Yes, it is a position which echos a financial control system rather than a social one, but if you understand that they will cut off his supply if he doesn't take that stance publicly then it makes sense.
@Madjid. What is it with you guys and swords, knives, razors...? Sharp handy things in general? Bomb everyone into atoms and pour them into the stratosphere, like the yanks do. (I know you didn't do the N.Y. job.) :(
This just proves there is some of us who do not follow our media and government blindly. Those who do need to wake up NOW! Thanks for this audio uploader
Without claiming to be an expert on Just War, I believe one of the yardsticks used to decide if a war is just is whether it can be won quickly or at all. Starting a war and then being unable to finish it just brings needless suffering. This war was the fault of the Muslim Brotherhood, which easily overthrew governments across North Africa, but which ran into stiff opposition in Syria and could not prevail. it started a war it could not finish, the West very foolishly back it, thinking that it was going to bring democracy to Syria. All it has done is bring death, destruction and destabilization. In a word: Daesh.
My position on Peter Hitchens changed when I met him. Very decent chap. I don't agree with the puritanical moral crusade stuff that he spouts, but his foreign policy is spot on. A lot more of a leftists than people give him credit for
It's always a pleasure to hear from a Hitchens. To paraphrase John Sparrow: "A hero, absolute hero... bit of a Tory, I'm afraid but it can't be helped."
great interview we need more christian conservatives like him standing up to these western-backed fundementalists. however, i think its a little silly to call wahhabis strictly islamic when they consider most muslims infidels (that is if you believe what they write in there books) - its probibly advantageous to point out the sectarian nature of saudi arabia, rather than the suppoedly islamic nature
Assad bombing Isis with chem weapons as he's about to win the war is like Lionel messi walking up to score the winning penalty kick in the word cup and then deciding instead to punch the referee in the face
Syria's best move at this point is to ask to be Annexed by the U.S. and to broadcast it publicly so everyone sees, it really is a win win, but then some of those in power would have to face war crimes trials, but on other hand it ends the Sunni Shia issue for good and it puts a plot of land that will be American soil right in the middle of all that trouble. I think you can see the logic behind it.
Assad is one of the most secular (actually the only one left) and best educated leaders in Middle East. Before his country was destabilised (by western powers) Syria was ruled in a similar way, more or less, to other Arab countries. We cannot say “he ruled his country with iron fist” and stop because all Arab countries are ruled that way, or even worse. It makes no sense to claim Assad is a tyrant and at the same time meet the leaders of Saudi Arabia and Jordan. That is double standards. Lastly, none of the crimes attributed to Assad has been confirmed, including the last one which I don't believe to have taken place even if America brings (fakes) evidence, because it doesn’t make sense at all.
People never learn from history. The circumstances that caused the first world war were more mundane than this conflict. Yet we seem just as primed to get into that kind of mess once again. The difference being weaponry is almost infinitely more terrifying now.If Syria becomes a proxy war between the West and Russia, not only is the cold war back on, it could escalate at a sickening pace. There are also growing tensions with North Korea and China. There is global Islamic terrorism, Iraq is still burning from the last failed military endeavour, and Afghanistan is still just as backwards as it was 2 decades ago.Iran is growing in power while the Saudis continue to arm themselves to the teeth. To top it off Nato member Turkey is about turn itself into a dictatorship. There are no cool heads at the big tables to calm things down. At the moment the fog is blinding us from the most unthinkable catastrophe of global war, which could very likely happen, people of the future will look back with 20/20 hindsight as say "How the hell did they let this happen, mistake after mistake, escalation after escalation"..
I just don't know what to think when it comes to Syria. It seems that no matter what opinion I hold on the situation, I'm contradicting myself a week or 2 later. It's just a nightmare over there, there's clearly no right answers, regardless of who is in power.
