Sir, – Until we recognise that the humanitarian situation in Europe is a symptom of the crisis in the Middle East which the West helped to create, we will not make progress in resolving it.
At the heart of this crisis is ISIS and the sectarian war in Iraq and Syria between Shia and Sunni muslims, which it is greatly aggravating.
We must start by grasping that among all the actors in that conflict, ISIS, with its mixture of genocide, slavery, sadism and cultural erasure is uniquely evil.
Thus just as we made common cause with the Soviet Union against National Socialism, we will have to do so with President Assad’s regime in Syria and his Russian and Iranian allies.
We must also look with a critical eye at our supposed allies in the region.
Saudi and other Gulf Arab money was one of the essential ingredients in the creation of ISIS.
This is unsurprising given that it is carrying out a Wahabi vision of Islam.
Equally worrying is that our NATO ally Turkey has shown a great deal more enthusiasm for fighting against the Kurds than against ISIS.
Also, the Turkish government has made next to no effort to stop the flow of refugees and migrants through Turkey to the European Union.
Nor should we forget that the massive flow of people through Libya came about because David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy turned that country in to a failed state by overthrowing Gaddafi.
ISIS is today’s equivalent of the Nazis or the Khmer Rouge.
Both practically and morally it must be eliminated and only force of arms will do that.
Otto Inglis. Ansonhill, Crossgates, Cowdenbeath.
Dictators may be best allies
Sir, – As the refugeecrisis grinds on, theCommons vote in 2013 against bombing yet another Islamic nation (Syria) into a state of democracy looks like a historic milestone.
We lurched into two world wars without such a vote but I doubt any future premier will dare launch a major military action abroad off his own bat.
It may be difficult to accept but in the case of Syria, if we had joined Russia in supporting the Assad government at the outset, the “revolution” would have been over in weeks.
Undermining secular rulers (Najibullah, Saddam, Mubarak and Gaddafi as well as Assad) who protected their minorities and kept their Islamist barbarians at bay was idiotic.
All factions engaged in the Islamic Crescent’s many conflicts are repulsive so the least-worst solution is for us to achieve accommodation with a new generation of dictators.
Rev Dr John Cameron. 10 Howard Place, St Andrews.
More to student life than drink
Sir, -Your supplement on freshers’ week was quite short but in that small space you managed to mention six times the easy access there is to drink at university.
Also notable was that there was not a word mentioning the many worthwhile religious opportunities for all faiths in and about Dundee.
Is this the image Dundee University wants to promote to a new generation and their parents?
W. Gregor MacGregor. Braidestone Mill House, Meigle.
Madras figures don’t add up
Sir, – Colin Topping (September 2) writes that “unless I have missed something, there seems to be a problem with Mr Sangster’s arithmetic” resulting in the figure of 72 buses at the proposed Madras College in St Andrews.
While I am in no position to comment on this figure, I would suggest that Mr Topping has based his own calculations and, therefore, the case he sets out to make against Mr Topping’s figures, on three conceptual errors.
First, each pupil requires not one but two buses a day, one to school and one home.
The number of buses required will depend on the geography and catchment area, not simply on the number of pupils requiring transport.
Thirdly, assuming that every bus will in practice carry pupils equal to its maximum seating capacity is completely unrealistic.
Some, perhaps many, buses will carry only a small percentage of their maximum capacity.
Gordon Dilworth. 20 Baledmund Road, Pitlochry.
Disadvantages of ‘pond’ site
Sir, – John Birkett states he can list at least seven advantages to building the new Madras College on the pond site in St Andrews and 10 disadvantages to building on Pipeland Farm, yet fails to list them.
I can list one very distinct and obvious disadvantage of building on the pond site.
For a few months many years ago, I worked for a retailer of bottled gas who had their external gas store on the pond site.
Even in summer this area was wet and muddy and as its name suggests, there is a large natural pond.
Therefore, drainage is a major issue, perhaps explaining why the university has not expanded into this area. I can also recall students residing in the adjacent Andrew Melville Hall wearing shirts printed with: “I’ve got that sinking feeling” following a degree of subsidence to the building due, in part, to the boggy nature of the sub soil, although I am no expert on this.
To build on the pond site would be folly and I expect it would require very substantial and expensive drainage ground works and possible maintenance pumps running 24 hours per day to pump water away, but where would the water be displaced to?
Colin Topping. Crathes Close, Glenrothes.
Peter Andre a waste of money
Sir, – I find it astonishing that Perth and Kinross Council paid Peter Andre £20,000 to switch on their Christmas lights.
This only adds to the farce Christmas has become.
Why did they not invite children from a local orphanage to attend and pick one of them to switch them on and give the children a party. This would have been better and for a fraction of the price of hiring someone I have never heard of.
Alister Rankin. 93 Whyterose Terrace, Methil.
Praise for health service staff
Sir, – At a time when the NHS seems to be under attack from all sides, may I offer my grateful thanks in their defence.
On Friday, August 28, my wife collapsed at home.
I became a gibbering wreck so my eldest daughter, Margaret, took over.
From the moment the ambulance arrived, the staff were extremely professional in stabilising her condition before taking her to Ninewells Hospital accident and emergency unit. Staff in every department there were friendly and extremely efficient. God bless them all.
Bruce Cowie. 55 Glengate, Kirriemuir.
Attacks on SNP are ‘demented’
Sir, – It would seem that the correspondence columns of The Courier have been subject to a takeover bid by the SNP-bad brigade. Hardly a day passes without the usual scribes having a go at either Alex Salmond (very bad) or Nicola Sturgeon (nearly as bad but catching up).
The antipathy these correspondents display towards the SNP regularly verges on the demented.
In fact, the continued attacks on the Scottish Government are becoming tedious and it is noticeable that not one of these usual suspects has ventured a criticism of the UK Government.
We can deduce from their silence that they are quite happy to see the proliferation of foodbanks.
They apparently feel no urge to grab their pens or fire up their computers in order to write to condemn the UK Government’s vicious attacks on the disabled and the unemployed and the sanctions imposed that have undeniably caused misery and in some cases deaths.
On Monday, we again had carping regarding Nicola Sturgeon’s stance on the refugee crisis. Hers is a humanitarian reaction to a disaster. Contrast this with David Cameron’s reluctance to act until forced to by public opinion.
It now seems that the offer to accept refugees may depend on the UK Government securing agreement from Labour to bomb targets in Syria. The intense bombing campaign by the US resulted in masses of people fleeing the country.
The Tories want to add to the bombing and this will inevitably result in more refugees seeking safety by fleeing the country.
James Smith. 4 Brownhill Place, Camperdown.
SNP must govern for all
Sir, – Again we read in these columns another diatribe from another deluded SNP supporter wanting to save us from Westminster (Allan MacDougall, September 3).
He refers to the 55% of the electorate who voted no as gullible for believing pledges from Westminster.
Not so. The facts were that Alex Salmond and John Swinney’s economics just didn’t add up and the majority understood that long before any pledges.
What concerns me, with all the issues going on in police, education and health, is that SNP supporters appear oblivious to all this and seem to accept it.
This is disturbing and points to the focus of independence at any cost mentality.
Many people voted SNP at the election, however, voting for SNP does not mean voting for separation.
The SNP need to understand and govern in an effective manner to ensure governance for all the people of Scotland and not just SNP supporters.
Nicola Sturgeon knows it would be political suicide to hold another referendum in the short term.
She is not going to make that mistake and live to regret it.
James Y Lorimer. Kenmuir, Main Street, Luthermuir.