BY BEN KERRIGAN
The Shadow Foreign Secretary, Hilary Benn, has been accused of having blood on his hands by up to 50 demonstrators who gathered outside his regular constituency surgery in Beeston, West Yorkshire. His support for the strike on ISIS in Syria has upset anti war campaigners who support Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn’s opposition to air strikes aimed at weakening the ability of Islamic fundamentalist groups to implement an attack in the UK .
Last night, typhoons from RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland and a Reaper aircraft were used for the first time with RAF tonados to cut off the financial supply of the Islamic State, according to defense Secretary Michael Fullan. The air strikes backed by Conservative and Labour MPs are believed to be a direct response to the deadly attack launched in Paris a fortnight ago that claimed the lives of 130 people and put France in a state of panic.
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Since the attack, French police have been conducting detailed search of passengers at train stations in a bid to detect any potential terrorists planning to wreak further harvoc on the French public. The attack which has left an indelible mark on the minds of the French has alerted the west to take urgent action in an effort to obliterate the notorious network of insurgents, but some remain unconvinced of the necessity of the attack or the existence of a sustained plan to contain any potential back clash.
APPLAUDED
Benn has been applauded for his impassioned speech in favour of war, but campaigners are upset that he ignored local residents who were bitterly against the war-the fourth of its kind since 2001. What the campaigners fail to understand is that political considerations cannot always take into account the opinions of lay people who may put fear of the potential consequences over maximizing the security of the British people. Among the concerns that motivated the demonstration, was the possibility of civilian deaths. Addressing those concerns, Benn said :
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“I share the concerns that have been expressed about potential civilian casualties. However, unlike Daesh, none of us today acts with the intent to harm civilians. Rather, we act to protect civilians from Daesh, which targets innocent people”.
CIVILIAN DEATHS
However, the fact there is no intention to cause civilian deaths does not make it any less acceptable if civilian lives or lost due to the bombings, therefore a huge responsibility lies with the coalition to avoid civilian casualties, so as not to further enrage these extremist groups or others who may in the process of being primed for the sort of atrocities we saw in Paris.
One key question is whether the attacks in Syria will not be reminiscent of Iraq where western invasion worsened the state of affairs there. A multi-dimensional approach will be needed to not only achieve the purpose set, but to also contain whatever aftermath emerges from the air assaults. A mission can only be deemed successful if it achieves its overall purpose without producing any serious counterproductive outcomes that is directly associated with the mission at hand.
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