Cormac MacConnell: Modern Herods drive flight from Aleppo

A searing TV image stopped me in my tracks, a few nights ago. It was the sight of a terrified young mother, with her newborn infant in her arms, fleeing her home in the blasted hideousness that is Aleppo.

Her face was hooded, so you could only see her huge frightened liquid eyes.

The infant in her arms was tiny, wrapped in what used be called swaddling clothes.