Strangly im fearing for americas safety now. America has gone nuts and China and north Korea and Russia could take them out. I don't think anyone will stick up for america when it comes to down to it. The uk should stay well out of this and start to distance themselfs from the usa and stop all the anti russian rhetoric
Richard Longmore we are a young nation that is not as interested in world history to avoid the blindness of our own false sense of vigor and morality and justification for being so. That sweet corrosive corruption that manipulates the sweet milk of charity .... We the people are at risk of suffering severe consequences for the elite who have forgotten they are servants and not nobility ...... I too disdain the rhetoric of war and instinctively recoil in mistrust
I'm surprised he left out Lebanon when speaking of secular countries. Lebanon is the most secular in the Middle East. Of course secular in the sense of non-religious freedoms not in political terms (politics is very sectarian, it's constitutionally sectarian). It's also the country with true freedom of speech.. Opprssed Arabic speaking people used to flee to Lebanon in the old days..
I don't think Peter mentioned Israel once during that interveiw . Are mavericks like PH afraid to mention Israelis part in this ongoing charade in Syria or am I being misinformed by my own research into this conflict and the fate of the innocents caught up in this proxy war between the US/Israel and the Russians.
If he mentions Israel he becomes anti-semitic and losses all credibility. Obviously, the Zionists would love the whole Middle East in chaos but it's difficult to prove but easy to call someone a fascist or Nazi without proof.
L GH ..... Syria is sympathetic towards Iran and opposed to the oppression of the Palestinians. Israel would like nothing more than a puppet government in Damascus. US and Saudi meanwhile are just interested in building the gas pipeline through Syria to the lucrative European markets... and nobbling the existing Russian one at the same time. That's the only reason they want Assad gone.
Peter has recently been quite open about his ridicule of the Uk, so why he waves the caring patriot flag in this "interview" is baffling. Secondly he has been open about wanting to leave the UK, but wont because "he is too old and should have left years ago" (2011). So, just how patriotic are you ? However, his points about Syrias polarised regime and Trumps aggression are valid, particularly the biased journalism against Assad. Assad has IS on his doorstep, Turkey funding them, Russia and US using him as a football, and knows his removal would be another strike against Islam by Western governments. A monster or a powerless pawn?
_+meisterly manu Assad 'knows his removal would be another strike against Islam by Western governments.' What? Taking out Assad would be a strike *in favour* of ISIS and Islamic radicals everywhere. That is why Saudi Arabia wants Assad out.
SA wants Assad out because Iran have been funding him, and its a bigger win for the West in the medias eyes if Assad falls. First Iraq, then Libya, then Afghanistan, now Syria, next Iran etc... ISIS wont rewrite history books nor radicals, western ivy league scholars will. And Trump knows it. Its who you can deceive..
+meisterly manu If we continue to favour Islamic radicalism, give it a larger power base in the Middle East from which to take over the Central Asian republics and Pakistan and then the whole of north-east Africa and the rest, and it flourishes in Indonesia and Malaysia, which are radicalizing, and we continue to admit millions of Muslims into western countries, then the Ivy League will be flooded with Muslims, and they will write the history books.
No ones favouring radicalism here. but your description is the worst case scenario vision of the future which western media want you to fear may happen. It has no basis for reality. You are being suckered into the media cliche of fear through lies. ISIS and radicalism is 0.1% of Islam. If that. For every one radical there are 700,000 peaceful Muslim people. But the western media report using fear that IS are a bigger threat than they are, and this helps the West justify their military projects in the M East.
+meisterly manu Totally the reverse of what you say. The mainstream media and politicians are constantly telling us that Islam is a religion of peace, and that terror attacks are carried out by lone wolves and we must not blame Muslims generally. There is a basis in reality for what I fear: the changing demographic of Europe over the last 50 years and continuing differential birth rates between Muslims and non-Muslims. From my own experience, countries like Malaysia and Indonesia, which were easy-going 20-30 years ago, are now moving towards a puritanical Sunni Islam promulgated everywhere by Saudi Arabia. As for the 0.1% figure, which is undoubtedly too low, radical Islamists have their sympathizers among the 'moderate' Muslims in every country. You are too sanguine about the future. People stick their heads in the sand and have been silenced by being accused of racism and islamophobia. It is not irrational to fear the growth of this totalitarian ideology. There is a media cliche of fear through lies: it is operating in favour of Islam.
