How will history remember this week? Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, was seized by ISIS, an army of fanatics who like crucifying people, among other activities, and who reportedly have British Muslims among their ranks. This was more evidence that Iraq — far from flowering into a beautiful democracy after the allied invasion of 2003 — has descended into bedlam. Again. Well done us.
And what was the British Foreign Secretary doing as the black flags went up across Mosul? He was in London, at the Excel centre, hosting a three-day conference with Angelina Jolie and a gang of other luvvies about sexual violence. Hague and Jolie agreed that rape must not be used as a ‘weapon of war’ – and vowed to do everything possible to stop sex abuse in conflict.
Down with rape. Not exactly a bold position, is it? You don’t hear many people saying, ‘Do you know, I don’t think rape in war is all bad.’
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