Sunday, 4 June 2017

Time to Defeat Jihadi Terror

Britain beat the Nazis in WW2. Not by hashtags, not by tying teddies to lampposts, nor by asking Germans here if they'd be offended if we said hurtful things (or indeed sang Germaphobic songs, about Hitler's testicular deficiency).

The difference is we declared war, interned Germans, imprisoned PoWs and hung traitors. We're doing none of that. We just talk about inclusion & communities...

So when politicians talk about the "Blitz spirit" or how we are stronger together, point out these differences. 

The Blitz-spirit got the benighted victims of carpet bombing through a long dark night, but it didn't happen in a vacuum. 

In 1940 Nazi sympathisers were interned, British forces fought in France, Norway, volunteers were called on to fight in Finland, Britain invaded the Faroes & Iceland, Churchill promised blood, toil, tears & sweat, we engage the Italian navy, the Home Guard was established, civilians were evacuated from Gibraltar, the Italians were fought in British Somlialand, the RAF fought bitter battles with the Luftwaffe in the skies over Britain, Churchill ordered the bombing of Berlin, British forces fought Italy in Libya & Egypt, the BBC set up anti-Nazi French & Dutch-language Radio Belgique, convoys were started to Malta, Britain defeated Vichy France in The Gabon... and tens of thousands of troops were evacuated from Dunkirk.  

So the idea that the Blitz occurred in a vacuum is absurd. We waged war. 

There comes a time when a nation has to stand up to an evil ideology that worships destruction and murder. 

Isn't that time now? 

Wherever & whenever jihadis raise a flag we should work with forces ranged against them, via aid, supplies or involvement depending on the situation. Fighting Isis (and not the Syrians fighting them!) might be one example...

But the idea that we are fighting jihadis like we fought the Nazis is a joke. And the analogy is a good one. Not all Germans were Nazis, but all Nazis were German* -- not all Muslims are jihadi terrorists, but all jihadi terrorists are Muslims. 

So let's declare war on jihad & the hateful Wahabi and similar strains of extreme Islam behind it. If we don't fight it - by all means necessary - we'll never defeat this cult of murder and destruction.


*outside of Germany few fellow-travellers were out and out Nazis, just as outside of Islam few fellow travellers are out and out jihadis.