I see that the EU is lifting its embargo on arms sales to Syria at the insistence of Britain and France. Why UK trade policy should be dictated by the Evil Empire escapes me but that is not the issue here – the concern is that the UK is set to give weapons to the FSA ( the coalition fighting President Assad). This is sheer insanity.
For the past few months the Western powers have tried to show that Assad is a truly evil man committing war crimes on a daily basis. It is surely only a matter of Time before Tony Blair pops up to suggest that he has Weapons of Mass Destruction capable of hitting Britain in 45 minutes. The agenda all along has been to supply arms to the rebels.
Of course evidence on the ground shows that both sides in Syria are committing atrocities on a daily basis. William Hague may feel able to play God and decide that one side is better than the other but I cannot. Both seem utterly loathsome.
One thing that is clear is that large numbers of the rebel forces are Islamofascist with many being directly involved with Al Qaeda and associated organisations. Jihadists from across the globe including some of our fellow British citizens are fighting as part of the FSA. When this conflict ends they will move on to a new battlefield: Gaza, Iraq, Libya, and Woolwich..
The idea that we supply armaments to folks who ultimately hate the West almost as much as they hate Assad is absurd. What will Hague say when a British soldier or civilian is killed with a weapon which was originally sent by this country to the FSA in Syria? Ooops. Sorry. I forgot about that Bin Laden chappy who we gave weapons to in Afghanistan. What will you say Hague?
Time and time again the West forgets about what Ron Paul calls “blowback.” We meddle in countries with intentions which are sometimes good but ultimately that meddling wins us now friends and in the end all we do is create new enemies (and in this case enemies we arm). Has our meddling in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya or Egypt created stable regimes? No. Has it won us friends in these countries? Not many. Who is now running them or will run them soon? Islamofascists. Does that make British citizens safer? No. Does it make us more likely to be attacked? Yes.
Britain is bankrupt. We cannot afford to meddle even if we knew that it would create a good end game. But it never does. Syria faces a civil war between tow ghastly murderous camps. The best thing that we can do is to let them get on with it.
The policy we are embarking on is at every level sheer madness.