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The drama of intervention

(Caveat: this may seem a little odd and jarring in tone. Apologies, but do bear with me, I’m working towards something, I think).

We wring our hands at the situation, and rightly so. The image is a strong one, people trapped on top of a mountain, their enemies encircling them. The terrain is bare an inhospitable, they have no means of defence. The news story appeals at the same time as it appals due to its high drama.

And as with any good drama, we have stark sides. The black-flagged Islamic state fighters , the flag handily doing the work of a black hat in a Western, the defenceless Yazidis. And we have the deus ex machine, the airstrikes both humanitarian and militaristic. The cavalry arriving from over the horizon. It’s small wonder the story’s gripped as much as it has.

The question can be begged, should the cavalry actually be coming? Should they not, in fact, be minding their own business? It’s a valid one. It seems morally clear that in this case, yes, Western intervention is necessary, or else these people will be slaughtered. This seems to be in intervention we can all get behind (unlike the last invasion, for example). However, a line can be drawn from the artificial construction of Iraq under the treaty of Sevres, via constant western meddling in one local disturbance or another, right the way through to Dubya’s botched attempt to finish his Daddy’s job off, with our own Government’s craven compliance. The question we have to ask ourselves is, once you’ve started fiddling around with a region’s balance of power, when do you stop?

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