Sir, – It strikes me that now more than ever we must be bold. In the aftermath of a Chilcot report that just stopped short of damning the invasion of Iraq as illegal, the West must remember the success of its interventions in Kosovo and Sierra Leone and be bold enough to do so again in conflicts where our intervention is valid, and where we are equipped and prepared for the aftermath.
Confronted by an as yet unyielding and ever-mutating threat in the form of jihadi extremism, we must be bold in our attempts to balance the safety of our citizens with a true commitment to dismantle primitive social hierarchies upon which such factions thrive.
Against those who discriminate on the old grounds of race, wealth and religion, we must be ever more bold in our determination to build communities which are inclusive, humane and enabling to all.
We must be bold in our belief that ultimately our best defence against an ideology driven by hate, whose aim is to incite fear, are societies constructed on the values of curiosity, justice and love. – Yours, etc,
CATE MacGABHANN,
Clonmel,
Co Tipperary.