Wednesday, December 16, 2015

On the efficacy of UK bombing of ISIS

Christopher Davidson: "EU or British military action in Syria serves no practical purpose given that the “enemy” is a transnational non-conventional force that can move freely between borders and regroup rapidly wherever states have been sufficiently destabilised. Indeed, a compelling argument can be made that such military action worsens the situation, adding a further layer to the perceived credibility of Isis in its self-claimed anti-Western, anti-imperialist stance.  The EU’s response should be to counter the root causes of such European radicalisation, which will involve revisiting its members’ de facto alliances with the state sponsors of such groups or their antecedents, along with suitable pressure and condemnation of those states which foster a permissive environment for their wealthy citizens to serve as private sponsors.  In their present state, the Western governments are unable and unwilling to develop strategies that can actually thwart the rise and expansion of such movements. Instead, the only workable solution is for the citizens of the Western states themselves to use the mechanisms available to them to force their governments to curtail the foreign policies that continue to arm, equip and provide diplomatic coverage for the states most responsible for the present-day spectre of extremist Islamism."