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Parliament’s decision to vote in favour of launching air strikes against ISIL means that Britain is once again a nation at war. Many newspaper columns have been devoted to debating the wisdom and possible consequences of our prosed intervention but what is quite disturbing in itself is that being at war has assumed a kind of normality now. Since 9/11 years of missions overseas including Afghanistan and Iraq have meant that despite peace on our own streets, war has become the backdrop of our lives. It commands headlines but it has rather tragically become rather ordinary. It’s true that the hostage videos of beheadings put out by ISIL, the reports of rape and killing of civilians have shocked us, convinced many that we must take some action. But we are also less certain today about who we can trust as our allies in this war, who we can work with as our friends and who are our enemies. ISIL is not acting unaided and unsupported; it has its own friends in the highest places, it knows exactly how to spread propaganda, provoke reaction and how to get western powers embroiled in another conflict which may or may not end in any long term peace. If we are acting with moral conviction we shouldn’t forget that so are the many factions fighting in these complicated sectarian conflicts, ready to give their lives for their causes. Added to this the leaders of the Middle-East have their own agendas, sometimes a million miles from what we think. It is often said that history is written by the victors modern warfare which relies more on airpower and technology rather than enemy facing enemy means we can guarantee few outright victories because the very nature of victory has changed. We can stop murderous advances and destroy artillery through bombing but even this often achieves only temporary piece. Long term stability, communities coming together and political reconciliation aren’t guaranteed and it is tragic that fear and the struggle for survival have become ordinary life over there. This week Saudi Arabia which is assisting the US in launching airstrikes against ISIL, will be host to the annual hajj pilgrimage of hajj. Hundreds of thousands of Muslim will travel to the cities of Mecca and Medina. They will perform the rituals and pray alongside other Muslims and for a few days, the prophetic words will ring true for them, that the earth will seem like it’s been made a place for prayer. But there too against the call to worship pilgrims will not know if the person kneeling next to them is a friend or foe. Wars create deep wounds, praying to God is the easy bit, reaching out to one another in the spirit of trust and unity needs far more courage.