Tuesday 23 September 2014

War justified?

The news that Syria and Iraq are being bombed has left me in a quandry.... It seems very unfair that rich countries can go in and destroy homes and people with no real way of making sure that only the baddies are hit.

The sight of men marching, heavily swathed in black and intent on imposing their laws on people whose only crime is to be Christian is very frightening. Naturally we want them stopped. But I am not sure that bombing is right. Of course it's better than armies being sent in to get killed or kill in ground fighting...but that is simply might versus right.

If there is a clear cut moral objective to be achieved by air strikes then that seems to justify it. I am sure that when Hitler sent bombers over London and other big cities and we sent them back over Berlin and Dresden both sides justified the violence by believing that it would shorten the war!

I want the Islamic IS stopped that is certain..and the one crumb of comfort is that the headlines say that the USA is working with some Arab States.

When I read though that Tony Blair is saying that we should not rule out sending in troops on the ground that just makes me furious. A man who lied to justify us bombing Iraq really should keep quiet. He has no credibility left with me and I suspect very many people in this country.

In the beautiful Indian summer we are enjoying here it is hard to imagine the horror happening in Iraq and Syria . All I can do is pray...and I do...but it would help if I knew what to pray for beyond a vague plea for it all to turn out right in the end....

3 comments:

Unknown said...

If Blair hadn't created vacuum in Iraq bombing might not be necessary!

UKViewer said...

Tony Blair is a millionaire on the back of those whose blood was shed in the illegal war that he started in connivance with GW Bush, who Blair stood in awe off.

Considering Blair was supposed to be a socialist, how he could cosy up to a right wing politician of that ilk is beyond me. :(

He lost any credibility with me when he committed troops to an uncertain war, and we found out afterwards that the so called pin-point bombing had killed thousands of innocents in Iraq. Getting rid of Sadam was the biggest mistake made. He was bad, but what is replacing him is 1000 times worse.

Ray Barnes said...

Like you, I do not think bombing is any kind of answer to this terrifying situation, but the one crumb of comfort in the whole horrible affair is that at long last the nearby Arab states are getting off the fence.
The West must not be seen to be the aggressor in this war as it so often has been in recent conflicts.
One thing which might just sway the fanatics and stay their hand would be a united front of East and West nations.
Praying seems a small drop in the ocean but realistically it is all we can do.