THE worst response to a tragic and horrific attack like that on Paris would be one that strengthens ISIS.

When President Francois Hollande said we are at war with ISIS, he was right. But it is a war we can only win if we don't get provoked into the response they want from us. The response they expect.

Parisians are sadly becoming all too used to this kind of violence.

It was only in January this year when the attack on Charlie Hebdo left most of its staff dead or maimed.

And now this, an attack so ferocious and brutal that Paris may take years to recover.

Seven years ago, to this very month, gunmen also ran amok in Mumbai and unleashed terror that was to last four days and claim 164 lives.

This is global war, and and it could be very well be a generational war.

ISIS is doing this to provoke us. It wants us to attack them on their soil: in Iraq and Syria.

It wants to see western troops back in those lands because the chaos and backlash that would create would play directly into ISIS' hands. It would create countless new recruits for them.

ISIS is also doing this to create division and exploit tension in our modern multi-racial societies.

It wants western Muslims to feel unwanted in their homes in Europe, and to instead join them in Syria. It wants western Muslims to feel that they can only truly be at home at the ISIS Caliphate.

And ISIS wants to see western countries become closed, authoritarian societies where we live in fear of it and its capabilities.

It hates what we stand for and wants to provoke us into changing that.

The temptation to react to ISIS in the way it wants will be strong in the aftermath of Paris.

Francois Hollande says our response to ISIS must be "merciless" - and I agree - but it must also be strategic so we don't fall into their trap.

We must stand for our values: liberalism, secularism, openness, free speech and equality: those are the values we swear by and those are the values we must now strain every sinew to live by.

When Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany would offer shelter to Syrian refugees earlier this year, ISIS released a dozen videos in panic, encouraging Syrians to come back.

But the damage was done. Syrians saw that Europe was more willing to offer them refuge and dignity than many Muslim states. That they were not heading to the ISIS Caliphate was a slap in the face.

The attacks in Beirut and Paris is ISIS' response.

It wants us to brush away humanity and compassion with suspicion and division.

By following that script we would do exactly what ISIS wants us to do.

The destruction of the ISIS Caliphate must happen, but it must be by a Muslim-led force.

After all, ordinary Muslims have been its biggest victims.

That isn't to say we must do nothing.

We have to challenge Islamism and its sympathisers in the west, and we have to stand for our values.

But we cannot win it if we're provoked into the response they want.

We cannot win with a response that strengthens them rather than weakens them.

Sunny Hundal

Independent News and Media