Matthew Steeples suggests George Osborne was entirely right to criticise the West’s failure to act over Aleppo
Yesterday, George Osborne rightly blamed the West for the horror of what is happening in Aleppo. He condemned MPs refusal to intervene there in 2013 and suggested Parliament’s failure to defend Syrian civilians has resulted in a “terrible tragedy”.
Speaking from the backbenches for the first time since he was there in the debate over the Iraq war, the former Chancellor commented:
“We have come to a point where it is impossible to intervene anywhere, that we lack the political will as the West to intervene”.
“I have some hope out of this terrible tragedy in Syria: We are beginning to learn the price of not intervening”.
“We did not intervene in Syria. Tens of thousands of people have been killed as a result. Millions of refugees have been sent from their homes”.
“We have allowed a terrorist state to emerge in the form of ISIS. Russia, for the first time since Henry Kissinger kicked them out of the Middle East in the 1970s, is back as the decisive player in that region. That is the price of not intervening”.
In his words, George Osborne was sadly spot on. We live in worrying times and we must now act on the words of Edmund Burke. He once reminded us that: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”. It is time we intervened.