And the missiles have been launched ..

[Coldwaragain]

Oh crap.

Says the person who thinks we should listen to what Peter Ford has to say

If you are going to patronize others at least quote someone who hasn’t any links to Assad

Sorry to butt in, but user are you a bloke pretending to be a chemical weapons expert/goady geopolitical expert/Russian in a troll factory? There’s something really odd about the way you post; it’s like you are attempting to mansplain while also trying be as patronising and disingenuous as possible. What’s with this ‘show me the evidence’ nonsense? I mean, come on

And also, user- this is mumsnet; people who read mumsnet generally fucking hate the daily mail and never even post links to it on here. Yet you mention it quite pointedly. It’s all very odd.

An interesting website to keep us all mindful that the internet is a weird old place right now:

dashboard.securingdemocracy.org/

Your naivety is sweet, it really is.

Aww thanks, means a lot.

Maybe you could refute the points raised instead of saying everyone else is falling for "propaganda" whilst citing unironically telling us to look at Peter Ford?

User you keep demanding evidence yet dismissing it with patronising comments when provided. Please explain what evidence would satisfy you?

Butterymuffin Sat 14-Apr-18 19:32:05
User ah, anonymous username, anonymous career. Right. Bet it's GREAT. wink Maybe work on your homophone use?

My god. Please tell me that you posted this by accident. So your name really is Butterymuffin? Best laugh I've had for ages. Lol. As for my career, erm... yes it is indeed anonymous as far as a random internet stranger is concerned, Jeez.

EnthusiasmIsDisturbed

Oh dear. I'm guessing being the UK Ambassador to Syria does mean you have links to the country. Lol.

MedicinalGin

Apologies. I know me asking people to provide evidence of a chemical attack in Syria is nonsense. And yes of course by doing so must mean that I am a man.

You laughed at the word butterymuffin? Do you get out much?
This smacks of the goady troll- he can’t reply with anything sensible so sprays random insults around wherever he can. It’s a shame because this was an interesting thread and he’s spoiling it- am going to ignore him and hope he gets bored and goes away.

The next thing will be that he accuses us of being hopeless and flounces off.

noblegiraffe

At last someone asking sensible questions. How about ANY evidence at all? A start might of been getting investigators on the ground before we started bombing. What do you think.

MedicinalGin

Nope. I laughed at someone accusing me of being anonymous with a name like butterymuffin. Whats with the 'he' can't reply?

How about ANY evidence at all? A start might of been getting investigators on the ground before we started bombing. What do you think.

I have linked you 2 sources from reuters, maybe you missed them?

I do not wish to goad anyone. All I asked for was evidence of a chemical attack, but all I got was insults and bizarrely being accused of being a 'he' instead of a 'she'. Why on earth should that matter? I guess I have been proved right in that no one can provide firm evidence of a chemical attack. Indeed, unfortunately, because I have caught you all out, you have to resort to personal insults. I will no longer respond to the trolls on this thread.

Finding my feet,

Respectfully, I worked in the uk headquarters in Afghanistan. Yes I shovelled lots of paper but I also gained an appreciation of the higher level issues. Ditto Iraq.

But that isn’t really the point - Syria is neither Iraq or Afghanistan - it is its own complex problem. My personal view is that Afghanistan was a war without an aim, while Iraq was fought for a number of sound reasons but has been overshadowed by the wmd angle.

Syria is really a proxy battlefield allowing Russia and the west to square off, though both sides have other interests in the region. Use of chemical weapons is rightfully taboo and doubly so against civilians, that is why knocking out that nasty toy is a worthwhile endeavour. Hopeful that was achieved last night.

User,

On the contrary, women can serve in all sorts of front line roles these days. And in any event, the range (potentially hundreds of miles) of many modern weapons means the ‘front line’ is a llbroader concept than it used to be

Ok user, do you believe that Assad was behind this chemical weapons attack on his own people? www.nytimes.com/2013/09/17/world/europe/syria-united-nations.html

I do not wish to goad anyone. All I asked for was evidence of a chemical attack, but all I got was insults and bizarrely being accused of being a 'he' instead of a 'she'

No, you jumped in and used a tired trope that any one supporting this strike was fed news from the daily mail.

You came in antagonistic, people respond accordingly

As for my own glorious career... unlike a few on hear, I am far too modest to boast about it.

Best laugh I've had for ages. Lol.

Lol.

My spidey senses are tingling...

On Wednesday evening I spent a few hours in the company of Kindeetransport survivors. All old people who spoke about the last time they saw their parents and it felt line yesterday. They sat out the war wondering where their families were, what was happening. Funding out afterwards was almost as bad.
I don't know what the best answer is but lives are at risk

I and noble have offered you some different news sources to refute.

You seem to ignore that the French have release their intel and the 28 documented cases since september via the UN. What kind of evidence do you need with, this wasn't an escalation or western imperialism as we do not want to get involved and at the end of the day Assad will win and slaughter all those who didn't take up arms in his name.

User

There are many issues with proving beyond all doubt Assad did this. After all, it’s not like you can easily cordon bits of Syria off in a crime scene sense. You also have the problem that putin and Assad have a very firm grip on the country which means they can hide and destroy evidence pretty easily.

What else we know is that Assad has done it before and that he isn’t shy of targeting civilians with indiscriminate weapons like barrel bombs.

The government will also have various intelligence with which it can put a picture together of what happened. Naturally it can’t share much of that with press.

On balance my view is that it is highly likely Assad did this - probably to cowe and terrorise what remains of his stubborn opposition

It’s no use everyone, I think user has gone.
Maybe they were a genuine poster, but there was just something weird in the tone of their posts. Thank you for this thread though, I’m not very good at scouring the internet and fact checking things, but between threads like these and the trump threads, I’m so much better informed than I would otherwise be. These are worrying times indeed and I hope to god there is some sensible and rational decision making to come over the next few days and that further escalation can be avoided.

I don't know what the best answer is but lives are at risk

Lives are at risk no matter what, we are not involved directly in the proxy war, and Assad will win and slaughter all those who didn't take up arms in his honour.

If we went in at 2013 it might have made some difference, now its a shit show proxy war and despite what some think the west is being very measured on this, we are trying to let it play out but within international rules, that's all it is, as blunt and insincere as it sounds.

I worry about the way that Russia is trying to frame the U.K. as somehow complicit in both the Salisbury incident and the chemical attack- I hope to goodness that we are not drawn in to this proxy war any further than we already have been. Sergei lavrov seems to be very eager to frame Britain and lump us together with the US. I hope Theresa can pick her way through all this carefully 😬

user1492877024

He was a former ambassador to Syria a position he hasn’t held since 2006

Oh dear indeed