Tag Archives: syria

Jonathan Brown

Opinion… Syria: what do we do now? And as importantly, why? (Part 2)

By Jonathan Brown | Wed 28th August 2013 - 6:59 pm

In part 1, I looked at where the Syrian uprising came from and argued that we should not be afraid to ‘pick a side’. This time I want to review the failures of the UK’s current policy (or lack of one).

It’s probably uncontroversial to say that most of us would have wished for the Assad regime to hold elections, release its grip on power and transition peacefully to democracy. And that as a fallback option, many of us would have been happy with a negotiated pact between the regime and the opposition, along the lines of what was more …

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Posted in Europe / International and Op-eds | 2 Comments
Tahir Maher

Opinion: Experience tells us that attacking Syria would harm rather than help

By Tahir Maher | Wed 28th August 2013 - 3:53 pm

I live near Forbury Gardens in Reading where the Maiwand Lion statue was erected in 1886 to commemorate the loss of 280 soldiers from the 66th Royal Berkshire Regiment at the Battle of Maiwand in Afghanistan on 27th July 1880. There is talk of a memorial for our brave soldiers who fought and have lost their lives in the current campaign in Helmand. In my opinion, when the Americans and the British leave, Karzai won’t be too far behind and Mullah Omar will be reinstated as leader. In recent years we also have the experience of the war in Iraq …

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Posted in Europe / International and Op-eds | 20 Comments
Jonathan Brown

Opinion… Syria: what do we do now? And as importantly, why? (Part 1)

By Jonathan Brown | Wed 28th August 2013 - 12:18 pm

There are no good options open to us. Our choices as a country are to jump from the top floor of the burning building where we currently stand or to turn and face the flames we’ve been fanning. I want us to take that leap – to make the effort to understand what outcome might be desirable and possible, and to work towards achieving it. While we’ve dithered, others have been working towards goals that should concern us: we have a stake in the outcome of this war.

This is the first of three articles, inspired not just by the chemical weapon …

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Posted in Europe / International and Op-eds | 12 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Syria: what do Liberal Democrats want?

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 28th August 2013 - 9:57 am

Last night we brought you Nick Clegg’s view on Syria, which can be summarised as follows:

  • if we stand idly by we set a very dangerous precedent
  • the use of chemical weapons is a repugnant crime
  • we will not stand idly by when chemical weapons are used in complete breach of international law
  •  Government “is not going to act outside the remit of international law”
  • we want to stand up for the standards and norms in the civilised world

In the last couple of days Paddy Ashdown and Sir Menzies Campbell, two of the most respected voices this country has on foreign affairs, have been …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , and | 46 Comments
The Voice

Nick Clegg on Syria: Government “is not going to act outside the remit of international law”

By The Voice | Tue 27th August 2013 - 7:15 pm

Here’s Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg commenting on the Government’s actions on Syria:

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Posted in Europe / International and YouTube | Also tagged | 28 Comments
David Gray

Opinion: We need urgent debate about Syria, not just rhetoric

By David Gray | Tue 27th August 2013 - 8:55 am

If recent news reports are to be believed, we are now edging closer and closer some form of military conflict with Syria. It is a fast moving situation; indeed, one that could escalate drastically within a matter of days. But with MPs on their summer holidays, there has been a worrying lack of proper debate about the issue.

A few months ago, an 87-year-old woman died and Parliament was recalled so that people could talk about it, at no small expense to the taxpayer. I have no wish to go through that particular debate again, but it is difficult to …

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Posted in Op-eds | 68 Comments
Joe Bourke

Opinion: A Peace Plan for Syria

By Joe Bourke | Mon 24th June 2013 - 4:54 pm

Nick Clegg has said about Syria “I am very proud that, as a country, our reaction isn’t just: ‘Oh this is happening, it’s got nothing to do with us. We want to wash our hands of it.’ We struggle with what can we do. It is the wonderful thing about Britain. We don’t stand by. We don’t walk the other side of the street. We want to get stuck in and sort stuff out.”

I think there may be a way to bring about a ceasefire and political negotiations that avoids the obvious dangers of arming rebel groups.