So called Syrian opposition? He got that right! Al Nusrah Front was formerly known as Al Qaeda in the Levant and they are not Syrians. Assad may have inherited his position from his father but he has helped turned Syria into a democracy. You cannot blame him for the sins of his father. People in the West don't know this but Syrian people voted for him overwhelmingly. He is one of the most popular and loved elected leaders in the world. He has been able to unite Druze, Armenian Christians, Aramaic Christians, secularists, Alawites, Sunnis and Shia in a secular state under rule of law. He has never persecuted Sunnis. The head of the military is Sunni and the Syrian Arab army is about 80% Sunni. The composition of his government represents the various populations proportionately better than any leftard nation could ever hope to. (Got that Canada.) Yes, they are anti Israel and they have supported anti Israeli terrorists and I no longer care. Israel has been bombing Syria regularly since the insurgency began. Is anybody listening? Israel began bombing Syria commensurate with the invasion of the Islamists. Truth stranger than fiction
I'm very happy for Russia and Assad to win and be as fast as possible in doing it, I appreciate Peter's position *but* any use of a banned weapon *must* be punished. As long as this missle attack was purely punishment and not a prelude to more involvement I am satisfied.
Punished because the day we set aside the punishment for use of chemical weapons is the day we abdicate entirely. If you think The West has been a force for good then you *must* have our enemies believe that we are still willing to act when our law on chemical warfare is transgressed (brought about from our own experience). We may not be in the business of regime change and it may not bring Syria's war to an end quicker but we must uphold the law that is only there because we say so. I do not want a world where mustard gas becomes a viable choice for any dictator or terror cell to use. It must be punshed and people must *fear* using it. Chemical weapons have this lovely effect you see, you murder your foes but you don't damage the infrastructure you want to conquer. I want people to think long and hard about how much bombing they plan to do to wipe out a foe - not just gas them all and walk in and set up shop. As for the evidence I would like to see it too, but frankly the Russian explaination of "the Syrian planes were bombing rebel stockpiles and that's what released the gas" seems iffy at best. I want this war to end quickly, I expect Assad to win with Russian help. I have no interest in stopping this, but frankly another president as weak and worthless as Barak Obama on foreign policy would end The West and that is a world which should send a shiver down your spine.
agreed...like remember in 2013 when a similar gas attack happened, and Obama immediately bombed Syria...but oh wait, the UN determined that those missiles came from rebel held territory. seems we are still using the same game plan as back then...
Are you mad? Just go check any country ruled by the British Empire and countries next door, go tell me which is a place you'd rather live. Our culture and our values are superior and the more people who can enjoy their benefits the better. Our error with Iraq was running away, we should have stayed there for 40 years and raised 2 generations of Iraqi children with better beliefs than tribalism.
danimalplanimal If the rebels are responsible for using the chemical weapons then we punish them, my point is punishment is required. I am having to go with the information we've got; USA says it was Assad (I am sceptical because Assad is winning so why use them), the Russians say Assad bombed a rebel stockpile which released the gas (this is either disgusting disregard for collateral damage or a flimsily cobbled together lie). My point stands, use of chemical weapons must be punished. Twenty Face Pick one, it's the Islamists rebels or Mossad. Don't just shout "exactly!" like you have any concept of what is being discussed.
Marc I am assuming the people watching the most complex aerial warzone ever have got a decent view, and both the Americans and Russians say Assad's planes fly over, something drops then gas is released.
