Tagged with ISIS

Smears hit new depth as Labour ‘moderate’ compares Corbyn supporters to ISIS

luke-akehurstA leading Labour moderate is today quoted in today’s Observer comparing supporters of Jeremy Corbyn to people “moving through the party like Isis in their jeeps in Iraq“.  The context of this comparison was the enthusiasm expressed by Jeremy Corbyn at a recent rally for the influx of new members and supporters to Labour and what it meant for party democracy:

This level of participation is unprecedented and I am delighted by that. It will change the Labour party. I think it will make it a much more democratic organisation; it will make it much more participatory. My determination – it’s not about me, it’s about us, there’s a whole lot of us – is that we have a much stronger grassroots democracy, so that ideas come up, rather than decisions are made at the top and are handed down like papal encyclicals.”

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Intervention in Iraq is futile – we should not join it

BRITAIN-UAE-DIPLOMACYTwo years after MPs voted not to take part in the bombardment of Syria, British forces have been doing precisely that. A cross-party group of MPs and peers will investigate the air strikes, the Government’s authorisation of which shows complete contempt for parliamentary democracy. As Michael Meacher pointed out, “The excuse given by the Prime Minister’s office that they were embedded with US forces and not operating under a British chain of command is risible.”

 

But, beyond the challenge to constitutional government in the UK, it’s worth asking what the aerial attacks on Isis are likely to accomplish. Last year. Parliament authorised air strikes on the terrorist group in Iraq as part of a US-led coalition of attacks. Nearly a year on, little has been achieved, except for the continued suffering of the Iraqi people, at considerable cost to the taxpayer. The value of bombs dropped by British warplanes and drones on Iraq since September has likely exceeded around £20m, according to an analysis by the Independent. Continue reading →

So Tory ministers lying to Parliament is now OK?

TOPSHOTS-SYRIA-CONFLICTThe revelation that British air crews have been engaged in bombing operations against ISIS in Syria for the last 10 months, in strict defiance of a Parliamentary vote two years ago prohibiting this, should be a matter where ministerial heads roll. The excuse given by the Prime Minister’s office that they were embedded with US forces and not operating under a British chain of command is risible. The vote in 2013 was explicit that there was not to be any British military involvement in the Syrian conflict. For Fallon as defence secretary then secretly to allow 20 British personnel, including 3 pilots, to take part in U.S.-led bombing missions against ISIS targets in Syria is direct defiance of a Parliamentary red line irrespective of whether British air crew were operating under U.S. or British command structures. This a very serious abuse of Parliament. If Parliamentary sovereignty is to mean anything, Fallon should stand down or be forced to resign. Continue reading →

Genocide in Iraq: when will it end?

ISIS destructionTwelve years on from the 2003 invasion of Iraq, there is no let-up in the misery being inflicted on the Iraqi people. The UN mission to Iraq says violence in the country claimed the lives of at least 1,100 Iraqis in February, including more than 600 civilians.

The war crimes of Isis are well-documented: summary executions including of children and people on account of their sexuality; men flogged for using mobile phones; the kidnapping of hundreds of women from the Yazidi sect, who were subjected to physical and sexual abuse, slavery and forced marriage.

Thousands of rare manuscripts in Mosul’s library have been destroyed along with priceless antiquities at the museum. ISIS has blown up the historic wall of Nineveh and destroyed the ancient Assyrian site of Nimrud and 2,000 year-old ruins at Hatra. Continue reading →

Iraq – it could take years

Ten weeks after Parliament voted to bomb IS (Islamic State) in northern Iraq, US Secretary of State John Kerry has admitted that it could take years for them to be defeated.  Since Parliament’s vote in September, other European countries have lined up to take part in the campaign – but it remains uncertain whether these actions will materially alter the balance of forces on the ground.

The murderous nature of IS is not in question. Three months ago they kidnapped hundreds of women from the Yazidi sect and subjected them to physical and sexual abuse, slavery and forced marriage.

In Iraq, there are reports of former election candidates being hunted down and publicly executed in areas now under their control. In Syria, children are being recruited, given religious training and sent off to fight.  Continue reading →