In the past when Western armies marched through Arabia, Popes would urge them on, nowadays the Papacy is less belligerent. Still, His Holiness only apologised for causing offence, he did not retract his question. Essentially his point was illustrated by the shooting of the Catholic nun. Why do they shoot nuns when questioned about theology? Islam has not had a modern reformation in much of the Muslim world, it remains stuck in the dark ages.

A couple of years ago Guido was in Turkey having lunch with a well groomed banker who had attended a British public school and did business in London. Guido told him Turkey would not get into the EU whilst they continued to arrest elected parliamentarians and violate human rights. He raised an eyebrow before asking “Would you like Islamic fundamentalists in the European Parliament?” “Any more wine?” Guido choked out.

Liberal democracy took a lot of time to take root in Western Europe. Nato will spill a lot of blood trying to force it to take hold in Afghanistan, where the British, the Soviets and others have failed before. Has no one read Kipling?