I respected Christopher Hitchens. His brother Peter is - unfortunately - not up to par. It is amusing albeit unremarkable to see a self-described conservative so blatantly in support of Russian aggression, as it is the very thing which is undermining European independence from a radical warlike power threatening atomic war and , ultimately, the very thing Peter claims to be in concerned with - the fate of the UK. In case you're wandering, the radical, warlike power is Russia. Now, think why it is necessary to assert this. It is unfortunately the lot of Euro nationalists ( and the poms are, whether they admit it or not, European). Peter is exercising the usual double standard. vdc-sy.net/february-2017-monthly-statistical-report-on-victims/ www.iamsyria.org/uploads/1/3/0/2/13025755/published/thisone.jpg?1489018969 Russia is directly responsible for some 2.5% of 470 000 casulties of this conflict. or some 11 750 dead. When the Russians bomb maternity hospitals, kill thousands of civilians & help Assad reduce Aleppo to ruins, when that happens, he can't hear the dead, all he can hear is lies. No outrage about a dictatorship propped up with Russian troops and arms. When the Yanks bomb an airbase whence mission to gas civilians was launched - a military target - Pete warns of the consequence of war. One might hope Pete would be aware of the fact that war is here already. The way it is being prosecuted - the 1/5 million dead, extermination of intelligentsia in prisons, millions of refugees - all of those things are the threat. Its not a single, unremarkable action of US navy against a military target involved in commission of war crimes ( gassing civilians is a war crime) that is a threat, but a dirty, bloody civil war prosecuted with all the delicacy of German support for Franco. Aleppo might as well be another Guernica. Of course, to Peter, Aleppo is just like Mosul. Calling Syria a sovereign state sort of ignores the fact that Russian federation and the Iranians have significant forces on the ground there, engaged in a war with Syrian civilian population. I suppose Peter would consider Czechoslovakia in 68, or Hungary in '56 sovereign states as well. No, Peter, you're mostly preaching to the choir here on youtube, or rather to your own echo chamber. I find your arguments about as compelling as those of thyat cheap huckster, George Galloway, of whom your late lamented brother said: ""The man's search for a tyrannical fatherland never ends" I am tempted to call them cheap demagoguery, but I worry I might offend cheap demagogues. The demagogues, after all, generally have an agenda distinguishable from whatever passes for their convictions. That makes them hypocrites. You, on the other hand, sound as thou you really believe that the UK will be just fine as long as you scarify the muslims, withdraw behind the channel & keep cranking out tepid beer and suet puddings. When I read you - as I sometimes do out of fondness for the surname - I come to realize how correct Orwell was when he wrote of the English ruling class ; " Clearly there was only one escape for them - into stupidity."
His wisdom is by far and away beyond any so-called journalist nowadays
I'd agree but then he spoils it on when he embarrasses himself on the topic of drug laws
Yes, it is a position which echos a financial control system rather than a social one, but if you understand that they will cut off his supply if he doesn't take that stance publicly then it makes sense.
Are you posting from Lilliput?
Did he say any Christian ,particularly , wants to see this war end? The fuck is that suppose to mean?
The Christians don't support the jihadists. They'd be glad if they just fucked off.
Peter is being too logical in an age where doublespeak is widespread and truth is lie and lie is truth.
QC Foxy well said!!
No it isn't
QC Foxy Don't you think the razors of logics are essential especially by these times of priviliged emotional language?
Were you just born?
@Madjid. What is it with you guys and swords, knives, razors...? Sharp handy things in general? Bomb everyone into atoms and pour them into the stratosphere, like the yanks do. (I know you didn't do the N.Y. job.) :(
Peter Hitchens is a breath of fresh air.
BringBacktheHitch and you are an ignoramus
A genius, just like his late brother. Dam I miss those rhetorical geniuses pulling people apart. Even if they were two opposing ideas.
I love to watch them together arguing.
I love how Peter likes making people think. He sure has made me think over the last few years of listening to him, I treasure him so much !
This just proves there is some of us who do not follow our media and government blindly. Those who do need to wake up NOW!
Thanks for this audio uploader
just excellent, an important message for these times.
Listening to him feels like Chris is back.....made me happy
Jens Appelgreen It's Christopher. He doesn't like being called "Chris", believe me I've read his memoir: Hitch 22.
Groan ..!! Why does our Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson not listen to Peter Hitchens
great great man absolutely love listening to him and reading his articles
Thank you Peter
peter is spot on why can't our politicians understand this
Why people want people who EAT HEARTS to govern Syria baffles me..
can you imagine we had more people like peter in this world??
