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“THE END OF the World is Nigh” warned the old poster: has Donald Trump put one up in the White House? He seems hell bent on turning an already fraught dispute into a military conflict which could destroy the world even before John Biggs gets his bum back on the mayoral seat of office in Tower Hamlets Town Hall.
The worst of it is that Theresa May appears to be dragging the UK into the dispute – as one of the protagonists. As the two play video war-games for real, it is Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn who is keeping his feet on the ground, talking sense and trying to save lives.
The situation is this. News has come out of Syria that bombs dropped on Douma, the last rebel-held town in the Eastern Ghouta region, last Saturday, contained chemical weapons. Locals have claimed the bombs were dropped by Syrian government forces – which that Government denies.
Russia has defended the Syrian Government’s denial. Donald Trump has decided to bomb a bit of Syria that is controlled by the Government to punish the Government. Russia regards this as provocative and has warned that if US ships in the Mediterranean, near Syria, fire missiles at that country, it will retaliate on Syria’s behalf by attacking those ships. If that occurred, doubtless Trump would take his military action further.
Theresa May has called an emergency meeting of the UK Cabinet today – and it is thought that she will try to persuade ministers to agree that the UK should endorse US military action, and possibly even join in. May wants to go ahead without waiting to put the matter to the UK Parliament, which comes back from its Easter holidays on Monday – suggesting that the US military action will begin before then.
Jeremy Corbyn said, “More bombing, more killing, more war will not save life. It will just take more lives and spawn the war elsewhere.” This is pretty much the lesson that was learned in Ireland (30 years of military conflict was halted by negotiations between the combating parties) and in the more recent experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq – where the US and its western allies had to withdraw troops after invading, changing the countries’ governments, and getting nowhere.
The UK peace movement has swung into action and is organising a campaign against UK military intervention in Syria, using the hashtag #NotInMyNameTheresaMay.
The use of chemical weapons cannot be defended, and governments should work together to create a world where we are free from such threats. But this must be achieved by negotiation – not by fighting it out with conventional weapons and conventional deaths.
•Read more about it:
Theresa May puts Sharia Law on trial
Boris: “ready to bomb Syria”
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