| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Will our MP be voting against air strikes? | |
| Posted by: | Phil Andrews | |
| Date/Time: | 03/12/15 17:10:00 |
| I thought John's reference to war crimes was unnecessary and uncharacteristically clumsy. The proposed military action, although I believe it to be wrong, is clearly legal just so long as an honest attempt is made to minimise civilian casualties, which I have no doubt the government will do. My overriding concern, quite apart from the fact that no bomb is so smart as to be infallible, is the likelihood that the government, having obtained approval for its war, will deviate from the mandate that it has been given. Just as it did, almost immediately, when it won UN approval for "humanitarian" intervention in Libya. Recent UK governments have plenty of form when it comes to this kind of thing, and the lessons of recent decades teach us that the Western establishment seems to be far more concerned with toppling strong secular governments in the region than it does in tackling militant Islamism. That such a policy has clear strategic benefits to our generous Arab clients in the Gulf and also to Israel may or may not have some bearing on this policy. |