Ealing Assembly Member Onkar Sahota, along with all three local Members of Parliament ,have issued a joint statement condemning David Cameron’s “rush to war” and explaining why they will not be supporting today’s motion to begin airstrikes on Syria.
The full statement reads:
Today, Wednesday 2nd December, parliament will be asked to authorise military action in Syria against ISIL/Daesh.
The terrorists based in Syria and Iraq, who have launched a campaign of butchery across the Middle East and Europe, must be stopped. We support calls from the United Nations and around the world to bring Daesh to justice and bring their reign of terror in the region to an end.
We are not pacifists and we believe firmly in our international obligations to protect civilians wherever they are targeted in war or threatened with atrocities; like we have seen committed by numerous combatants in Syria.
However, with a view to David Cameron’s motion put before parliament tomorrow, we cannot support his rush to war authorising airstrikes across Syria.
While there are some strong components of his case, we do not believe that this action will achieve the result the Prime Minster expects. Explicitly:
Increased military engagement will create more refugees and put civilians further at risk.
You cannot win a war through air power alone and there is no reliable force on the ground to defeat Daesh.
The case for war does not include measurable goals or clear plan to deal with the aftermath and reconstruction of Syria.
It does not include a verifiable plan to remove the Assad regime from power – those responsible for the vast majority of the 250,000 civilian deaths so far.
It must bring our economic and political resources to bear on Daesh’s backers across the region to starve them of their revenue streams, and access to weaponry.
Since these concerns are not properly addressed we cannot currently support David Cameron’s bombing campaign across Syria.
Signed,
Dr Onkar Sahota AM
Rupa Huq MP
Steve Pound MP
Virendra Sharma MP