What the commentators said

When Corbyn talks of a link between British foreign policy and terrorist attacks on British soil, he “is perfectly right”, said Simon Jenkins in The Guardian. Isis and al-qa’eda routinely cite our intervention in the Middle East and the killing of innocent Muslims that it entailed as justification for their “atrocities”. And there’s no denying that in bombing Baghdad in 2003 we committed “armed aggression against sovereign peoples who had not attacked us”; in so doing we provided the terrorists with a “cause, a reason and an excuse, however perverted”. It’s also clear that had it not been for David Cameron’s reckless policy of regime change in Libya, the suicide bombing in Manchester “would probably not have taken place”, said John R. Bradley in the Daily Mail. By toppling Muammar Gaddafi, he helped create “a blood-soaked, chaotic country” in which Islamists emerged triumphant and in which the likes of Abedi were able to receive military training and cultivate their “murderous hatred of the West” ( see page 22).

Enough of this self-flagellation, said Jonathan Freedland in The Guardian. It makes no sense to blame ourselves for jihadi terrorism when most of it is directed at other Muslims – Shias for the most part. Besides, when it comes to Western military action, the extremists are totally inconsistent. In the 1990s, many Muslims were furious when we failed to intervene on behalf of Bosnia’s Muslims. In any case, what would Corbyn have us do, asked Dominic Lawson in The Sunday Times. He puts his faith in the power of negotiation, but how to negotiate with a group like Isis? In its literature, it most explicitly states that the “invasion of Muslim lands” is by no means the main thing it hates about us. Worse by far, in its eyes, is the “secular, liberal” nature of our societies and the “devilish practices” we engage in. They will only cease their attacks if we abandon democracy and submit to the rule of Allah. Still, if you think dialogue “is worth trying Jeremy, pop off to Raqqa and give it a go”.