George Osborne admits Britain’s failure to act in Syria in 2013 fuelled ISIS and led to hundreds and thousands of deaths
Ex-Chancellor says the Commons vote blocking military action against the Assad regime three years ago was 'the single most depressing moment of my time to date'
BRITAIN’s disastrous failure to intervene in Syria fuelled the rise of ISIS and led to the deaths of hundreds and thousands of people, George Osborne declared today.
Speaking in the US, the former Chancellor said the Commons vote blocking military action against the Assad regime in 2013 was “the single most depressing moment of my time to date” in the Commons.
And he launched a passionate defence of an “interventionist” foreign policy, saying the terrifying rise of IS and the carnage in Syria proved why we should have stepped in three years ago.
He said: “I don’t whether these interventions in Syria would have worked. I am sure they would have been very messy and difficult.
“But I do know what has happened in Syria while we chose not to intervene decisively.
“Hundreds of thousands killed. Millions displaced. Neighbouring countries destabilised. The taboo on the use of chemical weapons broken.
“The emergence of a terrorist state. Russia back as a major player in the Middle East. And a refugee crisis that has fuelled the rise of extremism across Europe.”
He added: “Yes my political generation knows the cost of intervention – but we are also beginning to understand the cost of not intervening. It doesn’t make our countries more secure.”
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The blast in a speech to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs comes just days after a Select Committee report slammed Britain’s “token war” against ISIS.
A cross-party group of MPs said less than one in 20 RAF strikes against the terrorists has helped the ground assault against ISIS in Syria.
David Cameron secured Parliament’s backing to target ISIS in Syria as well as Iraq in an emotional House of Commons vote at the end of last year.
But of 615 bombing raids by RAF jets, just 65 have been in Syria against 550 in Iraq.
And from an initial burst of 31 attacks on ISIS in Syria in December 2015, the number of bombs dropped on the warped movement has fallen to single figures – with just three in May and five in July.
Defence Committee chairman Julian Lewis said: “Whilst the military effort in Iraq is bearing fruit, that is much less certain in Syria.
“The question must be asked, is our bombing in Syria now anything more than a token gesture?”
