Syria- Is it time we re-assessed who we support?

Cliff

Yes. And for the Russians there is no problem with this straightforward approach.
But for us and the US, we can't be seen to (and don't want to) side with Assad. And lets face it, if you want to fight IS in Syria effectively you need to work with his government and fight from bases there.

Cliff

The Airbus that disintegrated in mid air over Egypt, is looking more and more like an attack or onboard bomb. If this does prove to be the case we can expect Russia's involvement in fighting IS to intensify..

Member 581642

If it does turn out to be a bomb or missile then i am sure there will be some that will say it was a false flag operation by Putin or Assad

Sve

Putin is a 21st Century Stalin & if he could get away with it he would do exactly as Stalin did in the 1940's & 50's.

Enki

Egypt is one of these American proxy puppet countries; certainly its Army is financed by Americans.  This part of Egypt is surrounded by warzones; every military satellite known to man would be focused on the area, don’t think there is really any need for black boxes to establish the set of circumstances that brought these poor people to their terrifying deaths.

Enki

Downing Street denies U-turn on Syrian air strikes vote

Whatever Cameron’s reasons for this about turn, it good to see Corbynism now having its effect on the British political establishment, won’t go well with warmongers amongst us, but clear there is no appetite for men in the air or on the ground, in any official capacity over Syria. Maybe it’s a  nod on how the tax credit will continue to be funded.

Cliff

I don't think its got much to do with Corbyn.
Its got everything to do with the talks in Vienna and the fact that Russia and Iran are already on the ground in Syria. Air strikes are not the right approach now.

The first thing we need to be clear about is 'who is our enemy?' That has to be IS. That means some kind of co-operation with those backing Assad- however unsavoury that might me.

Enki

Any such action would need Corbyns Labour on side, no doubt No10 have been trying to garner clear majority hoping to have some Labour MPs in the bag, before proceeding  They can’t, so they won’t want another 2013, Cameron was very very angry about it.

  Pffft that is Tory Central, yap. It would be useful to know ones friends first.

robel

Isnt Steptoe too busy sorting out internal turmoil?

tapzilla2k

It's more to do with Cameron's strength/authority as Prime Minister being called into question at home and overseas. He won't want to lose a vote on the same issue again. Rather pointless in us getting involved at this stage, too many cooks.

As for Corbyn ? He's posing questions any responsible politician should ask, which in turn you'd expect Cameron to answer properly and not fling smears back in Corbyn's direction "He's a threat to national security for being a pacifist/socialist". Syria is an utter mess, it will only take one mistake to trigger a much bigger conflict. That's with my WWI hat on.

The enemy ? I would say it's Saudi Arabia due to it being the driving force behind Sunni extremism. It's just that it's got lots of cash and we seem to like selling weapons to them amongst other things. Don't get me wrong IS is a serious threat and one that has to be dealt with quickly. I think we could wage an Economic war on IS in concert with the US and others. We have options that should be debated properly and not skipped over because Military action is more dynamic and lets a PM look like a statesman.
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As for the plane crash ? That would give Putin the option to widen his war against those who threaten Russia's military interests in the region. The next weapon I sort of expect Putin to start using will be thermobaric bombs. As used in chechnya apparently. This is about a test from 2007 or so
BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Russia tests giant fuel-air bomb