Abstension is a cowardly avoidance of the issues and I'm afraid I found the bloke's mail rather self-serving without giving any sense of his moral compass (and look at how he dealt with the Labour amendment.........)
Does he believe that force is justified if a line is crossed or does he believe that force is never justified? Both of which are positions to be respected - but sophistry about the UN, or about needing more time or whatever is just the bleating of a "politician" who doesn't want to lose votes. BTW Horrible moral question - have more Syrian or Palestian children been killed over the last few years? (Or Eritrean or Congolese........) Damian On Sun, Sep 1, 2013 at 11:14 AM, John Boocock <[email protected]> wrote: > I thought listers interested in the situation vis a vis Syria and the > recent Parliamentary vote might like to see my local MP's thoughts on the > situation which he emailed out on Friday evening (he has a mailing list for > constituents and I'm on it). John regualrly sends emails out like this on > issues he feels are important to his constituents. Yes I know he is a LIb > Dem but compared to some MPs I have had, at least I feel some sort of > connection to him and although we both disagree on many issues I still > respect the fact that he can be bothered to engage with constituents in > this way. Wearing my Council Chair hat I also get quite good service from > John Thurso so maybe I'm biaised but read this for yourselves eh? > > Betty > > Dear John, > > Events in parliament over the last day have been quite extraordinary and > highly charged. I know the situation in Syria and the possibility of > military action has been a huge concern for many people here in the Far > North and I very much appreciate the emails I have received from people who > have been in touch to let me know their thoughts. I am emailing you now > because I thought you would like to know how I voted in the House of > Commons yesterday and my views having listened closely to yesterday's > debate and now looked in detail at the evidence. > > In my judgement there are two issues to be considered. First in respect of > the specific request to undertake military action against Syria to deter > future use of chemical weapons; and second the wider issue of our > continuing willingness to be involved militarily in a range of countries in > the Middle East. > > There is no doubt that chemical weapons have been used in the civil war in > Syria. The news footage alone is horrific. There is also a strong > probability that they have been used by the Assad regime. This is a crime > under international law and I hope the perpetrators will face justice in > the International Courts. > > It is not however lawful under current international law to undertake > strikes against another state as punishment. It would only be lawful if the > strikes were for humanitarian reasons to prevent further atrocities and if > they were proportionate and strictly limited to that goal. I have grave > doubts that this objective can be met at this time. Certainly, before I > could support such action I would need to have a far greater degree of > assurance as to the objectives and the measures of success. Like many > senior professional military personnel I have seen nothing to persuade me > that there is a clear strategy or that the potential for unintended > consequences has been thought through. When I flew south on Thursday > morning I was therefore determined to vote against any action unless and > until these issues had been properly set out. > > I made these points at our parliamentary party meeting before the debate. > I also listened to the views of colleagues who felt a motion endorsing UN > involvement was essential. I respect those views and would never wish to > vote against UN involvement, but nor would I wish to have voted for a > motion which could be construed as agreeing to the use of military force if > the US proceeds to action without the UK. Therefore together with a number > of colleagues I decided to vote neither for nor against it but abstained. > > There is also a wider issue which is the cumulative impact of multiple > military interventions. In my judgement each further intervention, even if > ultimately acceptable on its own, has to be seen in this wider context. I > believe that as a country because of the many conflicts we have been > involved in over the last decade we have become war weary and are also in > danger of being seen as a compulsive belligerent. I cannot therefore accept > the principle of further military intervention without this being taken > into account. > > The leader of the opposition also put forward a motion yesterday the > substance of which was largely identical to that put forward by the > Government and added nothing to the debate I therefore voted against it. > > Ultimately this whole debate was an error. It may be that both the British > people and international opinion come to an informed view that action is > necessary. That point has not been reached. We need to take the time to > decide these matters calmly. I believe all party leaders made a mistake in > seeking to rush a debate. Parliament has therefore made the right choice > for now. It maybe that the Syrian regime will back off from using these > weapons again, however there is a real possibility they will escalate. I > therefore suspect this debate will continue for some time to come and the > key issue of the consequences of being involved in so many conflicts over > the last few years will need to be addressed in full. > > With kind regards, > ______________________________**_________________ > Leedslist mailing list > Info and options: http://mailman.greennet.org.** > uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist<http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist> > To unsubscribe, email > [email protected].**org<[email protected]> > > MARCHING ON TOGETHER > _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email [email protected] MARCHING ON TOGETHER
