Urgent action required to mend Britain’s helplessness in the face of crises in the Middle East

SIR – We are to use our ancient but effective Tornadoes in air attacks against an amorphous and highly mobile enemy. Best of luck to the RAF; but surely they would like some support from an aircraft carrier and some Harriers?

It seems strange to decommission an aircraft carrier and, almost the next week, to go to war. I understand they have not started ripping apart HMS Illustrious just yet; and there are several Harriers, I am told, sitting in hangars awaiting disposal.

Would it not be better to scrape some sort of force together from these wasted assets, rather than wait for our new carrier to get its wings, say in 2022?

Lt Commander Nick Bradshaw RN (retd)
Kingsbridge, Devon

SIR – We have a huge aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean (Letters, September 26). It is called Cyprus. But it is a disgrace we do not have a conventional carrier in service.

James B Sinclair
St Helier, Jersey

SIR – I have two comments. The first is that a fanatical ground-based force will never be defeated by air power alone.

Secondly, one has to wonder whether the rise of Isil would ever have been possible had Saddam Hussein remained in power. Unintended consequences, perhaps?

Lt Col John Landau (retd)
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire

SIR – Haven’t we learnt that bombing without adequate ground support produces more enemies than it eliminates?

N H Conrad
Tandridge, Surrey

SIR – Harold Macmillan, Alec Douglas-Hume and Edward Heath all had first-hand experience of being in uniform.

It’s not just Ed Miliband who might benefit from three years’ military service, though the politicians today know there’s no guarantee they’d be commissioned.

Richard Stancomb
Malmesbury, Wiltshire

SIR – The Iraqi government has placed Isil-held oil refineries off limits for coalition air strikes.

I don’t know if they have found the right balance between short-term military objectives and longer-term economic ones. I would guess, however, that what makes sense in Iraq would also do so in Syria.

We are not seeking permission from the Syrian government for attacks there, but surely we should be seeking the same stewardship of the interests of the Syrian people.

John Riseley
Harrogate, North Yorkshire

SIR – After arming the Kurds, do we imagine that they will happily go back to being ruled by the Iraqis, Turks or Iranians?

I believe the outcome will be a new country called Kurdistan. This will cause even more conflict in the area.

Len Foot
Fareham, Hampshire

SIR – We are playing into the hands of these terrorists. They are neither Islamic nor a state – that is part of their trick. As the Prime Minister correctly states, Islam is a peaceful religion.

We should refer to them as terrorists and nothing else.

Henry Brewis
Ipswich, Suffolk

SIR – Allison Pearson writes that it has taken the desperate situation of the hostage Alan Henning to make Muslims speak out against extremists.

I am sure that over the years I have heard and read constant condemnation by horrified Muslims of atrocities committed in the name of Allah.

I suspect that many people have chosen to ignore the views of the vast majority of that faith, leading to racial tension and mistrust.

Gwyneth Mitchell
East Cowes, Isle of Wight