Mike Vickers' Blog

December 19, 2016

Real Politik

Filed under: Uncategorized — derryvickers @ 11:02 pm

I had to read this article twice to convince myself that was reading it correctly and I am.

‘UK foreign policy on the Syrian crisis has been branded “appalling” and “naive to the point of being totally unrealistic” by the director of one of Scotland’s leading international aid charities.

Alistair Dutton, of the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (Sciaf), said British interventions have served to strengthen opposition forces and prolong the conflict, now approaching its six-year anniversary.

He called on UK ministers to accept that the best option for stability in the country is for Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to regain control.’
Read more at:

http://www.scotsman.com/news/world/aid-chief-attacks-uk-s-naive-stance-on-syrian-civil-war-1-4320217

I do recognise this approach as potentially saving many lives and may well have been the most appropriate real politik solution at some time in the past – but not now – evacuation of at least some of the citizens of East Aleppo is under way – let’s hope all – including the fighters.

But to me that does not excuse the West failing to undertake humanitarian air drops of food and medicine over the last six months : see my last blog. It has been argued that such an action would damage further relations with Syrian Government’  but has not the West  been bombing Syrian Government Forces in Syria as well as IS fighters and with a tacit agreement with the Russians.

December 14, 2016

Aleppo – an abject failure of the West

Filed under: History in the making, Left Politics, Politics, USA, War — derryvickers @ 2:23 pm

It would have been quite possible to provide food and medicine to Aleppo using gps guided-parachutes. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/08/push-for-east-aleppo-aid-drops-using-gps-guided-parachutes

Even on Saturday Corbyn stood stony faced and silent why Peter Tarchell demonstrated for air drops. One expects such response from the Tories but not from Labour.

https://leftfootforward.org/2016/12/peter-tatchell-aleppo-is-todays-guernica-where-is-labour/

But I can remember the Berlin Air lift, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Blockade, and I note a comment in Wiki as to why the Soviets did not interfere: ‘ The Soviets did not disrupt the airlift for fear this might lead to open conflict’. It is likely to have been the case with Aleppo,

Of course it was far too late on Saturday but this is likely to be a further nail in Labour’s coffin.  It could certainly be the most serious indictment of Obama’s term of Office.

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