FIGHTING DAESH AND THE MORAL HIGH GROUND: PART ONE

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.

First a reality check, we are already hitting Daesh from the air, what parliament is voting on today is merely extending air operations from Iraq to Syria. Daesh is already being attacked from the air in Syria by a coalition including Jordan, France and the United States. There is also the continued indiscriminate bombing by Assad now joined by the Russians. Whatever parliament decides today that bombing will continue. Should the House of Commons agree the RAF will represent a very small component of those forces striking Daesh in Syria. Our contribution will make a difference, but not a very significant one. Parliament is not voting on whether to ‘go to war’ or whether to fight Daesh or not, that decision has already been made. The importance of the vote today has taken on an importance out of all proportion to reality.
Jeremy Corbyn Speaks at So Called Stop the War
Rally.
That said doing nothing does not mean opponents of action could, in the event of a no vote, hold a celebratory parade down Whitehall holding placards reading ‘no blood on our hands,’ for in Daesh held territory the killing will go on, indeed should the air campaign cease altogether, it would accelerate and enable Daesh to recapture lost ground. Assuming that those opposed to an air campaign in Syria are consistent then they must also be opposed to the air campaign in Iraq. Thus if they had been listened to Kobane, Sinjar and the whole of Rojava would be in IS hands.[1] Doing nothing militarily to fight Daesh has consequences too.
Which brings me to the issue of the high moral ground. I respect pacifism, it is a moral position, I do not agree with it, indeed in some circumstances it is positively dangerous, but if sincerely held I am prepared in, a civil manner to beg to differ. I also respect there are others who have genuine doubts and misgivings and moral qualms about the risk of increasing civilian casualties. What I do not respect is the dishonesty of those like Corbyn, Galloway and the Stop the War crowd who tolerate and support the violence of the IRA, Hamas, Hezbollah, Putin and the Iranian theocracy, but oppose any action by this country. Their objections to war are purely ideological and focused exclusively on western intervention.[2]  So I refuse to concede the moral high ground in this debate to those opposing military action against Daesh, only if undertaken by NATO states.
George Galloway
Does this mean that I think that David Cameron’s plan represents a perfect way forward, no, I do not. However it does recognise the primary goal needs to be the degrading of Daesh and recognises that a multi strand approach is essential. Cameron’s case is weak in parts and I think grossly overestimates the numbers of non-Islamist anti-Daesh/Assad foot soldiers. Waiting for a perfect plan is not an option whilst Daesh continues to plan attacks on western society and poses an existentialist threat to comrades fighting for the Kurdish enclave of Rojava. War is always, but always, a horrible bloody business. However sometimes when faced with a phenomenon as barbaric, atavistic and unappeasable as Daesh one must fight back, doing nothing is not an option.

[1] Last June, Daesh captured one third of Iraq overnight and a few months later attacked the Kurdistan Region. Swift airstrikes by Britain, America and France and the actions of our own Peshmerga saved us again. We could have been overrun by Daesh without these airstrikes. We thanks British service personnel who put their lives on the line and who are training our Peshmerga. We now have a border of 650 miles with Daesh. We have pushed them back and recently captured Sinjar – the scene a year ago of medieval rape, sexual enslavement and genocide against the Yezedis. Again Western airstrikes were vital. But the old border between Iraq and Syria does not exist. Daesh fighters come and go across this fictional boundary.
Karwan Jamal Tahir, the Kurdish High Representative to the UK.

[2] Galloway, who attended a @STWuk rally on Saturday, now openly supports Russian bombing and the Assad regime. Earning for himself this tweet:-
 Halima @free_thinker12
Lovely to see @georgegalloway + his beautiful wife hand in hand together trying to stop the killing #DontBombSyria Odd hashtag for someone who supports barrel bombing. Whilst the slogan don’t bomb Syria is designed to implant an image of cities being carpet bombed and is deliberately misleading. The only ones engaged in indiscriminate bombing are Assad and the Russians. 

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