At last the voice of reason amongst all the propaganda
Usually find myself on the opposite side of debates to PH, but on this I am 100% in agreement.
Nailed it....
Peter.Hitchens seems to offer a very reasonable and humane account of the situation. A calm voice amidst the chaos and propaganda on all sides.
Without claiming to be an expert on Just War, I believe one of the yardsticks used to decide if a war is just is whether it can be won quickly or at all. Starting a war and then being unable to finish it just brings needless suffering. This war was the fault of the Muslim Brotherhood, which easily overthrew governments across North Africa, but which ran into stiff opposition in Syria and could not prevail. it started a war it could not finish, the West very foolishly back it, thinking that it was going to bring democracy to Syria. All it has done is bring death, destruction and destabilization. In a word: Daesh.
Respect to Peter
Keep up the good work Peter.
Yes.
Well said, Mr H.
Well said, Peter!
What a wise man.
My position on Peter Hitchens changed when I met him. Very decent chap.
I don't agree with the puritanical moral crusade stuff that he spouts, but his foreign policy is spot on.
A lot more of a leftists than people give him credit for
It's always a pleasure to hear from a Hitchens. To paraphrase John Sparrow:
"A hero, absolute hero... bit of a Tory, I'm afraid but it can't be helped."
great interview we need more christian conservatives like him standing up to these western-backed fundementalists. however, i think its a little silly to call wahhabis strictly islamic when they consider most muslims infidels (that is if you believe what they write in there books) - its probibly advantageous to point out the sectarian nature of saudi arabia, rather than the suppoedly islamic nature
WISE WORDS PETER
what radio program was this on? who is interviewing him?
Assad bombing Isis with chem weapons as he's about to win the war is like Lionel messi walking up to score the winning penalty kick in the word cup and then deciding instead to punch the referee in the face
He called it a regime after all at 1:46. Didn't take long.
I agree with very few of Peters views, however, on this occasion. His Report Was 100% correct
The question that is never addressed here is what would be the advantage to Assad by doing this.
Damn, I hadn't even thought that the chemical weapon attack didn't happen. Interesting.
Peter makes a lot of sense
I miss Christopher. Sadly, Peter's the best we've got at this point. It's like when New Coke replaced Coca-Cola.
Syria's best move at this point is to ask to be Annexed by the U.S. and to broadcast it publicly so everyone sees, it really is a win win, but then some of those in power would have to face war crimes trials, but on other hand it ends the Sunni Shia issue for good and it puts a plot of land that will be American soil right in the middle of all that trouble.
I think you can see the logic behind it.
Isn't the UKs 'special relationship' with the USA that we simply do what they tell us to do?
As he now knows.
I'm not a fan of Peter's when it comes to social issues, he's too puritanical for my tastes, but in terms of geopolitics he's usually spot on.
I agree with this man 100%👍👍👍 🐸 ⚡️⚡️I have been trying to convince friends, most can't stomach truth😳
"Surprisingly secular for the Middle East." Yes, let's not confuse Assad with actual secularism though.
Most of the missiles missed the target.
Assad is one of the most secular (actually the only one left) and best educated leaders in Middle East. Before his country was destabilised (by western powers) Syria was ruled in a similar way, more or less, to other Arab countries.
We cannot say “he ruled his country with iron fist” and stop because all Arab countries are ruled that way, or even worse.
It makes no sense to claim Assad is a tyrant and at the same time meet the leaders of Saudi Arabia and Jordan. That is double standards.
Lastly, none of the crimes attributed to Assad has been confirmed, including the last one which I don't believe to have taken place even if America brings (fakes) evidence, because it doesn’t make sense at all.
peter hitchens speaking some sense for once - astounding
all i want for christmas is my two front teeth
People never learn from history. The circumstances that caused the first world war were more mundane than this conflict. Yet we seem just as primed to get into that kind of mess once again. The difference being weaponry is almost infinitely more terrifying now.If Syria becomes a proxy war between the West and Russia, not only is the cold war back on, it could escalate at a sickening pace. There are also growing tensions with North Korea and China. There is global Islamic terrorism, Iraq is still burning from the last failed military endeavour, and Afghanistan is still just as backwards as it was 2 decades ago.Iran is growing in power while the Saudis continue to arm themselves to the teeth. To top it off Nato member Turkey is about turn itself into a dictatorship. There are no cool heads at the big tables to calm things down. At the moment the fog is blinding us from the most unthinkable catastrophe of global war, which could very likely happen, people of the future will look back with 20/20 hindsight as say "How the hell did they let this happen, mistake after mistake, escalation after escalation"..
