Boris Johnson supported the catastrophic invasion of Iraq, launched by Bush and Blair, which is the cause of the present chaos in the Middle East and the rise of global terrorism it has resulted in. Like the bombing of Libya the Iraq invasion turned previously powerless jihadist terrorists into a powerful force. Above all the people of the Middle East but also those in Paris, San Bernardino, and Mali are paying for that with their lives.
But in dealing with the situation in Syria Boris Johnson has hit the nail on the head in an article in the Daily Telegraph. Faced with war between ISIS on one side and Assad/Russia on the other it is necessary to fight on the side of Assad/Russia. Everything else is just impractical waffle or directly aids ISIS.
This is the key point in what Boris Johnson wrote:
‘There is Assad, and his army; and the recent signs are that they are making some progress. Thanks at least partly to Russian air strikes, it looks as if the regime is taking back large parts of Homs. Al-Qaeda-affiliated militants are withdrawing from some districts of the city. Is that a bad thing? I don’t think so.
‘With Russian air support, the Assad regime is only a few miles from Palmyra – the fabled pink-stoned city of monuments, where Isil decapitated the 82-year-old curator, Khaled Al‑Assad, before beginning an orgy of cultural destruction.
‘Am I backing the Assad regime, and the Russians, in their joint enterprise to recapture that amazing site? You bet I am. ‘
Precisely. All those who are discussing Syria have to take a position on the real war taking place. In the battle between Assad/Russia and ISIS at Palmyra and everywhere else who do they want to win? Anyone with sense supports the side of Assad/Russia.
It is the same choice as in 1941 in Russia. Stalin was a ruthless and murderous dictator. But in the choice between the forces led by Hitler and the forces led by Stalin anyone with a brain in their head chose to fight on the side of Stalin and wanted the victory of that side. It didn’t mean to like or support Stalin but sometimes in politics it is necessary to chose the lesser of two evils – to refuse to do so means to aid the victory of the greater evil.
Boris Johnson has damaged London. But on the war in Syria he cuts to the chase and is correct. In the real war in Syria it is necessary to support the victory of the side of Assad/Russia against ISIS.
Everything else is just empty talk or aids ISIS.
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This article by John Ross, on Boris Johnson’s correct choice on Syria, was originally published on Facebook.