Watching events in Syria you can’t help but be thoroughly disturbed. Massacres, chemical weapons usage, millions displaced, mass destruction and a death toll approaching an estimated 100,000. Although well into the 21st century the old bloody habits of the 20th seem reluctant to let go.
But as events unfold in Syria I fear we are witnessing a tragic aperitif – a warm-up act for horrors and worse that will flare up with shocking frequency as we move further into the century. The reason? Our planet is literally and metaphorically becoming a pressure cooker. Continue reading
While the world’s gaze if fixed on London and the Olympics, in Syria, the battle for Aleppo has well and truly begun. This is clearly an attempt by the Assad regime to reassert itself after the bombings and raids into Damascus that knocked it so badly off-balance. So, it is a crucial battle, whichever side wins will have the momentum in the conflict and a possibly decisive tactical advantage. You can’t help but feel that if Assad and his loyal forces win that the retribution against the city itself and the Syrian people in general will be swift and bloody and although it may be far away from here and seemingly a world away from the glitz and glamour of London, the repercussions will inevitably be felt eventually on British shores.