David Cameron is right to be 'sickened' by images of gassed children in Syria; and we’d be right to ask questions about his humanity if he weren’t affected.
But Cameron needs think hard about any response that requires British boots on the ground, something he has previously said he opposes, especially as both government and rebel forces are suspected of using gas against each other. If this is proven, then we will be joining forces with people not averse to using weapons of mass destruction regardless of which side we intervene on behalf of.
We also, unfortunately, need to remember the part of the world we’re talking about. The moment Western forces step onto Syrian soil, again regardless of whose side they are on, loud protests about "crusaders" and "colonialists" will soon turn to further acts of terrorism against the West.
I’m sorry that children are suffering in Syria. At the same time, I have to ask, what are other Muslim countries in the region – which isn’t short of Muslim countries – doing about it? Why does the situation require Westerners, whose intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq has been denounced throughout the Umma?
Pictures of suffering children can be very emotive. Such pictures kicked off the process that culminated in Band Aid and Live Aid – and the monies raised enabled Ethiopia’s Haile Maryam Mengistu to oppress his people, children included, for much longer than he might have done otherwise.
I also must accuse Mr Cameron of hypocrisy. Victims of Muslim child-abusers in the UK must struggle for each and every morsel of justice from the Establishment, with statutory bodies such as Social Services making things all the more difficult for them. If Cameron should prioritise foreign children over British ones, how can he hope to triumph in a fair General Election?
Gerry Dorrian
300 words
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