Turkey has called for …

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Posted in Op-eds | 11 Comments
Nick T

The Syrian civil war is a humanitarian disaster: the time has come to intervene

By Nick T | Thu 20th June 2013 - 2:57 pm

There are few things about which we can be certain in the Syrian crisis, but there are some. We can be sure that brutal, unspeakable and unimaginable things are happening on a daily basis, particularly and most distressingly of all to the country’s children. We can also be sure that somehow, someday the war will end.

When it will end is anybody’s guess. How it will do so is a slightly easier to guess at. We know that Bashar al-Assad is militarily strong, thanks to the supply of weapons from Iran and Russia, and soldiers from Lebanon’s Hezbollah. We know that …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 36 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Paddy Ashdown: Arming Syrian rebels could make things worse

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 16th June 2013 - 4:17 pm

Paddy Ashdown went on Murnaghan to say in no uncertain terms that now was not the time to be even talking about arming Syrian rebels and cautioned against any actions which could sound like a “Desist or we send our arms” message to Assad. The problem with that approach, he said, is that if you make a threat, you have to carry it out or nobody will ever believe what you say again.

I’ve been busy on Storify this morning.  My tweets summarising his comments are here. Here’s a selection:

…

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The Voice

LDVideo: Danny Alexander on UK’s commitment to tax transparency and the unproven case for arming the rebels in Syria

By The Voice | Sun 16th June 2013 - 12:35 pm

Lib Dem chief secretary to the treasury Danny Alexander did the rounds of the TV studios yesterday to promote the Coalition’s actions to increase tax transparency. You can see his BBC News interview here. On Channel 4 meanwhile, he was also quizzed about whether he thought the UK should help arm Syrian rebels: he said the case was unproven that would help the country at this time:

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Posted in Europe / International, News and YouTube | Also tagged and | 5 Comments
Joe Bourke

Opinion: Arming the Syrian Rebels

By Joe Bourke | Fri 7th June 2013 - 10:30 am

The Independent reported this week that Cameron faces serious Cabinet split over arming Syrian rebels.

Nick Clegg is said to have warned at a recent meeting of the National Security Council that supplying weapons to the Free Syrian Army might only escalate the conflict, killing many more people without any realistic prospect of decisive victory and that it could be “next to impossible” to ensure that British arms do not fall into the hands of Islamist militants.

A Whitehall source said Mr Clegg did not believe “there was a military-only solution to Syria” and would not back any attempt to arm …

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Posted in Europe / International and Op-eds | Also tagged | 34 Comments
NewsHound

Menzies Campbell talks to Today programme about Syria

By NewsHound | Sat 1st June 2013 - 10:26 am

Sir Menzies Campbell, Liberal Democrat MP for North East Fife and respected foreign policy expert talked to the Today programme yesterday about the situation in Syria. Last week he said that he didn’t think the EU arms embargo should be lifted. Now that it has been, he is now calling for a moratorium on arms exports to Syria so that a Conference can take place to try and get a peace process under way.

He told the Today programme yesterday:

I was one of those who expressed grave reservations about the idea of the EU embargo coming to an end which

…

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Joe Bourke

Opinion: Saving what’s left of Syria

By Joe Bourke | Tue 7th May 2013 - 5:15 pm

President Obama and the European Union continue to agonise over whether to lift the arms embargo on Syrian rebels.

The al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra control several areas and bring Sunni Islamic law, religious persecution and ethnic cleansing under their slogan of “The Alawites to the grave and the Christians to Beirut.”

Israel strikes the Assad regime even as Iran and Hezbollah equip and train a rump Alawite militia in preparation for the fall of the regime.

The western democracies mull over no-fly zones and safe havens while Russia continues to transport weapons to Assad’s forces.

The lessons of Iraq and Afghanistan loom large …

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Posted in Op-eds | 53 Comments
Mike Green

Opinion: the case for intervention in Syria

By Mike Green | Fri 7th December 2012 - 3:51 pm

Being up all night does give me somewhat of an advantage as far as news goes. As I’m writing this even the BBC has not yet covered what’s been seen on NBC, CNN, Russia Today and others. Namely, the reports that Assad has had chemical and biological weapons prepared for use. Obviously, at this point we’re unable to establish if this is fact, what we do know however is that Syria is in possession of these weapons and Assad’s regime is clawing along on its last breaths.