I just don't know what to think when it comes to Syria. It seems that no matter what opinion I hold on the situation, I'm contradicting myself a week or 2 later. It's just a nightmare over there, there's clearly no right answers, regardless of who is in power.
Totally agree. Its like a rubix cube.
Strangly im fearing for americas safety now. America has gone nuts and China and north Korea and Russia could take them out. I don't think anyone will stick up for america when it comes to down to it. The uk should stay well out of this and start to distance themselfs from the usa and stop all the anti russian rhetoric
Richard Longmore we are a young nation that is not as interested in world history to avoid the blindness of our own false sense of vigor and morality and justification for being so. That sweet corrosive corruption that manipulates the sweet milk of charity .... We the people are at risk of suffering severe consequences for the elite who have forgotten they are servants and not nobility ...... I too disdain the rhetoric of war and instinctively recoil in mistrust
I wish Peter would try to speak (enunciate) more clearly: he mumbles sometimes and varies the volume too much. Great thoughts, but hard to follow.
The interviewer sounds drunk.
I'm surprised he left out Lebanon when speaking of secular countries. Lebanon is the most secular in the Middle East. Of course secular in the sense of non-religious freedoms not in political terms (politics is very sectarian, it's constitutionally sectarian).
It's also the country with true freedom of speech.. Opprssed Arabic speaking people used to flee to Lebanon in the old days..
Why is peter Hitchens talking to a little toad like John Gaunt?
I just can't take him seriously until he applies his same demand for evidence and application of logic to his own belief in a fairytale god.
Very bright but not as bright as Christopher!
I don't think Peter mentioned Israel once during that interveiw . Are mavericks like PH afraid to mention Israelis part in this ongoing charade in Syria or am I being misinformed by my own research into this conflict and the fate of the innocents caught up in this proxy war between the US/Israel and the Russians.
Will be interesting to see who gains in terms of territory in the years to come .
If he mentions Israel he becomes anti-semitic and losses all credibility. Obviously, the Zionists would love the whole Middle East in chaos but it's difficult to prove but easy to call someone a fascist or Nazi without proof.
doucmeasicu everyome says that but Isreal is tiny why deliberely surround yourself with enemys??? Sympathy???
Divide and conquer. And have powerful friends.
L GH ..... Syria is sympathetic towards Iran and opposed to the oppression of the Palestinians. Israel would like nothing more than a puppet government in Damascus. US and Saudi meanwhile are just interested in building the gas pipeline through Syria to the lucrative European markets... and nobbling the existing Russian one at the same time. That's the only reason they want Assad gone.
Everyone: Peter is so amazing.
Me: hey, it's Christopher's little brother.
Peter has recently been quite open about his ridicule of the Uk, so why he waves the caring patriot flag in this "interview" is baffling. Secondly he has been open about wanting to leave the UK, but wont because "he is too old and should have left years ago" (2011). So, just how patriotic are you ? However, his points about Syrias polarised regime and Trumps aggression are valid, particularly the biased journalism against Assad. Assad has IS on his doorstep, Turkey funding them, Russia and US using him as a football, and knows his removal would be another strike against Islam by Western governments. A monster or a powerless pawn?
_+meisterly manu Assad 'knows his removal would be another strike against Islam by Western governments.' What? Taking out Assad would be a strike *in favour* of ISIS and Islamic radicals everywhere. That is why Saudi Arabia wants Assad out.
SA wants Assad out because Iran have been funding him, and its a bigger win for the West in the medias eyes if Assad falls. First Iraq, then Libya, then Afghanistan, now Syria, next Iran etc... ISIS wont rewrite history books nor radicals, western ivy league scholars will. And Trump knows it. Its who you can deceive..
