The West can no longer afford to play the compassionate democrat when it faces an enemy which respects no ethical rulebook whatsoever

by Ari Harow and Richard Kemp

Article published in The Jerusalem Post, 23 November 2015

The horrific attacks in Paris ignited a potent demonstration of solidarity throughout the Western world. Global landmarks have been bathed in illuminated Tricolor flags, social media has been awash with tributes and moments of silence have been observed in major capitals. This determined sense of unity in the face of terrorism is entirely admirable, yet useless if it remains the sum total of the West’s response. The time has come to truly comprehend that Western democracy faces nothing less than a bitter and bloody fight to shape the future of the world. The battle against jihadist Islamism cannot be fought with demonstrations of goodwill.

Kindness and compromise is simply no match for suicide bombers. The West can no longer afford to play the compassionate democrat when it faces an enemy which respects no ethical rulebook whatsoever.

The latest Paris atrocities have conclusively demonstrated the utter folly of any attempt to appease, accommodate or “understand” the demands of Islamism. The murder of Charlie Hebdo staff in January was foolishly portrayed by some as a response to religious defamation.

In fact, the Western requirement for logical cause and effect has long insisted that terrorist attacks are a cry for justice at perceived wrongdoing. Continue reading →

We need to learn lessons from the 2004 Madrid attack

Article published in The Times, 16 November 2015. © Richard Kemp

The 2004 bomb attack in Madrid that killed 191 people was a strategic victory for jihadists that went far beyond the carnage on Spain’s rail network. Al-Qaeda could boast that they had changed the outcome of the general election that followed and forced Spanish troops out of Iraq. This became a cornerstone of propaganda for jihadists everywhere and an incalculable boost for al-Qaeda recruitment and funding.

After Friday’s attack in Paris there will be a desire within France for similar appeasement of Islamic State. We hear already the predictable faint-hearted warnings from those who are terrified of provoking jihadist rage by striking back.

Of course jihadists react violently to aggression against them. But the choice is to fight or to submit to terror. In the face of
blood-lust and subjugation, the cause is worth the casualties. In any case, Isis has declared war on our countries, and will
attack us whatever we do.

It is imperative that France does not succumb to the fear that cowed the Spanish electorate. They should immediately intensify air attacks in Iraq and Syria. But this is not enough. Isis must be eradicated and France cannot do it alone, or with the coalition that has won limited success with half-hearted attacks.

After 9/11 the US invoked Article 5 of the Nato treaty, which calls on every member to aid a nation under armed attack. As Manuel Valls, the French prime minister, said this weekend: “We have been hit by an act of war, organised methodically by a terrorist, jihadist army.” Continue reading →

Letter published in The Times, 6 November 2015. © Richard Kemp

For Michael Fallon to call our failure to strike Isis in Syria as well as Iraq “morally indefensible” is an understatement (thetimes.co.uk, Nov 5). It is morally bankrupt for any country to half-heartedly engage in a war. If the government perceives the threat as serious enough to require military force then it must unleash sufficient combat power to defeat the enemy as rapidly as possible and wherever they are. To do otherwise exposes our own citizens at home and abroad to lethal threat, results in increased civilian casualties on the battlefield and adds unnecessary risk to our own fighting forces.

This means greatly intensifying our feeble bombing offensive in Iraq as well as extending the campaign to Syria. If we do not have the courage and the will to do this then we have no right to be using military force at all. Mr Fallon’s estimate that Isis can be defeated in two years is baseless. The time it will take depends on many factors, the most significant being how seriously we are prepared to fight. It is also unnecessary to rely upon speculation about how Flight 9268 was downed this week over Egypt. The threat to our country from Isis is already clear enough, as the director general of MI5 warned only last week.

Letter published in The Times, 30 September 2015.

Sir, Help for Heroes has done superb work for our wounded soldiers, sailors and airmen. But reports (Sept 29) that its recovery facilities are underused are of concern and must be explained. The millions of pounds spent on them is a combination of public money and charitable funds, painstakingly raised by huge numbers of dedicated supporters, including many serving and retired members of the armed forces.

There is a strong case for retaining these facilities exclusively for military casualties, both serving and discharged. Those who are wounded in action have specific needs, beyond the strictly clinical. That was heartbreakingly demonstrated in the early days of Iraq and Afghanistan when military hospitals had all been closed, and wounded soldiers straight back from the combat zone were — to their great distress — lumped into crowded wards with civilian patients in an NHS hospital in Birmingham.

There are large numbers of severely wounded former soldiers out there who are neglected by an overburdened NHS that is not set up to understand them or to deal with their unique needs. Either these individuals must be more carefully matched up with Help for Heroes’ recovery facilities, or those facilities must be reshaped to meet the needs of the wounded more effectively.

Colonel Richard Kemp
Commander of British Forces in Afghanistan (2003)
London SW1