The world faces a long campaign against Islamic State

The months immediately after the invasion, that led to the downfall of Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship, were relatively peaceful. Then chaos and savagery broke out, that has persisted with varying frequency ever since.

Many thousands of people have died in suicide bombs.

One of the worst such attacks happened in Baghdad yesterday when 115 people were massacred in a lorry bomb ahead of the holiday to mark the end of Ramadan.

The attacks have been claimed by the brutal Islamic State (IS) group, one of the most wicked and terrifying terrorist groups in modern history. The fact that 15 children have died in this latest atrocity underscores the depravity of IS.

Meanwhile, the group has claimed responsibility for another evil attack in Bangladesh, where more than 20 hostages were killed in Dhaka, including nine Italians and seven Japanese.

Attacks from IS are going to go on and on and on. There is no easy solution to this threat. Fanatics have attacked New York, Paris, Brussels, Madrid and London, among global targets.

They would dearly love to inflict an even bigger attack in such a western city, killing tens of thousands of people.

After Paris, Jeremy Corbyn could not even bring himself to say that in a hostage situation the terrorists must be shot dead. That was one of the many moments that will probably lead soon to the collapse of his leadership. The truth is that robust security and some curtailment of civil liberties will necessarily form part of the future response to these lunatics. The west will not tolerate the human-rights-for-murderers response that Northern Ireland had to accept with the IRA.

There is hope amid the horror. IS control a smaller portion of Iraq than before and have lost ground in Syria too. But this will be a long, arduous counter terror campaign.