Our best hope of reducing the numbers radicalised would be to champion a foreign policy based on clear principles.
Our best hope of reducing the numbers radicalised would be to champion a foreign policy based on clear principles
Every vote I cast in Parliament weighs heavily on my mind, especially as, unlike most other MPs, I have no whip telling me what to do – I consider the evidence, reflect on the principles I was elected to stand up for, listen to my constituents in Brighton Pavilion.
Never more so than on a day like today, when MPs are deciding whether to carry out air strikes in Iraq against the so called Islamic State (ISIL).
Whatever we decide people will die. Be it directly at the hands of ISIL, whose barbarity seems to know no limits. Or when they are hit by bombs dropped by the US, France or the UK.
And, of course, people are dying as a result of the humanitarian crisis engulfing the region – the Refugee Council tell me it’s the first time since the Second World War that the number of people worldwide who are fleeing their homes is more than 50 million, and the conflicts in the Middle East are a key driver of this exodus.
The death toll from the crisis in Syria is heading towards 200,000. Getting aid to all Syrians and Iraqis in need must remain one of the UK’s top priorities.
Amongst the questions I have asked myself ahead of today’s vote is how best to help close down the cycles of violence, which are taking so many lives.
There are no easy answers. But there is this certainty: killing people rarely kills their ideas.
The hateful ideology of ISIL must be stopped but the risk is that air strikes will be counterproductive: every Western bomb dropped will fuel it anew, providing fertile recruitment, fundraising and propaganda opportunities.
I don’t think this is like the last Iraq war. I don’t think that the prime minster is manipulating intelligence or lying to the House.
There is much in the government’s motion with which I agree. It is written in a measured and very reasonable-sounding tone. But the considered, thoughtful tone cannot get away from the bottom line, which is to give permission for the UK to bomb Iraq. Nor can it mask that what is often called ‘precision bombing’ is rarely precise. We should be under no illusion that we are debating whether to go to war.
With virtually everyone on the government and opposition benches looking set to vote for air strikes, there is a real danger too that diplomatic and political solutions are side lined yet further – and possibly even made more difficult.
The real question should not be whether to bomb but how we can intensify work politically and diplomatically to address the fundamental hostility between Sunnis and Shias – with regional powers such as Iran, Turkey and Saudi Arabia centre stage and support for a fledgling new Iraqi government to deal with seemingly intractable problems like the failures of the Iraqi armed forces, sharing of oil revenues, decentralisation demands and territorial disputes a top priority.
Also uppermost in my mind, in a week where it’s been revealed that a young man from Brighton has been killed whilst fighting for ISIL in Syria, is that there is nothing Islamic about what this extremist group are doing. That as well as embarking upon a concerted effort to find a political solution to the current crisis, we must also redouble our efforts to tackle the radicalisation of some members of our communities, and redouble our efforts to address deeply worrying levels of anti-Muslim sentiment and incidents.
Our best hope of reducing the numbers radicalised would be to champion a new foreign policy doctrine based on clear principles, consistently applied. This should not include selling arms to brutal regimes like Saudi Arabia and Qatar. It should not include tolerating war crimes in Gaza. We must stand up for international law.
Being the only Green MP can be lonely at times, especially on days like today. But my inbox this morning is full of messages from constituents urging me to vote against air strikes and I know that when I stand up and oppose the government’s motion, I am representing the views of many.
58 Responses to “Killing people rarely kills their ideas”
Paul Arscott
It’s not as black and white as you present it Leon. Western countries can play their part by bringing local powers together and encouraging a local solution. I personally believe a caliphate is the eventual solution and that our efforts should be directed towards the creation of a caliphate of moderate Islam. Approaching Iran, a country whose demographics strongly suggest a youthful and moderate future should be step one in reducing future strife.
In the meantime, we have been selling arms to many of these nations for decades. I think it worthwhile that they finally use them and police themselves. Frankly, supporting airstrikes seems like blowback waiting to happen.
Tegan Tallullah
Yeah I see what you mean. People are going to die either way, it’s hard to tell which is better. But what if the UK air strikes don’t create safe havens so much as kill more civilians? I just can’t see how the “bomb our way to peace” strategy is going to work…
blarg1987
Unfortunately the cold reality is that it is a numbers game, if say we know a convoy of armed troops is going to a town to massacre people who live there and we have the chance to intercept it with an air strike then that is a good intention.
The only sad thing is due to things outside anyone’s control a car drives past the convoy as the air strike takes place then innocent people may get killed however it is the lesser of two evils, do you have four people die as a result of doing something or a whole town destroyed for doing nothing.
Do not get me wrong I think every option should be exhausted to prevent any innocent deaths however there are unfortunately times when a few are sacrificed, it has always happened throughout wars all over the planet, the only good thing though is that these deaths are reducing due to technology.
AI
This is precisely the kind of inaccuracy that I was referring to. Try reading some basic factual information before commenting – it’ll prevent you from sounding like an ill-informed idiot.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_State_of_Iraq_and_the_Levant
ISIS was very much an Iraqi movement to begin with – it first came to prominence in Iraq during the American invasion/occupation almost a full decade before it expanded into Syria. Prior to the Iraq war it was a network based in Jordan, but it’s rise to prominence through sustained military action is entirely Iraq-focussed. It’s first leader, the infamous Zarqarwi, fought and died in Iraq. It’s current leader rose to the head of Islamic State in Iraq in 2010, years before we “decided not to uphold our values” in Syria.
Leon Wolfeson
Yes, and that’s precisely the revisionism I’m referring to, as I don’t sound like you, someone who depends on wikipedia for their news, and has no problem with the IS.