+meisterly manu If we continue to favour Islamic radicalism, give it a larger power base in the Middle East from which to take over the Central Asian republics and Pakistan and then the whole of north-east Africa and the rest, and it flourishes in Indonesia and Malaysia, which are radicalizing, and we continue to admit millions of Muslims into western countries, then the Ivy League will be flooded with Muslims, and they will write the history books.
No ones favouring radicalism here. but your description is the worst case scenario vision of the future which western media want you to fear may happen. It has no basis for reality. You are being suckered into the media cliche of fear through lies. ISIS and radicalism is 0.1% of Islam. If that. For every one radical there are 700,000 peaceful Muslim people. But the western media report using fear that IS are a bigger threat than they are, and this helps the West justify their military projects in the M East.
+meisterly manu Totally the reverse of what you say. The mainstream media and politicians are constantly telling us that Islam is a religion of peace, and that terror attacks are carried out by lone wolves and we must not blame Muslims generally. There is a basis in reality for what I fear: the changing demographic of Europe over the last 50 years and continuing differential birth rates between Muslims and non-Muslims. From my own experience, countries like Malaysia and Indonesia, which were easy-going 20-30 years ago, are now moving towards a puritanical Sunni Islam promulgated everywhere by Saudi Arabia. As for the 0.1% figure, which is undoubtedly too low, radical Islamists have their sympathizers among the 'moderate' Muslims in every country. You are too sanguine about the future. People stick their heads in the sand and have been silenced by being accused of racism and islamophobia. It is not irrational to fear the growth of this totalitarian ideology. There is a media cliche of fear through lies: it is operating in favour of Islam.
So called Syrian opposition? He got that right! Al Nusrah Front was formerly known as Al Qaeda in the Levant and they are not Syrians. Assad may have inherited his position from his father but he has helped turned Syria into a democracy. You cannot blame him for the sins of his father. People in the West don't know this but Syrian people voted for him overwhelmingly. He is one of the most popular and loved elected leaders in the world. He has been able to unite Druze, Armenian Christians, Aramaic Christians, secularists, Alawites, Sunnis and Shia in a secular state under rule of law. He has never persecuted Sunnis. The head of the military is Sunni and the Syrian Arab army is about 80% Sunni. The composition of his government represents the various populations proportionately better than any leftard nation could ever hope to. (Got that Canada.) Yes, they are anti Israel and they have supported anti Israeli terrorists and I no longer care. Israel has been bombing Syria regularly since the insurgency began. Is anybody listening? Israel began bombing Syria commensurate with the invasion of the Islamists. Truth stranger than fiction
Love Peter but he is Pessimistic by nature.
Second...
first
I'm very happy for Russia and Assad to win and be as fast as possible in doing it, I appreciate Peter's position *but* any use of a banned weapon *must* be punished. As long as this missle attack was purely punishment and not a prelude to more involvement I am satisfied.
Punished because the day we set aside the punishment for use of chemical weapons is the day we abdicate entirely. If you think The West has been a force for good then you *must* have our enemies believe that we are still willing to act when our law on chemical warfare is transgressed (brought about from our own experience).
We may not be in the business of regime change and it may not bring Syria's war to an end quicker but we must uphold the law that is only there because we say so. I do not want a world where mustard gas becomes a viable choice for any dictator or terror cell to use. It must be punshed and people must *fear* using it.
Chemical weapons have this lovely effect you see, you murder your foes but you don't damage the infrastructure you want to conquer. I want people to think long and hard about how much bombing they plan to do to wipe out a foe - not just gas them all and walk in and set up shop.
As for the evidence I would like to see it too, but frankly the Russian explaination of "the Syrian planes were bombing rebel stockpiles and that's what released the gas" seems iffy at best.
