Syrian air strikes, Westminster MPs vote 397 votes to 223 to authorise UK action against Islamic State, RAF Tornado jets carry out their first air strikes against Islamic State hitting the IS-controlled Omar oil fields in eastern Syria, in case anyone doesn’t ‘get it’, our business is stopping terrorists

Dear All

There is nothing wrong in being a pacifist, at present there is a debate about the use of the UK military in Syria.

I will state my view first, I believe that military action is needed in Syria to defeat Isis and to support the legitimate Government of Syria led by Bashir Assad.

Whether the West likes it or not, he is the President of that country and we have no business trying to undermine his regime.

Let’s talk about Tony Blair.

Do you remember the ‘crusades’?

Not the middle ages, the ‘crusades’ pioneered by George W Bush which Tony Blair climbed on board after President Clinton left office. Blair although bring the Labour Party their best years of electoral success destroyed his legacy with Afghanistan and Iraq. He made it so that the public was turned off the UK doing armed intervention for the right reasons.

He queered the pitch.

When David Cameron previously floated the idea of armed intervention in Syria using airstrikes, I was against it, he didn’t make his case and the Commons agreed with me, they voted No.

Paris changed everything for many people.

Something you might have missed is that in France, the French have launched a crackdown against radicalisation of Muslims, to that end; three Mosques have been shut down by French authorities. In case, you think that is the end of the matter, it won’t be, right across Europe, the mood of people is changing and the mood of the State.

And it isn’t changing for the better.

In Sweden, 17 migrant centres burned down in two months, one in five people now support the far-right Swedish Democrat party who are anti-immigration. In Germany, there have been mass far right demonstrations, and in Britain, the far left have been targeting the homes of Labour MPs who want to support military action.

We aren’t yet at civil war, but we are certainly heading down that road.

Jeremy Corbyn became Labour leader because the people in the Labour Party, the ordinary members wanted a change from the Blairite era, and the relics of it still in political office. Out of four candidates, Corbyn was seen to be the man who represented that change. A lot of people put their faith in him after Ed Miliband led Labour to a disastrous election which will be felt for years to come.

The Labour Party is in trouble, not the kind of trouble that moving a few people can sort out, changing a few policies will fix, this trouble is much worst, it is a party at war with itself. Corbyn has had a shaky start to his leadership but since he is new, he still has to find his feet, but he should remember this, he is on a clock.

That clock is ticking towards the next General election, he will get one shot at winning power; his time as leader will then be effectively over, so he can’t hang about. On the domestic front, I suspect that Jeremy Corbyn has the potential to do very well.

I don’t have the same optimistic view on his take on foreign policy.

Jeremy Corbyn has got it wrong on Syria, and so has the far left, let’s do a moral maze question, to see how quickly you can solve it.

Isis Terrorist has a gun pointed at a child’s head and is going to pull the trigger, you are armed and you can stop him, what do you do?

When you hesitate in war, people die, and we are at war, don’t think because you aren’t fighting a country that we aren’t in a wartime situation, just because you can float off to Costa Del Sol or Disneyworld in Florida think that war is someone’s else’s business in a faraway land.

It’s in Europe.

If Britain MP’s by a majority didn’t back airstrikes, the Cameron Government wouldn’t have taken part, but the Americans will, the Russians will and the French will, among others.

And where would we be while innocent people were being tortured and children machine gunned to death?

We would be impotent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qtx7hiYWwYY

Did you watch the video; it’s the footage of the machine gunning of children but if certain people get their way, these killers will get to do more, because some people lack the conviction to do the right thing.

Do you really think ‘understanding’ and a big hug will work with these people?

Hilary Benn, the Labour MP who gave a great speech in Parliament backs airstrikes; his fellow MP John McDonnell said:

"It reminded me of Tony Blair's speech taking us into the Iraq War. I am always anxious that the greatest oratory can lead us into the greatest mistakes. That is what it did in Iraq and I fear we made a mistake last night."

Good speech bad speech, it doesn’t matter when it comes to doing the right thing.

MPs have overwhelmingly backed UK air strikes last night by 397 votes to 223, after an impassioned 10-hour Commons debate, it was the right thing to do.

This isn’t Cameron’s war as spouted by Diane Abbott, who I don’t have any time for politically, her smart arse soundbyte falls rather flat in my opinion.

What is regrettable is that Jeremy Corbyn couldn’t unite the Labour Party; he has something to ponder in the months to come, what kind of political party would allow kids to be massacred because someone wants to put their personal agenda before that of the country.

One question I would like to ask Jeremy Corbyn is this; do you want to be Prime Minister?

If that is the case, then you are going the wrong way about it, the people of Britain will not put a person into that office while there is a question mark on their ability to defend this country and stand up for those who face persecution and death.

Finally, how did you get on with the moral maze question?

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University