This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/27/military-syria-attacks
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Former UK military chiefs voice objections to Syria attacks | Former UK military chiefs voice objections to Syria attacks |
| (25 days later) | |
| Former leaders of the British armed forces led objections on Tuesday to military strikes against Syria following last week's poison gas attack in Damascus, which killed hundreds and injured thousands. | Former leaders of the British armed forces led objections on Tuesday to military strikes against Syria following last week's poison gas attack in Damascus, which killed hundreds and injured thousands. |
| General Lord Dannatt, former head of the British army, and Lord West, former first sea lord, both warned of unintended consequences if, as seems increasingly likely, US forces launch missiles against President's Bashar al-Assad's military facilities in the coming days. | General Lord Dannatt, former head of the British army, and Lord West, former first sea lord, both warned of unintended consequences if, as seems increasingly likely, US forces launch missiles against President's Bashar al-Assad's military facilities in the coming days. |
| A former UK ambassador to Syria, Sir Andrew Green, urged Russia and China to use their influence against Assad rather than military force while Lord King, the former defence secretary, said it was imperative to find a solution, "and it mustn't be military". | A former UK ambassador to Syria, Sir Andrew Green, urged Russia and China to use their influence against Assad rather than military force while Lord King, the former defence secretary, said it was imperative to find a solution, "and it mustn't be military". |
| Backing strikes were the former prime minister Tony Blair, who warned of "the consequences of wringing our hands instead of putting them to work", and foreign policy analysts from Chatham House in London and the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, who said Assad had crossed a red line by using chemical weapons. | Backing strikes were the former prime minister Tony Blair, who warned of "the consequences of wringing our hands instead of putting them to work", and foreign policy analysts from Chatham House in London and the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, who said Assad had crossed a red line by using chemical weapons. |
| Geoffrey Robertson QC said in the Times that there "is a right for regional groups like Nato and the Arab League to use force to stop crimes against humanity such as a state mass-murdering its citizens by poison gas". Robertson went on to say that the UN would not require a full mandate to go ahead with limited strikes as long as evidence was first established that the Assad regime was responsible for last week's attacks. | Geoffrey Robertson QC said in the Times that there "is a right for regional groups like Nato and the Arab League to use force to stop crimes against humanity such as a state mass-murdering its citizens by poison gas". Robertson went on to say that the UN would not require a full mandate to go ahead with limited strikes as long as evidence was first established that the Assad regime was responsible for last week's attacks. |
| "It's wrong," said Dannatt of the strike plan being drawn up in Washington, Paris and London. "Because although undoubtedly by any moral standards at all using chemical weapons against your own people – which is what on the balance of probabilities it now seems Assad has done – [is wrong] this does not constitute an open invitation for the international community to impose themselves on the internal affairs of another country." | "It's wrong," said Dannatt of the strike plan being drawn up in Washington, Paris and London. "Because although undoubtedly by any moral standards at all using chemical weapons against your own people – which is what on the balance of probabilities it now seems Assad has done – [is wrong] this does not constitute an open invitation for the international community to impose themselves on the internal affairs of another country." |
| He told the BBC that the international community was "fractured" on the issue and one of the many unknowns about Syria was "what the effect of these strikes would be on the developments and consequences of the civil conflict". | He told the BBC that the international community was "fractured" on the issue and one of the many unknowns about Syria was "what the effect of these strikes would be on the developments and consequences of the civil conflict". |
| Lord West, a former minister, urged diplomacy before military action and was among those worried the west could find itself sucked into a vortex of violence in the region. He told the Daily Mail he was "very wary" of an attack and said if Assad was responsible for the attack, there should be a UN resolution condemning him. | Lord West, a former minister, urged diplomacy before military action and was among those worried the west could find itself sucked into a vortex of violence in the region. He told the Daily Mail he was "very wary" of an attack and said if Assad was responsible for the attack, there should be a UN resolution condemning him. |
| "The region is a powder keg," he said. "We simply can't predict which way military action will go." | "The region is a powder keg," he said. "We simply can't predict which way military action will go." |
| Speaking later to Channel 4 News, Dannatt said David Cameron needed to use Thursday's recall of Parliament to convince the British people that military action is the right step. "A clear case will only be made if a strategic context of how such an intervention can be made is laid out clearly. For the objectives, the beginning, the middle, and the end – how it's all going to finish." | Speaking later to Channel 4 News, Dannatt said David Cameron needed to use Thursday's recall of Parliament to convince the British people that military action is the right step. "A clear case will only be made if a strategic context of how such an intervention can be made is laid out clearly. For the objectives, the beginning, the middle, and the end – how it's all going to finish." |
| The former British ambassador to Washington, Sir Christopher Meyer, said the prime minister faced a "decision from hell". | The former British ambassador to Washington, Sir Christopher Meyer, said the prime minister faced a "decision from hell". |
