Job Discussion Forums

[Hod]

It’s not right, but I was a lot angrier, upset and down about the killing of IS hostage David Haines than the other two hostages murdered previously. I have to admit this is partly because he was a fellow Brit, but mainly because he was in Syria to do real good.

I was only half listening to LBC, a UK talk radio station, today when an aid worker phoned in to say he was about to head to Syria for a second time to support aid work. This man has a family who are obviously terrified for his safety, but he said he just couldn’t not go back. There must be countless others from all over the western world, who will be targets there but head to this region to help regardless. This man had seen the refugee camps in northern Syria and had to go back. These places must be grim beyond anything we can imagine.

It sounds a cheap shot, but I have to do a double take when some English teachers bang on about helping the needy and so on. If you’re in a position to learn English, you’re not that badly off when compared with people in places like Atmeh.

Fair play to these aid workers because, unlike people like David Haines who were captured a year and a half ago before these evil scum started filming their crimes, they now know the risks but continue to work in these areas.

[Hod]

100+ views and no reply.

That's fine. This is a teaching overseas forum and not CNN. I can't believe, though, that students from any religion or part of the world haven't asked teachers from eslcafe about the situation in Syria and Iraq.

In my spell in Morocco a decade ago, a tiny minority of students voiced daft opinions about some latest terrorist or other, and to be fair the other students quickly shouted them down. It's no surprise to anyone with muslim friends or associates that 99.9999% are just regular good people who like us are sickened by the goings on in Syria and Iraq.

I already admitted I was more upset by IS's murder of David Haines as he was a fellow Brit. This is clearly wrong as James Foley and Steven Sotloff also had more to contribute to us all before being murdered.

Yesterday’s murder of Alan Henning left me feeling different. I found myself smiling at the pictures of Alan enjoying life. Who wants to watch some masked nobody who ‘d failed in life before escaping to ISIS when there are funny and nice pictures of a real man?

http://www.channel4.com/media/images/Channel4/c4-news/2014/September/17/17_henning2_w.jpg

I really hate to say this, but based on the experience of Alan Henning, who had a lot more balls than any of us reading and seemed to be the nicest man you could possibly get, the other hostages such as US citizen Peter Kassig will be killed. The inevitable IS videos between now and then should be ignored. Easy for me to say when it’s not someone I know, but why give them the viewing figures?

[Dedicated]

The callous murder of Alan Henning has rightly caused shock and horror.

Can any good come out of such an appalling act? Mr Henning's loved ones can draw comfort from the fact that he died while trying to make a difference, with a compassion that shone through. As the Muslims of the north of England put it : " Alan Henning was our local and national hero. We will remember him as a tireless and selfless humanitarian aid worker whose only concern was to help people in need".

The fact that Isis have chosen to commit this barbaric act on the eve of Eid al-Adha, a global expression of forgiveness and mercy among Muslims, only demonstrates the extent of the evil and barbaric nature of these criminals.

The murder of Alan Henning, a gentle and compassionate man, confirms everything we know about Isis. We mourn his death. However, if it makes young Muslims realize that Isis is an evil organization that deserves their revulsion, it will not have been in vain. If it adds to our resolve to degrade and defeat Isis, the killers will have failed.

[Hod]

This ISIS lot do seem to be making even the Nazis look a bit tame. They're now at the border of Turkey, a NATO country. Whilst this Asian part of Turkey is sparsely populated, this isn't the best news. How can a ramshackle group overrun vast areas of two big countries in a matter of weeks? The UK government has sent a handful of aging Tornado jets to fire a few missiles here and there, but ISIS can still reach the Turkish border within a few days.

And where is the UN in all of this? ISIS obviously receive funding from individuals in neighbouring countries. This is traceable from within these countries. It can be stopped.

In my four decades on this planet, this has got to be the darkest time. This can easily spill over into Europe very soon.

[scot47]

Are you suggesting that we should occupy Iraq and Syria with an Expeditionary Force ?

[Hod]

Are you suggesting we carry on with these ineffective air strikes?

[scot47]

I was against them. Let the Bolivians or the Papuans take care of it. Lord Palmerston is no longer at Number Ten and we cannot police the world.

[Hod]

I'd like to ignore it and hope it goes away too, but it won't. And then it will be your problem too.

[Mushkilla]

The West, and specifically Uncle Sam did not define the problem in the Middle East, so air strike or limited ground attack will not solve the problem with ISIL.
The intelligencia of the West have failed to diagnose the real problem in the Middle East.
The real war is an ideological war and its playground is in Satellites, and can only be solved with an ideological treatment.
Who can do that? Only God knows?

[scot47]

We cannot police the world. That is a fact whether or not you like it.

We did not intervene in Ruanda. Why should we intervene in Iraq ?

[Hod]

Not wishing to trivialise a million deaths, but Rwanda didn't threaten to spill into other countries or continents. The more success ISIS have, the more money and followers they will get. You stick your head in the sand now, you might be doing it literally in a few years.

[Mushkilla]

[johnslat]

Dear Hod,

So, what IS your solution: ground forces? Whose? The US?

That didn't work too well in Afghanistan or Iraq - or, decades ago, in Vietnam.

Why do you think it would succeed better against ISIS?

And what would be the cost in human life?

Maybe air attacks are "ineffectual" (although I think that's too strong a word), but would ground troops be better?

Maybe ISIS is destroying itself:

"The better news is that Isis is losing the propaganda battle in the Muslim diaspora even more rapidly than before. In Britain, the death of Mr Henning may mark a turning point. It was not that there was sympathy for Isis before, nor that the earlier hostage deaths were not deplored. But his killing was so completely indefensible that it could lead to a kind of Muslim mobilisation in Britain against Isis, and an end to over-emphasis by some Muslims on how western countries set off the chain of troubles which led to its emergence."

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/05/guardian-view-special-forces-air-power-isis

Regards,
John

[Hod]

Dear John

Sad to say that people will soon forget Alan Henning or at least the shock will wear off. If that criminal act changed a wannabe ISIS member's mind, that won't last for long.

I'm glad I don't have to make the decision, but as you asked I wouldn't have troops on the ground in somewhere like Kobane because it would be an impossible battle. There may be a case for troops in other areas, though. Whose? UK and USA. I would also step up the resources in the air strikes. The British are only using a handful of twenty-year-old planes for this. In any case, if ISIS pile over in to Turkey, then NATO have to get involved.

It's not just about military action. ISIS are funded from somewhere, and this has to stop. It has to also be made clear that anyone from the UK, for example, going to help ISIS will never be allowed back in the country.

As I said, we can’t ignore it because ISIS will grow and get more money and volunteers. Imagine the ISIS recruitment campaign right now. It will be saying that the UK, USA and others launched air strikes and we can still reach the Turkish border.

[Hod]