10 years on, and all's a well...
There was a strong reaction at the Foreign Office today to reports of the use of chemical weapons in the north of Syria.
"Obviously, reports are still highly conflicted at the moment and both sides have blamed each other", said foreign secretary William Hague at a hastily convened press conference. "Nonetheless, this latest development doesn't change our stance. If it was indeed the rebels that used chemical weapons, presumably seized from the Assad regime's poorly secured stockpile, then what we need to do now is ensure that more such weapons get into the hands of moderates rather than extremists. The opposition's weaker position doesn't create the right atmosphere for political negotiations."
"If, on the other hand, it was the regime that used a chemical warhead, then our position is still the same. We need to ensure that the moderate rebels also get such warheads in order to be able to protect civilians from the regime's onslaught. The EU arms embargo must be lifted."
When it was pointed out to Hague that apart from his position being contradictory, there was no guarantee the moderates wouldn't sell the weapons they were given by the UK and France straight to the extremists at the first opportunity, his demeanour suddenly changed.
"Look, isn't it obvious what we're doing here? We all know full well that the regime is going to fall eventually, and what our training of moderates in Jordan is aimed at is ensuring they're strong enough to be able to fight the likes of the al-Nusra Front in the power vacuum that follows. We couldn't really give a stuff about the Syrian people; all we care about now is that we don't have another branch of al-Qaida operating without constraints in a Middle Eastern country. We really have learned the lessons of Iraq, which is that it's far better for Arabs to kill Arabs than for Arabs to kill Western soldiers."
Our foreign policy is still completely and utterly insane.
"Obviously, reports are still highly conflicted at the moment and both sides have blamed each other", said foreign secretary William Hague at a hastily convened press conference. "Nonetheless, this latest development doesn't change our stance. If it was indeed the rebels that used chemical weapons, presumably seized from the Assad regime's poorly secured stockpile, then what we need to do now is ensure that more such weapons get into the hands of moderates rather than extremists. The opposition's weaker position doesn't create the right atmosphere for political negotiations."
"If, on the other hand, it was the regime that used a chemical warhead, then our position is still the same. We need to ensure that the moderate rebels also get such warheads in order to be able to protect civilians from the regime's onslaught. The EU arms embargo must be lifted."
When it was pointed out to Hague that apart from his position being contradictory, there was no guarantee the moderates wouldn't sell the weapons they were given by the UK and France straight to the extremists at the first opportunity, his demeanour suddenly changed.
"Look, isn't it obvious what we're doing here? We all know full well that the regime is going to fall eventually, and what our training of moderates in Jordan is aimed at is ensuring they're strong enough to be able to fight the likes of the al-Nusra Front in the power vacuum that follows. We couldn't really give a stuff about the Syrian people; all we care about now is that we don't have another branch of al-Qaida operating without constraints in a Middle Eastern country. We really have learned the lessons of Iraq, which is that it's far better for Arabs to kill Arabs than for Arabs to kill Western soldiers."
Our foreign policy is still completely and utterly insane.
Labels: Arab spring, Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition, foreign policy, Free Syrian Army, mockery, politics, Syria, William Hague
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