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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

aibu to wonder why we are doing nothing about syria

279 replies

ThatVikRinA22 · 30/08/2013 23:27

why are we doing nothing?
labour clearly sitting on the fence because of iraq as are the rest of the jittery gvt....

ive heard all the "its not our busniness" arguments - the same was said in WW2 until it was too late.

i cannot comprehend why we would advocate doing nothing - rwanda all over again.
m sickened tbh that people feel so able to wash their hands when people - children - are being napalmed and gassed.

what about what is morally right? forget politics - are we really just going to do nothing??
because its not us?

im not advocating another iraq war - but surely we cannot stand on the sidelines and watch this without doing anything?

OP posts:
NeoMaxiZoomDweebie · 30/08/2013 23:30

Isn't it because they know that more babies and innocent people will be killed and we can't afford it either? Not that I think money should come into it...but they do. I think they don't like what the US are planning...missile strikes.

MurderOfGoths · 30/08/2013 23:31

I was wondering earlier, does the vote mean we wont be involved no matter what is found out? Or is it just putting off diving in right away?

Wondering if it'll go to the vote again once the UN announce their findings on Saturday?

overmydeadbody · 30/08/2013 23:31

What do you suggest we do?

i think the only thing we should be doing is giving lots and lots of aid to the people who need it.

notanyanymore · 30/08/2013 23:32

They're waiting for NATO and the UN to finalise their enquiries/decisions first. Labour aren't making up for Iraq by their current stance, its a completely different situation and without a doubt the UK will be involved in military action.

Tortington · 30/08/2013 23:34

i think it is naive to think that governments will get involved in anything that benifits the people on the ground. IMO the only ONLY reason why cameron wanted to get involved in the first place was becuase he is bestest buddies with the arms manufacturers that fund his party - pretty hard to resist the people who fund your existance

mercibucket · 30/08/2013 23:34

i dont want us to intervene
there is no right, easy solution, it is one big horrible mess, but a lot more aid to refugees would be good

Original poster
ThatVikRinA22 · 30/08/2013 23:35

i think the politician are too scared to get us involved in military action - they are more worried about their voting stats to care about it. the vote last night means we wont be involved - we have effectively washed our hands of this.

its not the same as iraq - we dont have to get drawn into a conflict - but to sit and do nothing is criminal.

OP posts:
Fairy1303 · 30/08/2013 23:46

I'm not sure how I feel tbh. I think at heart I feel the same as you. But I'm not military action is the way necessarily. what would it achieve? I ask that honestly, not rhetorically.

Honestly, I think we should be pumping aid, and opening our doors whole heartedly to the refugees.

I agree that we can't sit back and do nothing.

noblegiraffe · 30/08/2013 23:53

What can we do? If they had a big warehouse marked 'chemical weapons store' then sure, blitz it.

But topple the regime? I'm not sure the alternative is any better.

And any intervention risks Israel getting it in the neck in retaliation.

Original poster
ThatVikRinA22 · 30/08/2013 23:55

politics should really not enter into this - whats morally right should.

i cant help but imagine how i would feel if it were my children being gassed and burnt.

as human being, if this were happening in front of me i would want to help. i read the accounts of what happened i rwanda, and the former cheq republic - i feel that if we just sit back and pretend its not our problem we are culpable.
is that not what happened at first in WW2? hitler got away literally with murder because no one challenged him.

it seems that when oil and money are involved we act. when people are just losing their lives we sit on our hands and talk about anything else.

the climate now is of fear - of losing votes. should that even be a consideration?

OP posts:
Fairy1303 · 30/08/2013 23:59

I agree Vicar but as NEO says, would military action not mean more people would be killed not less? Is there not a third way which would mean we were able to assist without contributing to the violence and destruction?

AgentZigzag · 31/08/2013 00:07

It's not just about an emotional response to what's happening though, or even money, making a move on Syria could destabilize the whole area (more than it is already).

I might be wrong, but wasn't last nights vote really only about giving the weapons inspectors more time to analyze their results, and if anything else developed then another vote could be held?

So it's not a one vote and one vote only decider.

After all this time I don't see the point in steaming in, but then the UN seems so ineffective. I'm expecting to hear they've written a strongly worded letter to Syria any moment.

