Is The Uk Making A Meaningful Difference In Syria?

[Gromit]

Last December, David Cameron told us that a UK intervention in Syria would make a 'meaningful difference'. The House of Commons overwhelmingly voted to begin airstrikes in Syria, and the RAF completed its first mission there, just a few hours later.

- Have we made a meaningful difference?
- Are we wasting our money carrying out these costly bombing raids?

[ichkeria]

Can you provide some details of the bombing raids? Their frequency and targeting? Otherwise it is hard to comment meaningfully without having to go away and look it all up :-)

[Gromit]

I can't be bothered.

The Commons vote was only 12 months ago, surely ypu can remember that. Cameron told us that our involvement would make a 'meaningful difference'. I shall rephase the question for you Ich,

Has our mission in Syria been accomplished?

[mushroom25]

I have looked it up - since receiving a mandate from parliament, to date the RAF have conducted 4 airstrikes in Syria; apart from the attack on the Omar oilfield in December 2015, participation has been marginal, at best.

[mikey4444]

Britain, along with everybody else in the West, have ignored what the two Butchers of Syria, Assad and Putin have been doing to the Syrian people as much as they can. Countess 1000's have been killed and injured, many of them children.

So no, I don't think we or anyone else has made any meaningful difference whatsoever.

[ToraToraTora]

No and yes, It's was all a bit of tokenism from DC. Personally gromit I am warming to your suggestion of just ignoring the whole middle east. They can stop reporting too if you ask me.

[ichkeria]

Gromit, if you "can't be bothered" providing evidence, one way or the other, how can people be expected to give informed responses?

If I can be bothered I will do some research.

[Gromit]

Mushroom,

// From an initial burst of 31 attacks in December 2015 and January this year after the Commons’ landmark vote to expand the mission from just Iraq, the number has now plummeted to single figures – just three in May and five in July. Of the 615 bombing raids by RAF jets, just 65 were in Syria itself and 550 were in Iraq. //

[ichkeria]

The mission in Syria was to defeat IS, which obviously has not been achieved.
Yet.

[ichkeria]

It's a bit easier in Iraq, as we are officially on the side of the government there

[mikey4444]

TTT....yes, lets join in with the politicians and ignore the plight of these people.

What do you think would happen if the worlds Press were to stop reporting all this terribly inconvenient news ?

Did you think the same when Milosevic and his fellow butchers were hacking their way through the former Yugoslavia....after all, that was a far away place, of which we know little.

[-Talbot-]

You're always very vocal on this, mikey ... what is your solution?

[vulcan42]

If you click on this link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/british-forces-air-strikes-in-iraq-monthly-list
you can see the months the RAF have been in action and if you click on any month, the number of days in action. Clicking on any day will show what they did.
Slightly more than single figures.

[ToraToraTora]

Mikey, I don't care, I'm sick of trying to help these barbarians. Build a wall round the whole sh1t3p1t and come back in 100 years and see if anything civilised has emerged.

[ToraToraTora]

I don't mean a Trump wall obviously!

[mikey4444]

Talbot....I have said that solving the situation in Syria was easy, as I have made clear on a number of occasions.

But by refusing to face up to the Butchers, we have effectively given them carte blanche to commit a genocide. Assad and Putin are both guilty of war crimes.

We had the chance years ago, before Putin muscled his way in, of positioning a battleship off the coast of Syria, with its guns trained on the Royal Palace in Damascus. The UN has shown itself to be worst than useless. Maybe it is just a talking shop like people have suggested in the past.

Putin and Assad have now seen that we, the UN, and the free world are not prepared to do anything, so God only help the people in the region now.

[mikey4444]

TTT.....well, thats a lot of help isn't it !

[ToraToraTora]

You missed Saint Tony off your list of war criminals.

[ichkeria]

The UN is severely hampered by having two permanent members of the security council who just use their power of veto on anything they don't like

[whiskeryron]

As the whole shebang is a family affair ( Shia V Sunnie) it is really nothing to do with us, so let the Arab nations sort it it out for themselves. I fear we have made things worse by intervening.

[-Talbot-]

Talbot....I have said that solving the situation in Syria was easy,

Really?


But by refusing to face up to the Butchers, we have effectively given them carte blanche to commit a genocide. Assad and Putin are both guilty of war crimes.


We? I assume the most guilty of this 'we' is Obama ...? (I thought you were a big fan of his?)




Who is your alternative to Assad?