Dear Sir,

Mr Khalid Wasi says bombs will not work to stop the jihadists in the November 17 edition.

He says we cannot understand from the western viewpoint with our “voter rights” and “human rights” the Middle East “where a difference of opinion can have you imprisoned, if you’re lucky”.

Oh yes we can, Mr Wasi. We had to fight long and hard for those rights, particularly women and anyone black. Even now the rearguard of the western religions want to impose their views on gay couples.

Not long ago tourists could not buy a beer on a Sunday — a vestige of Christian influence.

You say the West exploited the Middle East — it’s a pity the wealth paid to the oil-rich countries could not have been used better.

Maybe a programme of education — there have been no notable Muslim mathematicians since about the 12th century; no Nobel Prizes for sciences (compare that with 115 for the Jewish people). Women’s education is still an issue because the societies are dominated by a primitive religion and the “text” (I take that to mean the only book that most Muslims read) does not help (mind you, the Bible is hardly a textbook on the sciences or women’s rights).

If they are fighting against exploitation, why do they blow up women and children in Paris? For that matter why do Sunnis blow up Shiite women and children and vice versa.

Is not the true explanation that in the West we are halfway grown-up? We recognise human rights, even people who worship a god, or a cow, or a dog, or the sun are tolerated as long as they don’t damage the human rights of others.

We went through the Catholic burnings and the Puritan witch trials and many other atrocities; the suffragettes manacled themselves to railings for the vote; the Progressive Group fought for universal suffrage.

One hundred years ago in France, working men were merely cannon fodder.

The West send money for schools, doctors and nurses, who may get their heads cut off. I would like to hear a rant against the people selling guns and plastic explosives to these primitive groups. Maybe the French should deal with that first, that would be useful.

We are not really civilised in the West, we are not there yet. Too many sociopaths are in positions of power, political, religious and military.

Let’s use our rights wisely to select our leaders and maybe the Middle East will follow. In the meantime, unfortunately, we need to use the bombs or the primitives will overwhelm us with their intolerance.

JOE WAKEFIELD