It comes after Mr Key yesterday said the number of people on a Government watchlist of potential threats had grown. He said 30-40 people were on the list because of their involvement with or support for IS and a similar amount required further investigation.

Mr Key said he was happy to meet Muslim leaders but the Government would not change the decisions it had already made about its response to IS. Continue reading

Those with long memories remember that the first George Bush Gulf War ended as we slaughtered the helpless remnants of the Iraqi army fleeing from Kuwait, bombing their defenseless convoy.

The Bush Junior phase of the war ended symbolically when American troops staged the yanking down of Saddam's statue in a Baghdad square, and again when Bush landed on an aircraft carrier to declare victory, and again when Saddam was hanged.

Today it is over again because all the American troops are coming home—except for those who are remaining and those who will be sent back when the terms have been negotiated.

Continue reading Iraq's moral legacy

Image: US Military

What is the most compelling image we have relating to the killing of Osama? "No, not the soon-to-be-released Bin Laden-shot-in-the-head photo (which could become one of the most viewed photographs in history), but the photo of the President and his advisers in the White House situation room.

Why amazing?

Because the President seems so small and peripheral to the action. He is hunched down, seated on the margins of the meeting, seemingly trying not to take up space. It appears as if he couldn't even find a place to put his jacket." So writes Jeffrey Goldberg in the Atlantic.

What is compelling about this picture is that it looks so civilised.

Some cheered and waved flags. We are told The Vice President of the United States took up his rosary beads. There are those that even manage to make jokes about the killing of Osama bin Laden.

The polls say most people are "relieved" that he is dead. Many are delighted, some gloating. Few condemn it.

According to a poll taken on Monday 60 percent of Americans are "proud" about the killing of Osama, 58 percent say they're "happy" about it. But it's relief that is the prevailing reaction: 72 percent report being relieved. 82 percent of Republicans say they're relieved, as do 71 percent of Democrats and independents alike.

Far fewer Americans — just 16 percent — say they're feeling "afraid" about the killing of Osama.

Sources

• Story: Jeffrey Goldberg The Atlantic
• Poll Results:The Washington Post
• Image: The Atlantic