Letters: Overreaction does the terrorists' job

The following letters appear in the 25th November edition of the Independent

Belgian Army soldiers patrol near Christmas huts in front of the old Brussels' stock exchange (AP)

If I were a terrorist, I’d feel I was winning. Not only would I have secured the indefinite lock-down of a major European city, but I could wait until the current security situation eases before deciding my next move, once more designed to create maximum effect worldwide. Few individuals in history have been able to wield such power.

Meanwhile, the US and Europe assuage public opinion by continuing to bomb Syria, on the delusional assumption that such actions will “win” their war, thus helping to distract public opinion from my own campaign nearer home, and winning more recruits to my cause.

I’d be distressed by the average citizen’s determination to carry on their lives regardless of the threat I pose, but reassured that the authorities’ overreaction would continue to do my job for me.

Christopher Martin

Bristol

We are seriously alarmed that the Government appears to be ready to embark on a campaign of air strikes in Syria that will, at the very least, play to the expectations of Isil; that may have serious repercussions on civilians; and that does not seem to be part of a thought-through military, political and social strategy for the region.

We strongly urge the Government to reflect whether this will be an effective response to, or forestalling of, terrorist activity in Europe, and to consider, among other things, its impact on the refugee crisis.

Julia Bray, Laudian Professor of Arabic, University of Oxford

Walter Armbrust, Professor of Modern Middle East Studies, University of Oxford

Marilyn Booth, Khalid bin Abdullah Al Saud Professor for the Study of the Contemporary Arab World, University of Oxford

Konrad Hirschler, Professor of Middle Eastern History, School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS), University of London

Clive D Holes FBA, Emeritus Professor for the Study of the Contemporary Arab World, University of Oxford

Jeremy Johns, Professor of the Art and Archaeology of the Islamic Mediterranean, University of Oxford

Hugh Kennedy FBA,

Professor of Arabic, SOAS

Eugene Rogan, Professor of the Modern History of the Middle East, University of Oxford

Charles R H Tripp FBA,

Professor of Politics, SOAS

I am confused by the reaction by our Prime Minister to the attacks in Paris. He is gathering support to allow him to bomb Syria, a country in the middle of a civil war.

Is he forgetting that the jihadists came from France or Belgium, like the 7/7 bombers that came from Leeds to attack London?

What happened to “austerity”? Will our economy surge with growth by selling weapons we are going to be demonstrating in “live” situations?

Andrew Scott Paul

Masham, North Yorkshire

Aren’t we giving terrorists exactly what they want by changing our reaction to Syria? No bombing campaign in that region has ever been effective in creating a harmonious society.

I would be proud of the West if, for once, we started to exhibit a more subtle understanding of the destructive power of brainwashed, under-employed young men. Recapture the oil wells, yes, help local business flourish and elevate global concerns above sectarian selfishness.

Laura Field

Nottingham

Hospital that saved my grandson

Your choice of Great Ormond Street for your Christmas charity appeal should be supported. My grandson spent most of his life up to the age of six months in Great Ormond Street awaiting the heart transplant which has transformed him into a normal little boy.

Another organisation, the Sick Children’s Trust, should also be mentioned. They provide free accommodation for the parents of children in Great Ormond Street and other hospitals. Without the Sick Children’s Trust I don’t know how my grandson’s parents would have been able to stay in central London for six months.

Richard Dajda

Royston, Hertfordshire

Cheap milk from cows kept indoors

Dairy farming is indeed becoming more industrialised, with cows kept indoors all year being milked by robots (report, 23 November).

All the farmer has to do is cart the food in to them from the fields, and the slurry back out to the fields. It does seem a bit silly, as the cows are quite capable, and happier, doing it themselves. However it does seem to produce cheaper milk.

If the consumer is concerned for the wellbeing of the cow the solution is simple. Buy organic milk and you can be assured that the animals are allowed some dignity and looked after sympathetically rather than just treated as money-making machines.

This applies to pigs and chickens (and turkeys) as well. If we are only concerned that our food should be cheap it is inevitable that the animals producing it will be treated as an industrial product.

Simon W Yorke

Semley, Wiltshire

In a period when dairy farmers of every scale and system are struggling to make ends meet I’m very surprised that Compassion in World Farming and World Animal Protection again raise questions on the morality of large-scale dairy farming. Linking scale and housing to low welfare has no basis in fact.

There is any amount of evidence, including European Food Safety Authority reports, that it is the quality of management and stockmanship which is the decisive factor in welfare, not the size of the farm. It is in every farmer’s interest that cows are well looked after.

What we do know is that the average herd size in the UK is around 124 cows. This shows that there is, and will remain to be, a wide variety of dairy farmers across the country, and this is what makes the UK unique. All dairy farms under the Red Tractor scheme are independently inspected regularly so consumers can be assured that dairy farmers produce milk to the highest environmental and welfare standards – regardless of system. If consumers want to do the right thing they should buy dairy products displaying the Red Tractor logo.

Rob Harrison

NFU Dairy Board Chairman, Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire

Women bosses are still bosses

I learn from your City Editor, Jim Armitage (23 November), that Carolyn Fairbairn of the CBI is keen to “get more women into really senior management roles”. I learn from the same article that she has delivered “a clear endorsement of Chancellor George Osborne’s austerity agenda”.

If women in senior roles are merely going to replicate the attitudes and practices of the wealthy and powerful men they aspire to replace, one might question the need to increase their numbers. When there’s a boot on your neck, does the gender of the foot in the boot really matter?

Tom Dale

Carnforth, Lancashire

‘Genocide’ at the yoga class

This may seem a trivial matter at a time when our government seems gung-ho to start World War Three, but you reported it (“University yoga class suspended”, 23 November), so I feel free to get angry about it.

It cannot be seriously claimed that a westerner learning yoga takes anything away from, or commits cultural genocide on, those who originated the practice in the East. They’ll be telling us next that we are not allowed to listen to rock’n’roll without “being mindful of the oppression, cultural genocide and ... colonialism and western supremacy” of its origins.

The cultural fascist who made this complaint, and the lackeys who gave it credence, should remember that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Yours in a Downward Dog,

Rosy Leigh

London W3

Terror at Israel’s foundation

Two correspondents (24 November) laud Israel’s success in combating terrorism. They have forgotten the Irgun and the Stern Gang, which produced murderers and Israeli government figures.

The fact that the state of Israel owes its existence to successful terrorism is forgotten. I suggest that at the next occasion the great and the good come together to remember our fallen soldiers they might also remember the young British soldiers bombed, shot and hanged by Zionist terrorists.

John King

Grimsby

Young have right to a European future

You report that the latest survey shows a small majority wanting to leave the EU. It also shows a majority of younger people wanting to stay.

We are talking about young people’s future. What right do we of the older generation have to decide this for them? As in the Scottish referendum, 16-year-olds should be allowed to vote or we may see a mass migration of them to Europe for a better life.

Valerie Morgan

Leigh on Sea, Essex