The Syrian crisis and how it began
There is a civil war raging between President
Bashar al-Assad's government forces and opposition supporters. It flared up in 2011 from what began as
pro-democracy Arab Spring protests. More than 250,000 Syrians have been killed,
and 11 million made homeless. In the chaos, so-called ‘Islamic State’ moved into
Syria from over the border in Iraq and seized territory. It now controls large
parts of Syria and Iraq.
What is Islamic State?
It has at least four names: Islamic State (IS), Islamic
State of Iraq and Syria (Isis), Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil), or
Daesh – which is an acronym based on another name that the group used to use. The
‘state’ part of its names reflects the fact that it has declared its territory a caliphate - a state governed according to
Islamic law - under its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
David CameronMP, the Prime Minister, said that he preferred “The terminology ‘Daesh’ rather than ISIL. This evil
death cult is neither a true representation of Islam nor a state." (This quote and those from MPs below are from the
debate.)
Khalid Mahmood MP endorsed this:
“I want to welcome the Prime Minister’s use of the name Daesh for this barbaric
group of people who have absolutely no connection at all to Islam, my faith—as
has been affirmed by the Grand Imam Sheikh el-Tayeb of al-Azhar University in
only the last few days. That ensures that those people are not referred to in
any way as Muslims; nor should they be seen as such.”
David
Cameron explained why he saw ISIL/Daesh as a threat to the UK: “ISIL has
brutally murdered British hostages. They have inspired the worst terrorist
attack against British people since 7/7 on the beaches of Tunisia, and they
have plotted atrocities on the streets here at home. Since November last year
our security services have foiled no fewer than seven different plots against
our people, so this threat is very real.”
Foreign involvement in Syria
There is an international
coalition, led by the United States, also involving France, Belgium, Denmark,
the Netherlands, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar and Bahrain. In 2014, in
the face of the threat from Islamic State in Iraq, the House of Commons voted
524 to 43 to authorise airstrikes in Iraq. The UK’s contribution to the
coalition takes the form of eight RAF Tornado aircraft, based in Cyprus. In Iraq, the jets have carried out 30% of
coalition surveillance missions, but fewer than 5% of coalition air strikes.
These involve launching guided bombs or Brimstone missiles at ISIL/Daesh
targets. “Since then [2014], our brilliant RAF pilots have helped local forces
to halt ISIL’s advance and recover 30% of the territory ISIL had captured.” (David
Cameron)
The US and the UK are among
countries that want to see the removal of President Assad. Russia is not part
of the US-led coalition, being allied with President Assad. It too is launching
airstrikes, in support of the Syrian government.
The
attitudes of MPs to the vote
Deciding how
to vote on this motion marks one of the most serious and solemn occasions in my
life, and I have agonised over how I will vote this evening for longer than I
have about virtually any other decision that I have had to make so far. (Steve
Double MP)
I will be
voting against the Government tonight, but I will not be doing so with any
certainty that what I am doing is correct. (Toby Perkins MP)
Our vote
today cannot be based on certainty. It is truly a conscience vote—a vote based
on our instincts, on the balance of probabilities, on our feeling for things,
on what our constituents said to us and, above all, our hopes for peace in the
future. (James Gray MP)
The criteria of two MPs in
deciding how to vote
I have also
asked myself a number of time-honoured questions about whether a conflict is
just. Will this military action promote a just cause? Are our intentions right?
Is there legislative authority? Is this a last resort? Is there a probability
of success? Is the action proportionate? (Fiona Bruce MP)
What
specific objectives do we have for our involvement, along with our allies? Is
there a clear legal basis for the action? What will a post-civil war Syria look
like? Who or what will be the Government there, and how will our intervention
assist in bringing that about? (Kevin Foster MP)
The legality
of airstrikes
Most MPs
thought that a recent resolution by the Security Council of the UN made the
strikes legal, although a
few, including Jeremy Corbyn, were not persuaded. Margaret Beckett expressed
the view of the majority when she said:
“Our [Labour] conference called
for a United Nations resolution before further action, and we now have a
unanimous Security Council resolution. Moreover, that resolution calls on
member states in explicit and unmistakeable terms to combat the Daesh threat ‘by
all means’ and ‘to eradicate the safe haven they
have established’ in Iraq and
Syria. Although it
speaks of the need to pursue the peace process, the UN resolution calls on
member states to act now.”
