CAMERON WINS COMMONS
MAJORITY FOR BOMBING SYRIA:
Over 60 Labour MP's vote with Tories;
Majority of Labour vote with Corbyn;
Shameful and outrageously lying
speech by Hilary Benn;
The British House of Commons voted by majority to support
the Cameron Government’s motion to allow British aircraft to join the illegal
bombing of Syrian territory along with the US which has been doing the same for
years allegedly “fighting” IS which seized northwestern Syria to add to its occupation of Mosul and
other cities in western Iraq despite over 8,000 bombing raids by the US Air Force
in the past 2 years which has not reduced IS control by one inch in all that
time.
Cameron’s speech, opening the debate, was lying bluster from
start to finish totally exaggerating the effectiveness of aerial bombing
despite the clear evidence to the contrary, introducing a new propaganda lie
that there were over 70,000 “moderate” opposition fighters in Syria ready to
back up the bombing by NATO air forces. This new lie, reminiscent of the
Blair/Bush lies on Saddam Hussein’s possession of “weapons of mass destruction”
which was the justification for the illegal invasion of Iraq and the killing of
over a million Iraqi civilians in the course of it by these two war criminals, shows the utter and shameless hypocrisy of the NATO warmongers who have been financing, arming and training jihadis and importing them to Syria via Saudi Arabia and Turkey as admitted by the White House last week.
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| Demonstrators outside the House of Commons oppose Cameron's War plans. |
Cameron’s phantom army was referred to as follows: “Last week I told the House that we believe
there are around 70,000 Syrian opposition fighters, who do not belong to
extremist groups and with whom we can co-ordinate attacks on Daesh(sic).
“The House will appreciate there are some limits on what I
can say about these groups. Not least because I can’t risk the safety of these
courageous people – who are being targeted daily by the regime, or by Daesh, or
by both”. [He can’t say more because he dare not; the phantom army doesn’t
exist]
“But, I know this is an area of great interest and concern
for the House, so let me try and say a little more. The 70,000 is an estimate
from our independent Joint Intelligence Committee, based on a detailed
analysis, updated on a daily basis, and drawing on a wide range of open source
and intelligence.[The same gang who told Blair that Saddam had "weapons of mass destruction" in 2003] Of these 70,000, the majority are from the Free Syrian Army.[Absolute
nonsense, there never was any such number in the so-called “Free Syrian Army”
3-4,000 at most and the majority of them have now defected to IS] "
"Alongside the
70,000, there are some 20,000 Kurdish fighters with whom we can also work”. [He
says nothing at all about the regular bombing of the Kurdish Militias by his
NATO crony, Turkey.] "Now I’m not arguing – this is a crucial point – I am not
arguing that all of these 70,000 are somehow ideal partners. Some though, left
the Syrian army because of Assad’s brutality and they clearly can play a role
in the future of Syria".[70,000 now reduced into "some", what a fraud!]
The final vote, around 10.30pm was 397 for Cameron’s motion with 223 against including the majority of Labour MP’s supporting Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, the SNP and a few recalcitrant Tories.
The SNP spokespeople made the most scathing criticism of the
Cameron Government’s lies and duplicity; John Nicolson of the SNP said
it’s ‘absurd’ to think 70,000 Syrian troops with ‘no central command or shared
vision will march collectively thousands of miles to support a British
mission’. He added “It is clearly and utterly absurd and that argument has
fallen apart. “We are being fed ludicrous statistics on a wing and a prayer.
Let’s say no.”
SNP’s Westminster leader Angus Robertson also spoke in opposition to the government’s motion, arguing ‘there is no shortage of countries currently bombing in Syria’:
"I was a co-sponsor of the 2003 amendment to oppose invading Iraq and I am proud to sponsor today’s amendment opposing bombing in Syria. I appeal to colleagues on all sides to learn the lessons from Afghanistan, not to ignore the lessons of Iraq, not to ignore the lessons of Libya. Let’s not repeat the mistakes of the past. Let’s not give the green light to military action without a comprehensive and credible plan to win the peace".
But, it was the speech in favour
of bomber Cameron by Labour’s Shadow Foreign Secretary, Hilary Benn, which produced outrage in
the thousands of anti-war demonstrators outside the House of Commons. Benn, son of lifelong radical socialist,
Tony Benn, shamed his father’s
legacy and insulted the sacrifices of many who fought against fascism in Spain in the 1930’s and during WW2 by
comparing their actions with Cameron’s
illegal proposal for bombing Syria.
“The question which confronts us
in a very, very complex conflict is at its heart very simple. What should we do
with others to confront this threat to our citizens, our nation, other nations
and the people who suffer under the yoke, the cruel yoke, of Daesh?
“Carnage in Paris brought home to
us the clear and present danger we face from them. It could just as easily have
been London or Glasgow or Leeds or Birmingham – and it could still be. And I
believe we have a moral and a practical duty to extend the action we are
already taking in Iraq to Syria. And I am also clear, and I say this to my
colleagues, that the conditions set out in the emergency resolution passed at the
Labour party conference in September have been met. We now have a clear and
unambiguous UN Security Council resolution 2249, paragraph five of which
specifically calls on member states to take all necessary measures; to redouble
and co-ordinate their efforts to prevent and suppress terrorist acts committed
specifically by ISIL and to eradicate the safe haven they have established over
significant parts of Iraq and Syria”.[Not
true, resolution 2249 specifically excludes military action, otherwise it would
have included a Chapter 7 clause which Russia and China would have vetoed and
there would have been no resolution 2249. Benn also ignores the direct
connection with the illegal invasion of Iraq by Labour Leader Tony Blair in
2003, which led to the creation of IS, which we will expand on in a future article.]
