The least worst option

There are times when there is no good option and you have to pick between a choice of bad ones.

That was the situation facing MPs today.

There were all sorts of good reasons why MPs might have been reluctant to commit British military forces to Iraq so soon after we had finally managed to get them out of the country.

There are even more good reasons not to let the so-called "Islamic State" establish itself.

Even Al Qaeda has condemned the crimes committed by this organisation. Muslims in Britain and the world over have appealed to them to release their hostages and stop their murderous actions. They do not listen.

Once the Nazis were established in control of Germany there was no way to remove them short of a military campaign, and until they were removed they were a threat to the entire world.

ISIL are not identical to the Nazis, but their utter contempt for human life, their disregard for any morality other than their own perversion of Islam, and their tactics of rule by terror are very similar. The longer they are given to consolidate their control of large areas of Iraq and Syria the harder they will be to dislodge and the more innocent people they will hurt.

Using Western air power to reduce the military capabilities of ISIL as part of a coalition in which Islamic countries and local forces are also involved is not a perfect solution but it is probably the least worst option available to us.

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