Will bombing raids defeat Islamic State?

#965 for broadcast on 2CH Sydney, 21 Sep 2014.

With Prime Minister Tony Abbott deploying Australian troops to fight Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, my friend and fellow church health consultant Tim Dyer had this to say:

There is no question that the serious human rights violations of ISIS need to be slowed and if possible stopped as a matter of urgency. War however is not the way to do this …

You can’t beat bullies either by arming their victims or by proving yourself a bigger bully and turning them into victims. An ill-conceived coalition of the willing is part of the reason ISIS exists …

To re-enter Iraq with another ill-conceived military campaign breaks all the rules … ISIS need to be systemically dis-empowered by a collective UN strategy which calls the key Arab and Persian players to responsible involvement.

God be with our troops as they serve, and may God bring a just peace to our troubled world.

I’m Rod Benson for the NSW Council of Churches.