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| Hilary Benn misleads the House of commons yesterday as Jeremy Corbyn stoically looks on. |
“So the United Nations is asking
us to do something. It is asking us to do something now. It is asking us to act
in Syria as well as in Iraq. [But, it
does not ask for military action which Mr Benn falsely implies] And it was
a Labour government, if the honourable gentleman will bear with me, it was a
Labour government that helped to found the United Nations at the end of the
Second World War. And why did we do so? Because we wanted the nations of the
world working together to deal with threats to international peace and security
– and Daesh is unquestionably that” [And
it was a Labour Government which illegally invaded Iraq in 2003] .
“So given that the United Nations
has passed this resolution, given that such action would be lawful under
Article 51 of the UN charter, because every state has the right to defend
itself, why would we not uphold the settled will of the United Nations? Particularly
when there is such support from within the region, including from Iraq”.[But, apparently, the legitimate Syrian
state, sovereign member of the United Nations equal to Britain or any of the
other NATO warmongers doesn’t have such a right?]
“Now Mr Speaker, I hope the House
will bear with me if I direct my closing remarks to my Labour friends and
colleagues on this side of the House. As a party, we have always been defined
by our internationalism. We believe we have a responsibility one to another. We
never have and we never should walk by on the other side of the road”. [They walked on the “other side of the road”
when NATO bombed and destroyed the Libyan state in 2011. They walk on the other side of the road as
their “coalition partner”,Saudi Arabia, bombs and burns alive hundreds of men,
women and children on a daily basis in Yemen. They have walked on the other
side of the road as their NATO partner, Turkey, illegally occupies the
territory of EU member, Cyprus, since 1974 and currently is bombing Cameron’s
claimed allies, the Kurdish fighters in northern Syria. They walked on the
other side of the road when they used brute force to suppress the independence
movement in Aden colony in 1965-7 which later became the People’s Republic of South
Yemen after Labour Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, peremptorily withdrew all
British forces in 1967. So much for Labour “internationalism” and “fights for
human rights and justice”. Colonialist imperialists just like their Tory
opposites. Who does Benn think he is kidding?]
Hypocritical and lying claptrap
of the worst kind, worse even than the lies and deceit of the Cameron
Government as, at least, they are being true to form while Benn is trying to
claim the high moral ground for bombing people on a totally false premise.
As usual, the warmongers chose to ignore public opinion as
they did in the illegal war in Iraq. Polls show a rapid drop in public support
for the Cameron line from 57% last week to 47% this week. Another week and he
might have lost the Commons vote as the Blairites in Labour might have run with
the tide of public opinion instead of voting with the Tories. Massive public
demonstrations last Saturday in cities throughout Britain against the Cameron
line also showed growing public opposition. And, the final irony of Labour’s “internationalism” the
British bombers will use the Akrotiri “sovereign base” in Cyprus imposed on the Cypriot
people by British Imperialism in 1960.
The Article 51 Deception:
“Article 51
The Article 51 Deception:
“Article 51
Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of
individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a
Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures
necessary to maintain international peace and security. Measures taken by
Members in the exercise of this right of self-defence shall be immediately
reported to the Security Council and shall not in any way affect the authority
and responsibility of the Security Council under the present Charter to take at
any time such action as it deems necessary in order to maintain or restore
international peace and security”.
Many of the speakers in the House
of Commons debate made reference to Article
51 of the UN Charter which accepts
as “inherent right” of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack
occurs until the Security Council has
taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security. Since
the Security Council has already made such a decision with Resolution 2249 so, Cameron has no legal cover to attack Syria
under Article 51.
Further, the Syrian Arab Republic, the sovereign state whose territory is being
attacked and its citizens lives lost or endangered by Cameron’s illegal actions, has not made or conducted any armed
attack on Great Britain or any other
country, even its hostile neighbours who are actively promoting armed
insurrection on its territory contrary to international law and the UN Charter,
which would justify Cameron’s
invoking Article 51 to falsely
provide cover for his illegal actions and mislead and deceive the British
public in this regard.
The attacks on Paris and elsewhere are being mounted
by the jihadis and their supporters already in European countries who have been
armed, trained and financed by Washington
and its allies, NATO member Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. In the
perverted logic of Cameron’s
position, he should then be bombing Washington
and Riyadh instead of Syria!
This damnable enterprise then is
not the “self-defence” proclaimed by
Cameron but, part of US/NATO/Wahhabi Arabia’s bloody scheme
to destroy the Syrian secular state
and impose a complaint regime in Damascus
which suits the global agenda of the US
neo-cons and the Corporate criminals of the international arms trade.
The swallowing wholesale by 397
members of the British House of
Commons of Cameron’s deception,
including 66 misguided Labour MP’s,
shows that jingoistic British
Imperialism still lives in all its bloody glory but, also the stupidity and
ignorance of these individuals regarding the history and culture of the innocent
people they want to kill with their bombs, held in thrall by the bandits their Western
governments imported to their country, and the further ignorance of basic
military tactics which shows that active enemies can only be defeated in the
field. The only force actually on the ground which can do this is the Syrian Arab Army.
New Articles on Blagaroon 2:
Irish Supreme Court; Lisbon Treaty Referendum validity case:
http://blagaroon2.blogspot.ie/2015/12/irish-supreme-court-lisbon-treaty-appeal.html
Irish Supreme Court; Lisbon Treaty Referendum validity case:
http://blagaroon2.blogspot.ie/2015/12/irish-supreme-court-lisbon-treaty-appeal.html
