What was the spectators argument for telling people not to be upset? "It was the legislature telling the executive to slow down, look more closely at the evidence, and think before beginning hostilities. In other words, it was democracy." they even go on to say "maybe, for once, we should be proud."
Proud? proud of what? That we as a major world power both politically and in the military sense have sat back and done nothing. The recent uproar by western powers with regards to the use of chemical weapons in Syria is a joke. The evidence has been there for months, videos and images have been available on the internet in plain site. America and the UK waited until the French government raised the issue to even bother voicing their opinion.
Over 100,000 people are dead. UNICEF claim that over 400 children have been arrested and potentially tortured in Syrian prisons. There are over a million child refugees who have been displaced and what is the UK government doing? Nothing.
How can the Spectator be "proud" of such a response? Many "eastern sympathisers" are cheering the fact that the UK is not using their power or their voice to influence the Arab world and as one ridiculous commenter wrote "Nice to see that Parliament for once didn't have an inflated sense of Britain's importance." Surely we have a responsibility as a major world power, because in fact we ARE a major world power, to help fight for peace, to stop atrocities such as the use of chemical weapons on anyone let alone children and to police conflict?
I agreed with not going into Syria at the start of the civil war. The conflict was not as clean cut and straight forward as the Libyan revolution. The Syrian rebels are not a united front and in fact many of the factions fighting Assad's regime are linked to terrorist organisations and religious extremists. Assad has the backing of both Russia and China. We also cannot forget Egypt. A prime warning that the over throwing of an existing Arab power does not result in a more democratic and westernised government, however, Assad has gone too far. We are ignoring our moral responsibility to protect and aid the innocent people of Syria.
It will not be easy, there is no clear route to take but surely the west, the east and the other Arab nations cannot allow Assad to go on committing such terrible atrocities against humanity?
