Sir, – The murder of up to 1,300 innocent civilians by a despotic regime using chemical weapons cannot go unpunished.
The political manoeuvres you advocate in your Editorial (August 29th) to resolve the situation in Syria have no definitive timetable. They are simply an extension of the ongoing political pressure on the country which clearly has been ignored to date. It would also not redact the threat of the use of these weapons again in the near future.
Cautious diplomacy will result in yet more deaths, suffering and displacement to innocent people while the regime bides its time in attempting to defeat the opposing side in their civil war. It can then agree to a settlement after accomplishing its military goals and intimidating its population.
Syria, which you imply is simply the result of a “carve up” between Britain and France, is a lot more than lines on a map drawn in Paris and your use of these terms implies a cold detachment from your subject.
While you articulate a political solution worthy of those who conducted this “carve up” about 100 years ago, involving cold detachment and diplomacy framed from a European perspective, thousands more will be murdered.
A show of brute force which shows the regime that this will not be tolerated without necessarily trying to topple it is the only morally acceptable solution available to stop this happening again soon. – Yours, etc,
DAVID BOYD,
Wingate Road,
London, England.
Sir, – Minister for Foreign Affairs Eamon Gilmore is correct when he states that any response to the use of chemical weapons in Syria should be only through the United Nations (Breaking News, September 5th). The same should also have applied in the cases of Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and elsewhere.
There is an additional approach open to the international community and that is to refer the matter to the International Criminal Court and have those who may have been responsible for these outrages indicted and eventually brought before the Court in The Hague. If, as is likely, chemical weapons were used by both sides in the Syrian civil war, then all those responsible should be indicted before the International Criminal Court, thereby reinforcing international law, rather than degrading it, as any unilateral US or “coalition of the willing” attack will do.
Mr Gilmore should also ensure that Irish airspace and Shannon airport are not used in any way to facilitate US war efforts in the Middle East. All US military aircraft passing through Shannon airport should be inspected and investigated in the interim period, and there should be a total ban on US military aircraft using Irish airspace and Irish airports for the duration of any US-led attacks on Syria.
The United States has no credibility as a chemical weapons policeman. Large quantities of chemical weapons were used in Vietnam, including Agent Orange that defoliated the jungle and left thousands of children with very serious deformities. In Iraq, especially in Fallujah, large amounts of chemical weapons including white phosphorous and depleted uranium were used by the US as recently as 2005 causing huge damage, especially to unborn children. – Yours, etc,
EDWARD HORGAN,
Newtown,
Castletroy, Limerick.