Homs

If ever there was a cause worth fighting for, this has to be it...we cannot simply shake our heads and murmur about the slaughter of the innocent from the comfort of our arm-chairs... someone [very important] has to say enough's enough and head off with the means and back-up to sort the bloody mess out once and for all.

Couldn't agree more! It is horrific.

The first post on this thread was on 1st of March, that is 3 months ago....how much longer can we sit back and watch this to go on. After watching the news last night, through my soggy tissue, I could not believe these latest atrocities. Innocent toddlers murdered in their own homes, in God's (which ever God you choose) name it must be stopped now.Dont tell me about tribal wars and boundaries and an eye for an eye, I agree with Soop - somebody somewhere must do something and SOON

EVERY night we listen to the news and see images of body bags that contain murdered innocent people. I have now reached the point where I SCREAM for justice. When will those with the means to put an end to these massacres, stop trying to pussyfoot around and negotiate with madman Assad, and have him removed from power? If I could, I would.

Unfortunately china and Russia are agin. what does it gain them , I'd like to know? Apart from the fact they are all oppressive regimes?

Sorry all...I was for the Iraq war!..certain there were biological weapons there...I nursed a patient with Anthrax, ghastly I promise you..he was a farm worker..picked it up from infected straw..had a massive black pustule on his arm, full of Anthrax spores..deadly..he survived..it takes 1 ampule of Anthrax to infect God knows how many people..imagine a suitcase full!..I'm certain all were smuggled out before the war...The reason we cannot intervene in Syria is because of all the people who screamed about the Iraq War.As for relying on the UN..they are about as useful as a chocolate tea-pot..in Bosnia UN troops stood by whilst Muslim boys were massacred...Syria is incredibly complicated..if we get rid of the ghastly Assad, we may be letting Al Quada in..

If I just had the use of three drone missiles for one day, I know exactly who my three targets would be.

I hate that steely-faced Putin.

I don't know who the current Chinese big boy is. But I can google.

Interfering in the internal politics of another country, let alone joining one side in a civil war is a dangerous thing to do. In the case of Syria, there is not a united anti-government side in the way that there was in Libya. Even so, partisan support in Libya was not supposed to be the plan, just protection of civilians. Any sort of action in Syria would involve ground forces – are we, is the Government prepared to commit British soldiers in this way? Is it legal?

Regime change is very dodgy. I'm sure we all agree that Assad is a nasty piece of work, but if Assad, then why not North Korea's beloved successor, Robert Mugabe, Vadimir Putin, etc. etc.? And what happens if another country decides regime change is necessary in a country that is one of our allies?

The lack of action on the part of NATO and the British Government has nothing to do with those people who, correctly, protested against the Iraq War. No country in the world was under such intense oversight as Iraq before it was invaded in 2003. To smuggle out any chemical or biological weapons would have required an invisibility cloak. There was absolutely no reason to believe that any viable chemical or biological weapons still existed in Iraq at that time. And now look at the state of the country…

Putin could make Assad step down.

Obama could arm the anti-government forces.

Are they waiting for another Bosnia type massacre. Are these little ones not enough for them?

The best the West could do, is to provide safe passage for civilians to get them out of conflict areas. I have no idea how this could be done though. I read this:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-14482968

about the Shabiba - a militia that does what the Assad regime wants, but allows deniability because they are not government troops or police. These are the thugs who kill civilians including women and children, for pro-Assad, sectarian, and other reasons.

I feel the horror of what is happening, but know that outside interference in a civil war can only make things worse.