conscious of every school lesson I miss; as I’m sure are the other 8,000 students who attended. So it was no trivial day out for many of us; it was a sacrifice that we were willing to make in order to participate in a debate where we would have a chance to learn about Scotland’s choices for the future.

Your article portrayed the students as uninterested and immature and did not even mention the content of the debate or quote any of the extremely intelligent questions and comments put forward by the pupils.

Greta Penny Tobermann

Edinburgh

Scotland’s enemy is not the UK, but centralisation by Whitehall. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, great cities such as Glasgow, Dundee, Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol ran their own transport, sewerage, gas, education and other services funded by locally determined taxation. Now we are one of the most centralised states in the OECD, with effectively no locally raised and decided expenditure.

There is a growing appetite for the restoration of genuine local decision-making, which can release a renewed dynamism and innovation in the UK. Cornwall, the North-east and North-west all deserve release from the stranglehold of Whitehall as much as Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. Together we can do it – so don’t abandon us now, Scotland.

Neil Colvill

Norwich

The Royal Bank of Scotland, the Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Bank and John Lewis have all come out against independence for Scotland. These attempts to influence the vote undermine the democratic process; big business should not try to sway people’s votes.

Margaret McGowan

Edinburgh

Given Alex Salmond’s penchant for crying “foul”, he has presumably complained that Last Night of the Proms conductor Sakari Oramo’s wearing of a Union flag waistcoat was orchestrated by Westminster?

Peter Kemp

Marlow, Buckinghamshire

On Thursday will it be a matter of “Move Over, Darling”?

Andrew McLuskey

Stanwell, Surrey

Paisley fed hatred and division

I don’t recall thinking of Ian Paisley as charismatic, as he is now being described. Rather, his style was hectoring, confrontational and intransigent. It seems extraordinary that he is now being given only credit for his contribution to the peace process, while glossing over the fact that he worked tirelessly to feed the many years of hatred and divisiveness that required that peace process. Speaking no ill of the dead is a fine principle but does not serve history well.

Beryl Wall

London W4

Stop invading my musical privacy

Over recent years I have nurtured my iTunes music library. Now Apple has greatly disturbed this library by dumping a new and unwanted U2 album on to it. It is akin to Bono leaving one of his bibles in every hotel bedroom I decide to stay in.

This is a gross invasion of privacy by a band and company which seek to impose their selective tastes and beliefs on the public.

Keith Nolan

Caldragh, Co Leitrim, Ireland