Two soldiers:
Mohammed Emwazi. Trained by his army. Obeying his orders. Killing his enemies.
Joshua Leakey. Trained by his army. Obeying his orders. Killing his enemies.
Both used by their respective authorities to publish their message to the world. Mohammed in videos on YouTube. Joshua with a Victoria Cross medal.
It is all part of the old, old narrative. They are bad. We are good. What they do is bad. What we do is good.
But who are we? And whose message do we believe? Three schoolgirls from east London gave their answer to that this week.
The world is more complicated than it was. It needs more sophisticated solutions than those we used in the Crusades in the Middle Ages.
After the last world war, the United Nations was set up to prevent such conflict by providing a forum where problems could be discussed and, where necessary, solved by force sanctioned by a majority of the countries. What is the United Nations doing about Syria, Libya, Nigeria, Ukraine? Where are the blue-beret troops from many countries? Why is it left to the old big powers to take action on their own account - in their own interest. Why was Angela Merkel negotiating a ceasefire in Ukraine and not Ban-Ki Moon?
If the United Nations decides to do something, I am more ready to believe it is right than if America, Britain, Russia, or Islamic State tell me it is.
