We need to address radicalisation if we are to win the war on terrorism

The recent terrorist attacks on Paris must be seen as an attempt by the self-styled Islamic State to create a schism between western democratic culture and the Muslim communities that live within.

Seeking to blanket blame to all subscribers to Islam for these attacks simply panders to the desires of IS to create such a schism. We cannot allow ourselves to become victims of psychological warfare.

While many people have called for immediate military action against IS in their self-declared caliphate, the reality is we already know how effective this will be.

For the past 14 years the West has been fighting a ‘Global War on Terror’.Can anybody say how successful it has actually been at eradicating terrorism globally?

The writer Samuel P. Huntington said “The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion […] but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact; non-Westerners never do.”

If we keep on repeating the same old mistakes are we not doomed to a continuous cycle of wanton destruction and violence?

Regardless of how we look at this problem we cannot escape the fact that a rational political solution needs to be sought even if it is part of an overall military campaign.

We also need to address why young people become radicalised if we are ever to prevent it from happening again.

IS and religious terrorism cannot be defeated by bullets and bombs alone we must fight the cause as well as the symptoms.

Philip Jones

Meadow Park Lawn

Ballyvolane

Cork