Dear People of the UK
I have listened to Hilary Benn’s much lauded speech and I am going keep my responses pragmatic and void of the powerful emotions I feel around the UK Parliament’s vote to war. They make the point that Daesh are barbaric. They describe the terrible things Daesh have done in emotive detail. Benn labels Daesh fascists and draws a parallel with the Second World War specifically the defeat of Hitler and Mussolini.
No one denies, at least no one of a democratic view, denies that Isil/Daesh are barbaric and powerful and have carried out appalling attacks . No one denies that they intend to carry out more. This is not the point. The point is, will going to war by dropping bombs from thousands of feet stop them? And will this stop them attacking us ? Will this stop them attacking other people?
Sadly not.
Is it not possible instead, that the wholesale slaughter of innocent people (it is in the nature of bomb to kill innocent people), the photographs and videos of dying children arms blown off skin burnt –that will come, (the moral question aside) is it not possible that such images will encourage disinfected disenfranchised Muslims -not just in Syria but everywhere, to link this barbarity that we will inflict, with rumours (based in fact)of 100s of years of expedient and immoral foreign policy in the Middle East and Iran –from us in the west? Isnt it possible they will link these images, with the history we are not honest about with the bellicose statements and simplistic ideology of Deash …to make more Daesh sympathisers both closer and further from home.
Put simply, Will the bombing of territory stop terrorism ? No it will not. Will it kill innocent people ? Yes it will.
It was less than a year ago that Daesh made it clear that they were longing for Western intervention, particularly soldiers on the ground. They are rubbing their hands with glee waiting for the moment that they will be able to show a western servicewoman or man in chains on the Internet prior to some well staged mediaeval execution. Such things increase membership and funds.
Tony Blair himself has now admitted in his long overdue apologies that our intervention in Iraq is one of the causes of the creation of Daesh. Bombing has never prevented terrorism… Blast is n fact, the very mechanism of terrorism.
My point which is so many peoples point (surely) –is that if it worked , sure let’s do it. But it doesn’t. It is only a mad person who does the same thing over and over again and expects a different result.
Rowan