I don’t need to establish how devastating chemical and biological weapons like these can …

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Posted in Europe / International and Op-eds | Also tagged | 7 Comments

Opinion: The Arab Spring – a liberal paradox?

By Charles Beaumont | Wed 3rd October 2012 - 4:25 pm

What should a liberal make of the Arab Spring as it becomes a bloody winter? The recent wave of violent protest at a mindlessly Islamophobic YouTube video is not an isolated incident. In Tunisia in June, hardline Salafists attacked an art gallery and a trade union office. Since Egypt’s revolution there have been regular attacks on Egypt’s Coptic Christian minority. An Islamist-dominated panel reviewing Egypt’s constitution is likely to water down women’s rights, making child marriage easier and withdrawing from international conventions protecting women and children(£). Husni Mubarak, Egypt’s former President, must be wailing “I told you so” …

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The Voice

Nick Clegg: “Turkish entry into the EU is a strategic necessity”

By The Voice | Wed 3rd October 2012 - 3:23 pm

Nick Clegg is on a trade mission to Turkey today, and has announced £500m of business deals and £1m of funding for the Turkish Red Crescent in Syria.

He wrote this morning in Turkey’s Sabah newspaper, on the Turkish economy, trade between Turkey and the UK, visas for Turkish travellers, and the the response to the humanitarian crisis in Syria. You can read the article in Turkish over at Sabah; the English translation is below:

This summer for a few, glorious weeks the United Kingdom became the centre of the world as we hosted the London Olympic and Paralympic

…

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Michael Moore

Michael Moore MP’s Westminster Notes

By Michael Moore | Fri 15th June 2012 - 4:24 pm

Every week, Liberal Democrat Secretary of State for Scotland Michael Moore writes a column for newspapers in his Borders constituency. Here’s this week’s edition. 

The Diamond Jubilee and the Olympic Torch

Despite the wet, windy weather, I am glad to say that the Diamond Jubilee celebrations last week were a great success here in the Borders and across the UK. It was great to see so many local communities getting together to congratulate the Queen on 60 years serving the country, making it an extremely memorable and enjoyable occasion. From one historic event to another, last week’s celebrations follow swiftly onto the …

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Mary Reid

LibLink: Paddy Ashdown – Syria shows the lessons of Libya still unlearnt

By Mary Reid | Fri 1st June 2012 - 11:23 am

Paddy Ashdown writes in the Times today about Syria. He was, of course, the international community’s High Representative in Bosnia, so is ideally placed to comment on western diplomacy in the face of tyranny.

Megaphone diplomacy has failed. The West must let Turkey lead a relief operation.

The slaughter of the innocents in Syria is, of course, horrific, barbaric, shocking, terrifying medieval, bestial — choose your own adjective; they’ve all been used — some many times over. In our attempts to camouflage impotence we are now devaluing hyperbole.

But it is not sufficient. With the West’s moral force in tatters after the blunders

…

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Posted in LibLink | Also tagged and | 10 Comments
Stephen Tall

LDVideo: Nick Clegg – Syrian human rights abusers to be banned from London Olympics

By Stephen Tall | Sun 27th May 2012 - 3:10 pm

Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg appeared on the Andrew Marr Show this morning to say that those guilty of abusing human rights in Syria will be banned from entering the UK for the Olympics:

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Caron Lindsay

Edward McMillan-Scott  MEP “I’ve been helping Syrian rebels”

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 15th March 2012 - 7:28 pm

Edward McMillan-Scott, is one of our Liberal Democrat MEPs for Yorkshire and the Humber and a Vice President of the European Parliament with special responsibility for Human Rights and Democracy. I caught up with him for a quick chat at Conference in Gateshead.

Elected in 1984 to the European Parliament, he recently celebrated his second anniversary of joining the Liberal Democrats at the weekend. He came to us because of the way the Conservative Party had “abandoned its relationships with mainstream parties in the European Parliament. Rather than follow …

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Posted in Europe / International, News and Parliament | Also tagged , and | 3 Comments
Richard Morris

Why Mohamed Al Bouazizi should be the Liberal Voice of 2011

By Richard Morris | Mon 9th January 2012 - 10:53 am

The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society, in which we seek to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality and community, and in which no one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity.

