December 1: Emotive language over targeted strikes on the IS menace

From: Alec Denton, Guiseley, Leeds.

I AM increasingly frustrated with the careless use of English by both politicians and the media.

The emotive phrase “Bomb Syria” conjures up images of the cruelly futile indiscriminate bombing of the UK and Germany during the Second World War, and of Vietnam and other countries since.

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The requirement now is for precise attacks on IS targets located using sophisticated surveillance techniques, targets that may be within the borders of a pre-civil war Syria that no longer exists.

Nothing I have seen suggests that the Government is requesting permission to indulge in blanket bombing and the careless use of the phrase “Bomb Syria” is doing us a serious disservice.

The alternative to limited air action is the Jeremy Corbyn “do nothing” approach, which is rapidly leading us to an alien world where Amazon have had their busiest ever day because UK citizens dare not visit big shopping malls, where London and Paris are quiet because people dare not use public transport to visit popular attractions and where many holiday destinations in poorer parts of the world are suffering.

Doing nothing will increase the problems for all and while targeted strikes will not eradicate IS, they will impede it and may give time for saner views to prevail. The worst thought of all, however, is that by leaving the attack to an Assad Air Force lacking the ability or desire for precision attacks even with Russian support, we are putting the lives of thousands more innocent Syrians at risk.

From: Bob Watson, Baildon.

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ZULFI Karim, Senior Vice President, Bradford Council for Mosques, tells us (The Yorkshire Post, November 28) that in Bradford there are over 10,000 children attending supplementary schools daily, with over 100 Islamic institutions.

However, he seems to be implying that Government intervention in the form of regular inspections is not necessary. In view of what is happening in the world, it is difficult to grasp why such inspections should not be accepted as the norm.

The other point to be made is to ask whether all such institutions undertake all their teachings in English, partly to reduce the possibility of underlying radicalisation? This would also help with integration into the wider community if all such children had the same grasp of English as most others.