It seems ISIS is writing the script here, and our government can’t wait to play its part [“Gwynne Dyer: Terrorism 101 offers lessons in how to respond to ISIS”, web-only]. Next scene is the beheading of a Canadian aid worker or an attack on our soil allowing Stephen Harper to say, “See, told ya so.”

Every knowledgeable military commentator has said this cannot be won without boots on the ground. When the Americans send in the troops, well, we’ll have to do the same, because “that’s what Canada does,” doesn’t it?

I remember the beheadings and other atrocities that the Taliban committed in Pakistan and Afghanistan a decade or so ago. They were labelled as scum and off we went to war without any clear objective of what we wanted to achieve, how long we were going to be there, and what our exit strategy was going to be. After 158 dead and almost 2,000 injured, we are now attempting to negotiate with the Taliban.

It was the American war in Iraq (one that, contrary to Harper’s wishes, we wisely stayed out of) that created the fertile conditions that spawned ISIS, and it was further U.S. involvement in Syria that gave them the assistance they needed to become the force that they are. We have no obligation to join in militarily and put a target on the back of every Canadian living or working in North Africa or the Middle East.

> Gene Logan / Vancouver