Like Juan Cole, Jonathan Steel writing here for the Guardian also advises reconciliation with disgruntled Sunni Arabs if future attacks are to be prevented. But, again, what if the discontent among the Sunni Arab community and the Sunni insurgency is more to do with a refusal to accept that they no longer dominate the seats of power than anything else? Cole refers to this but fails to provide a remedy.

Do we really want to reward Sunni militants? Steel and Cole’s analysis could be deemed apologetic to the atrocities committed by the Sunni insurgency, and conducive to an environment of terror and coercion.