| Speaking on BBC2's Newsnight, he said: "It cannot be in the British national interest to see Assad disintegrate under the pressure of cruise missile attacks, and whatever else may be done, such that his stocks of chemical weapons fall out of his control into the hands of the extremist Jihadists among the rebels. | Speaking on BBC2's Newsnight, he said: "It cannot be in the British national interest to see Assad disintegrate under the pressure of cruise missile attacks, and whatever else may be done, such that his stocks of chemical weapons fall out of his control into the hands of the extremist Jihadists among the rebels. |
| "This is why this decision on what to do next is truly the decision from hell." | "This is why this decision on what to do next is truly the decision from hell." |
| The sense of military disquiet preceded the chemical attack. General Sir David Richards, who only stood down as chief of the defence staff earlier this summer, is understood to have previously cautioned against attacking Syria, while on Tuesday a former senior naval officer, Rear Admiral Chris Parry, said he believed London and Washington were repeating a mistake by turning to the military before properly establishing their objectives. | The sense of military disquiet preceded the chemical attack. General Sir David Richards, who only stood down as chief of the defence staff earlier this summer, is understood to have previously cautioned against attacking Syria, while on Tuesday a former senior naval officer, Rear Admiral Chris Parry, said he believed London and Washington were repeating a mistake by turning to the military before properly establishing their objectives. |
| "More responsibility needs to be thrown at Russia and China," said Parry, who used to command the UK's amphibious task group. "Instead of sending cruise missiles into Syria we should be sending diplomatic cruise missiles into Russia and China. We need to make it clear that they have complicity in this." | "More responsibility needs to be thrown at Russia and China," said Parry, who used to command the UK's amphibious task group. "Instead of sending cruise missiles into Syria we should be sending diplomatic cruise missiles into Russia and China. We need to make it clear that they have complicity in this." |
| He questioned the benefit to the west if attacks killed civilians and pointed out that it was not a simple question whose side the west is on. "We are not going to go on to the ground and separate these two fighting dogs," he said. "We are not sure who we are supposed to be supporting because they may be enemies of ours When the whole of the Middle East is in foment you do not need to throw another grenade in." | He questioned the benefit to the west if attacks killed civilians and pointed out that it was not a simple question whose side the west is on. "We are not going to go on to the ground and separate these two fighting dogs," he said. "We are not sure who we are supposed to be supporting because they may be enemies of ours When the whole of the Middle East is in foment you do not need to throw another grenade in." |
| Blair said it was clear whose side the west should be on and warned that inaction would leave Syria "mired in carnage between the brutality of Assad and the various affiliates of al-Qaida, a breeding ground of extremism infinitely more dangerous than Afghanistan in the 1990s". "It is time we took a side," he wrote in the Times. "The side of the people who want what we want; who see our societies for all their faults as something to admire." | Blair said it was clear whose side the west should be on and warned that inaction would leave Syria "mired in carnage between the brutality of Assad and the various affiliates of al-Qaida, a breeding ground of extremism infinitely more dangerous than Afghanistan in the 1990s". "It is time we took a side," he wrote in the Times. "The side of the people who want what we want; who see our societies for all their faults as something to admire." |
| Others also called for firm military action, albeit for different reasons. "I would be in favour of a fairly heavy use of cruise missiles against targets," said Richard Haass, president of the Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations. "Any strike has to be large enough to inflict enough pain and cost on Syrians so they would be discouraged from resorting to chemical weapons again. I also think this is about a lot more than Syria, so any strike should also be sufficiently large that it would underscore the message that chemical weapons as a weapon of mass destruction cannot be used with impunity and that these can in no way enter the space of normal weaponry." | Others also called for firm military action, albeit for different reasons. "I would be in favour of a fairly heavy use of cruise missiles against targets," said Richard Haass, president of the Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations. "Any strike has to be large enough to inflict enough pain and cost on Syrians so they would be discouraged from resorting to chemical weapons again. I also think this is about a lot more than Syria, so any strike should also be sufficiently large that it would underscore the message that chemical weapons as a weapon of mass destruction cannot be used with impunity and that these can in no way enter the space of normal weaponry." |
| David Butter, associate fellow at Chatham House, said he had long believed the conflict in Syria would only be resolved with intervention from the west and Arab countries. He said strikes need to go beyond punishment to facilitate Assad's downfall, but not so far as to require troops to be sent in. | David Butter, associate fellow at Chatham House, said he had long believed the conflict in Syria would only be resolved with intervention from the west and Arab countries. He said strikes need to go beyond punishment to facilitate Assad's downfall, but not so far as to require troops to be sent in. |
| "We are hearing this is going to be a hit at the regime for going too far and a warning to this regime and others that the international community won't stand for anything similar happening in the future," he said. "That is understandable, but what happens next? Do we go back to conflict as it was? There has to be a fairly strong military blow that will get rid of the regime or force a crack in it. Otherwise you have a situation that could go on even longer." | "We are hearing this is going to be a hit at the regime for going too far and a warning to this regime and others that the international community won't stand for anything similar happening in the future," he said. "That is understandable, but what happens next? Do we go back to conflict as it was? There has to be a fairly strong military blow that will get rid of the regime or force a crack in it. Otherwise you have a situation that could go on even longer." |
| Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. | Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. |