So speaks the first few lines of our constitution. They should be enshrined in everything we do – for if we’re not fighting for this, then, as Liberals, what are we fighting for at all?

So when I think about who should be the Liberal Voice of the Year, I think about who has done most to make those values real. …

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Nick T

LibLink: Mark Pack – The three stories that really matters – even to Britain

By Nick T | Thu 15th December 2011 - 9:56 am

Over on his work blog, the Voice’s Mark Pack has a post looking at three important stories which have been largely overshadowed by the domestic political ramifications of the prime minister’s veto.

Here’s the first issue Mark identifies:

The actual significance of the summit was the latest, most extensive and more desperate attempt to save the Euro. Judging from initial reactions by economists and the financial markets, this time a Euro summit may just have pulled it off. It has not already been written off as a failure which, compared to other summits on the same theme, already makes it more successful

…

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Mark Pack

A welcome shift in international interventions

By Mark Pack | Mon 28th November 2011 - 10:55 am

News of the Arab League’s sanctions against Syria brings to mind the Curate’s Egg – good in parts. That such sanctions are unprecedented shows a welcome increase once more in the Arab League’s willingness to stand up to dictators where mass violence against the population is involved. (Other dictators are another matter of course.) After the steps in Libya and now Syria, the Arab League is looking rather more like a body that does good rather than excuses evil.

That transformation only goes so far. For it has taken months and around 3,500 deaths to bring about sanctions which are …

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Posted in Europe / International and Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 1 Comment
Mark Pack

Sanctions bring benefits one time in three

By Mark Pack | Thu 9th June 2011 - 12:27 pm

That’s the message from an interesting research nugget quoted by the Financial Times:

A careful study by the Peterson Institute of 115 uses of economic sanctions by major countries between 1950 and 1990 concluded that, in about a third of cases, they helped those wielding them achieve their goals. The research shows they were most likely to be successful when this objective was modest and clear, the target was in a weakened position, economic links were significant, sanctions were heavy, and the duration was limited.

Helping in only one in three cases leaves an awful lot of misery and horror unaffected, …

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Posted in News | 5 Comments
Mark Pack

Deraa, not Abbottabad, is where the future is being shaped

By Mark Pack | Mon 2nd May 2011 - 10:49 am

The death of Osama Bin Laden in Abbottabad has triggered a wave of speculation about what it may mean for the future of Al-Qaeda and international terrorism.

Leafing through the history of other terrorists movements, by far the most likely answer is “not much” for the death of one key individual rarely causes terrorist organisations or networks to collapse. Moreoever, in Al-Qaeda’s case it is a much more decentralised network than other groupings which survived the death of one or more key individuals.

More relevant are the continuing protests in Deraa and elsewhere in Syria. For the Syria government has been, alongside …

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Mark Pack

Inside Syria’s torture chambers

By Mark Pack | Fri 29th April 2011 - 6:26 pm

The Guardian reports:

Adnan, a young Syrian professional in his thirties, tells of his experience as one of hundreds detained in President Bashar al-Assad’s crackdown on dissent…

The whole experience is built around humiliation. We were blindfolded. We were shouted at. We were only allowed to the toilet once a day, for three seconds. We had to strip down to our underwear and someone would stand outside the door counting. If you didn’t finish within three seconds you were beaten. I often didn’t go; I was too worried. We were given water and food, but you don’t want to drink when

…

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Posted in News | 2 Comments
Fiyaz Mughal

Opinion: Syria’s ban proves nothing to British niqab critics

By Fiyaz Mughal | Sun 25th July 2010 - 3:50 pm

As the Syrian Government introduces a ban on the niqab in universities, the debate on Islamic veils has moved beyond Europe and into a wider discussion about personal freedom and national identity.

A niqab ban in a Middle Eastern country will give weight to those British critics who claim that their objections are grounded in values, not race, and the UK’s Muslim community will face scrutiny once more. The opinion formed by armchair pundits is that the niqab is not acceptable to our British values, but is it a threat to them?

The government of Syria saw veils as a destabilising force, …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 26 Comments
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