Just read this sad tweet

I don't think you are rambling Coolgran. I think you are just like the rest of us, simply unable to fathom out how to combat these monsters. I think all we can do is bomb and bomb them again and again and try to wipe them off the face of the earth. I think too that realistically we are going to have to have conversations with leaders that we deeply disapprove of ie Assad, Iran, whoever, in order to get some sort plan of action to combat these appalling ogres.

I've just had an unexpected feeling of sympathy for David Cameron, and in fact all the politicians trying to do the least worst thing in this awful situation. Military intervention seems to be under discussion. The idea scares me. Our experience in Iraq, Afghanistan etc aren't encouraging are they.

Today's Observer had a piece about Imams writing to DC asking him not to call these people Islamic State. They fear it's inflaming anti Islamic feeling, and say these people are neither Islamic, or a State. They also refer to the need for the British Muslim community to be effective in preventing radicalisation of the young.

rosesarered - how exactly do we "bomb them"? Where do we target the bombs? How do we know they are hitting the right people? How many innocent people are we prepared to wipe off the face of the planet in trying to get to them? How do we deal with the martyr status that will be conferred on those terrorists we kill? How will that influence others at risk of becoming radicalised?

We cannot risk inflaming the situation. We are all angry and sad, but the long term future has to be the focus of planning.

We wade in with bombs at the peril of everyone. Peaceful people and governments all round the world are being deliberately goaded to inflame the situation and inflate the terrorists' perceived importance.

There are subtleties here that we cannot know and we must rely on intelligence services and experts to understand the bigger picture.

We can only hope that governments will act with restraint and stop and think about what really is the best way forward. Instant reactions are dangerous. I cannot imagine how the politicians are going to resolve this and my heart goes out to all of them.

This sort of thing, obscene. Done in the name of religion? Doubly obscene.

Mishap - excellent post. And for those wanting vengeance, at any price, I can't believe for one minute that David Haines would have wanted that - I saw his brother being interviewed tonight and again, he certainly isn't calling for that.