The recent atrocities by those Islamist homicidal nutters has left me shaking my head.
I refer of course to the awful, awful murder of the Jordanian pilot, the gay man hurled off a building and the too numerous beheadings, crucifixions etc. that I read about on an almost daily basis.
Their depravity has sunk to new levels.
Boadicea's Chariot 
Yet, this has at least some support in the region. Hussein and Assad may have been/be snakes, but snakes keep the rats at bay.
These atrocities are reminiscent of ethnic cleansing actions in Africa and the Balkans. Unbridled violence will not end without outside help.
Christopher,
Does this movement really have support or does it have a population too frightened to raise their voices against it I wonder?
James: initially Daesh had a fair amount of tacit support in Sunni regions of Iraq. Most were left embittered by the Shia government and its Kurdish supporters. So long as the victims were Shia, Kurdish and, really, anyone who wasn’t Sunni many were prepared to tolerate it to make their point. A bit like any fanatic movement, however, it quickly showed its true colours and many who once tolerated are not too afraid to do much about it. We cannot judge the Middle East by our standards or true to interpret its affairs through our eyes. This is a tribal society with only a handful of states including Israel, Iran and Turkey being in any way being organic or rational.
I have always thought the West never understood the Middle East. Our reactions and actions are seen as signs of weakness, they do not appear to have the word restraint in any way shape or form and misinterpret ours.
Jordan’s king has at least the balls to execute in retaliation.
If the West had any real sense and really wanted to stop ISIS in its tracks there are several ways to do so.
1.Mince up a couple of ebola victims, put in some solution and spray all over Raqqa.
2. Give it a few weeks and clean up and sterilise with a small neutron bomb. End of- at least most of the most malignant malefactors.
Collateral damage yes to hostages etc but better to go like that than being burnt alive.
3. No readmission to the West of those joining in their fun and games. Cancel passports,
4. Grow some bloody balls all round and stop pffaffing!
Mrs O,
Agreed. By this sort treatment of hostages, (and anyone else who opposes them) in my book they have forfeited any rights that may been accorded by the Geneva convention.
The way we fight, we use a multi-million pound fighter, to deliver a half a million pound missile to blow up a five hundred pound pickup truck which, if it is effective and visibly kills one of the enemy, will be deemed too traumatic to be shown on TV. They, on the other hand, use a sword, a video camera and have instant world wide exposure. They are winning the PR war hands down. Little wonder the locals are scared witless.