What do they actually do?

glampinggaloshes · 31/08/2013 00:14

vicainatutu. i dont know why we are doing nothing. i share ashdown's shame. this isn't iraq to which i was vehemently opposed with its politics, oil, egomania. this is repeated poisonous gas attacks against innocent children and families by a regime with a dictator who has either lost control or is a war criminal. remember this has happened before WW2. we cant ignore it this time. we just cant.

givemeaboost · 31/08/2013 00:15

It makes me wonder wtf are we part of the EU? UN? if we were in trouble as a country, we'd be demanding help from other countries, why is it acceptable for the uk to stand bk and do nothing when its someone else in trouble? we have a duty to help.

what make me Confused is that irac/afgan was invaded on the "suspicion" of WMD and yet here we have fkin proof of what is happening- why mps etc are still saying its unclear, its not been proven etc I just cant get my head round...the videos, the pictures, the medical experts opinions, men women and kids fitting and rolling their eyes and chocking.......how much dammed proof/evidence do they fkin need!??? just another excuse to delay imo.

It also makes me chuckle how mps are said to be representative of the british population-really!?! And how we british are not in favour of getting involved - 285-272 vote is hardly a massive majority!!

givemeaboost · 31/08/2013 00:17

And I second others embarrassment, I think the current stance is very bloody shameful Blush

peggyundercrackers · 31/08/2013 00:19

I don't think we can do anything - what are we going to do? who would we take action against? we cant afford to keep pumping aid into other countries - there is enough poverty here before we start to pump more money into other countries. people here are already going hungry, people dying of dehydration and no doubt lots more will freeze during the winter this year because they cannot afford to pay their bills - lets concentrate on our own before others.

givemeaboost · 31/08/2013 00:24

IMO this is a situation that requires the entire international community to act as one force to eliminate the perpetrators, if we stand back and watch, we are basically showing assad we are too chicken to get involved and he will carry on using CW as he pleases as there will be little or no consequences.

givemeaboost · 31/08/2013 00:25

oh well as long as were alright eh peggy !!........speechless

CocktailQueen · 31/08/2013 00:27

We are not the world's police . We cannot afford to get into wars with lads of other countries. Let someone else sort it. Was there a great result when we got involved in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait????

AgentZigzag · 31/08/2013 00:28

It's not embarrassing or shameful to let democratically elected MP's decide what to do.

glampinggaloshes · 31/08/2013 00:30

nothing here compares to what is going on there. we are al humankind, and with that comes the responsibility to protect those who need it. everywhere. that moral responsibility does not have a national barrier that stops at passport control. these are real people, real children, real pain. this is not economic, if it is, vote out the proposed 50 billion HS2 to Birmingham. For goodness sake, this is unbearable.

what is required is a signal that this is considered unacceptable by civilised society. unfortunately that same society is wrapped up by its badly judged historical mistakes, economic arguments, self interest, its personal worries. it still doesn't change what is happening and it doesn't let the world off the hook.

Fairy1303 · 31/08/2013 00:31

Peggy. Concentrate on 'our own'?!

We are human beings above all else.
Those human beings being maimed and killed are 'our own'. a country is nothing but a border.

AgentZigzag · 31/08/2013 00:32

I agree with what peggy said, they can't shave even more money off people already on the breadline in one act, and then start dabbling in other countries (not even local to us) politics in the next one.

Some of it is look to your own giveme, there are some pretty shitty things going on in the world, are you saying we should act as though we're big enough to start throwing our weight around with them too?

Even the biggies like Russia, China and America think more than twice about getting involved.

Speechless right back at ya Grin

Fairy1303 · 31/08/2013 00:33

X post with Glamping.
you said it better than me.

and 'let someone else sort it?' What?!

Weasleyismyking · 31/08/2013 00:37

It's all so horrendous.
From what I understand, (fully prepared to be educated otherwise), there are too many rebel fractions. So us going in and toppling the head will lead to even more (if possible) fighting for the top spot unless we actually govern long term.

This blog seemed to sum up my understanding more articulately and explain the chemical weapon punishment issue.
m.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/08/29/9-questions-about-syria-you-were-too-embarrassed-to-ask/?tid=pm_world_pop

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