Sunday 29 November 2015

Leanne Wood "Plaid cannot support UK military action in Syria"/

Wales Online cover the news that Plaid Cymru cannot support UK military action in Syria unless the Prime Minister addresses all unanswered questions, Leanne Wood has said.


The party leader’s comments came after David Cameron this week made a case to the House of Commons for the UK to join in military action against the so-called Islamic state in Syria


But on Saturday Ms Wood issued a statement which said: 

From the outset, Plaid Cymru has insisted that UK military intervention could only be considered in the context of an internationally-agreed peace plan for Syria, one that includes winning the peace as much as the military defeat of IS.
“Plaid Cymru has also insisted that a framework backed fully by the UN is essential, including a Chapter VII resolution. The Prime Minister has failed to deliver this.
 Dropping bombs from the air will not lead to the defeat of IS. Neither will it secure peace for the people of Syria or bring stability to the wider region. What is needed is a plan for a process of reconciliation and reconstruction.
“The Party of Wales urges all governments to redouble efforts to secure a comprehensive peace deal for Syria and the wider region. We urge world leaders not to repeat the mistakes of past Western military interventions in the Middle East.
“We call for renewed commitments to support and aid civilians who are suffering as a result of the war, call for pressure to bear on Saudi Arabia and others who are financing IS and we call for practical support for those currently defending themselves on the ground from IS such as the Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, which must also include a commitment from Turkey to cease attacks upon the Kurds.
“UK military action as currently proposed risks further escalation in Syria and making our own communities at home less secure.
“Unless the Prime Minister addresses all unanswered questions and brings forward a more comprehensive plan, Plaid Cymru cannot support military action.”
 You can argue that this not Bombing Syria  but  ISIS and that may be compelling but what of civilians in the ISIS controlled areas? Who have already suffered under this regime of Madmen?

We are led to believe that  we have smart bombs now that can distinguish  between the Guilty and Innocent but as the  US bombing of the  International charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) hospital in the city of Kunduz in northern Afghanistan where at  least 30 people, including MSF staff, were killed in the early morning attack of 3 October. MSF says dozens were injured and the hospital severely damaged such claims are wishful thinking.


The US in November 2015 said that the crew of a warplane that attacked the hospital misidentified it - believing it to be a government compound taken over by the Taliban.

Even if UK involvement were to make a huge difference which is very doubtful and ISIS was to be eliminated from both Iraq and Syria what then ? In Syria the Western led Coalition  will seek to support the 'Free Syrian Army', of which we  and I suspect the Government know little but is suspected of being infiltrated by ISIS fundamentalist rivals  Al Qaeda and its  affiliates like the Al Nusrah front.

The Russians who are also bombing ISIS  are backing the murderous Assad and we get a Proxy cold war between The West and Putin Russia in which the Kurds may be caught in between as the out "Allies" consider it more important to please Turkey who are more interested in eliminating the Kurds rather than ISIS.

And ISIS wil still be a threat to the West even if they are no longer a military threat you are only cutting of the tail large as it  is  unless the  Saudi Arabian regime stop their Wahabbists who funded ISIS and will continue to back a succesor.

Indeed it may well be that the Brains and Orginisation of the Paris attack are not in Syria or Iraq but in Syria  and defeating ISIS on the ground will not protect us here one bit.

I can understand why people wish for action to take place after Paris even for revenge rather than justice but we need to make the right choices and we are not going to do this with pretending bombing targets in which there will be civilian casualties is not the answer.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

We hear about military solutions, but there is little talk of financial solutions. We are told by our press that Turkey buys oil from IS, that rich Saudi and Gulf state subjects are funding IS. One of our
major banks is fined for not checking the payments of very rich clients. The City of London is regularly reported to have some of the weakest sets of rules to deal with dirty money. Surley if this was tackled this would have far more impact than three or four British planes dropping brimstone bombs on cities that IS control.

Unknown said...

Well I like your Leanne, I think the SNP will be making the same statement, nothing is clear, certainly nothing which would make any of our communities safer by bombing another community into the stone age. The US and the French have been bombing Syria for a year, not going well is it?

glynbeddau said...

Exactly! We need to know who is profiting from this. I suspect any inquiry will be suppressed because it would expose the whole rotten bag of the arms merchants and their money backers. How can any real democratic "Liberal" state host an Arms Fair for instance like the recent one in London?