Bombing plan

It looks like the battle against Islamic State will be long and protracted, the defence secretary, Michael Fallon, has said in broadcast interviews. Defeating Isis in Iraq would be difficult enough but destroying it in Syria, the campaign “call me Dave” has now joined, was going to be much harder.

There is a plan of sorts, helping both the Iraqi army and the Kurds to retake Iraqi territory held by Isis. But there is nothing remotely coherent by way of a strategy for destroying Isis in Syria it would seem. It is optimistically based on air power and a small band of US special forces up to now. Asked if there was a coherent plan for defeating Isis, Gen Mike Flynn, who retired last year after three years as the head of the US Defence Intelligence Agency, said in an interview: “No. No. We don’t have one at all. It’s totally incoherent and it’s piecemeal.” So there we have it, just keep bombing, killing and hope for the best!

Terry Palmer

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