Henry e-mailed this today.

“Today I watched video clips from Iraq and got so depressed.

I saw the black-clad ISIS terrorists tormenting two prisoners whom they made to kneel in front of them.

One was a man probably in his forties, in uniform, a little bit overweight perhaps but in good shape. They had a gun to his neck.

He suddenly fell backwards. Perhaps he fainted with shock. Perhaps he was dehydrated.

His tormenter tried to force him up.

The next thing we saw he was dead, his neck and chin shot away.

He has been identified. He was a family man, with two children, living near Baghdad. He joined the Iraqi army to help pay for their education.

How can we let this go on?

In the West most intelligent people know religions are nonsense. They are a cultural myth now. Most ordinary people, in Europe at least, don’t go to church any more.

Iraq was our chance to create democracy in the Middle East. We failed. Militant Islam has released a lethal energy.”

The group who call themselves Islamic State now rule in northern Iraq and increasingly dominate the opposition to President Assad in Syria.

People think: “That could have been my Dad, doing his best for his family…”

For a moment they become part of an obscure foreign war.