I want this war to end quickly, I expect Assad to win with Russian help. I have no interest in stopping this, but frankly another president as weak and worthless as Barak Obama on foreign policy would end The West and that is a world which should send a shiver down your spine.
agreed...like remember in 2013 when a similar gas attack happened, and Obama immediately bombed Syria...but oh wait, the UN determined that those missiles came from rebel held territory. seems we are still using the same game plan as back then...
Are you mad? Just go check any country ruled by the British Empire and countries next door, go tell me which is a place you'd rather live. Our culture and our values are superior and the more people who can enjoy their benefits the better.
Our error with Iraq was running away, we should have stayed there for 40 years and raised 2 generations of Iraqi children with better beliefs than tribalism.
danimalplanimal If the rebels are responsible for using the chemical weapons then we punish them, my point is punishment is required. I am having to go with the information we've got; USA says it was Assad (I am sceptical because Assad is winning so why use them), the Russians say Assad bombed a rebel stockpile which released the gas (this is either disgusting disregard for collateral damage or a flimsily cobbled together lie). My point stands, use of chemical weapons must be punished.
Twenty Face Pick one, it's the Islamists rebels or Mossad. Don't just shout "exactly!" like you have any concept of what is being discussed.
Marc I am assuming the people watching the most complex aerial warzone ever have got a decent view, and both the Americans and Russians say Assad's planes fly over, something drops then gas is released.
Your brother was better!!!
I'm more conservative than you my friend... I guarantee it.
peter hitchens, you are not christopher hitchens get the damn idea out ya thick skull...
I respected Christopher Hitchens. His brother Peter is - unfortunately - not up to par.
It is amusing albeit unremarkable to see a self-described conservative so blatantly in support of Russian aggression, as it is the very thing which is undermining European independence from a radical warlike power threatening atomic war and , ultimately, the very thing Peter claims to be in concerned with - the fate of the UK. In case you're wandering, the radical, warlike power is Russia. Now, think why it is necessary to assert this.
It is unfortunately the lot of Euro nationalists ( and the poms are, whether they admit it or not, European). Peter is exercising the usual double standard.
vdc-sy.net/february-2017-monthly-statistical-report-on-victims/
www.iamsyria.org/uploads/1/3/0/2/13025755/published/thisone.jpg?1489018969
Russia is directly responsible for some 2.5% of 470 000 casulties of this conflict. or some 11 750 dead.
When the Russians bomb maternity hospitals, kill thousands of civilians & help Assad reduce Aleppo to ruins, when that happens, he can't hear the dead, all he can hear is lies. No outrage about a dictatorship propped up with Russian troops and arms. When the Yanks bomb an airbase whence mission to gas civilians was launched - a military target - Pete warns of the consequence of war. One might hope Pete would be aware of the fact that war is here already. The way it is being prosecuted - the 1/5 million dead, extermination of intelligentsia in prisons, millions of refugees - all of those things are the threat. Its not a single, unremarkable action of US navy against a military target involved in commission of war crimes ( gassing civilians is a war crime) that is a threat, but a dirty, bloody civil war prosecuted with all the delicacy of German support for Franco. Aleppo might as well be another Guernica. Of course, to Peter, Aleppo is just like Mosul.
Calling Syria a sovereign state sort of ignores the fact that Russian federation and the Iranians have significant forces on the ground there, engaged in a war with Syrian civilian population. I suppose Peter would consider Czechoslovakia in 68, or Hungary in '56 sovereign states as well.
No, Peter, you're mostly preaching to the choir here on youtube, or rather to your own echo chamber. I find your arguments about as compelling as those of thyat cheap huckster, George Galloway, of whom your late lamented brother said: ""The man's search for a tyrannical fatherland never ends" I am tempted to call them cheap demagoguery, but I worry I might offend cheap demagogues. The demagogues, after all, generally have an agenda distinguishable from whatever passes for their convictions. That makes them hypocrites. You, on the other hand, sound as thou you really believe that the UK will be just fine as long as you scarify the muslims, withdraw behind the channel & keep cranking out tepid beer and suet puddings. When I read you - as I sometimes do out of fondness for the surname - I come to realize how correct Orwell was when he wrote of the English ruling class ; " Clearly there was only one escape for them - into stupidity."