I was saddened to read that the only debate
we now seem to be having on Syria is whether or not to bomb Assad’s regime,
following the dreadful chemical attacks his regime has reported to have
inflicted on his own people.
Right now we need to forget the
rhetoric of war with its “lines in the sand” and “steps too far”. The West
- UK and US specifically - needs to think logically and coolly.
Regrettably there are no votes in thinking it through, though there are some in
being cool. It's holidays cut short, it's Parliament recalled, it's
decisions need to made with seemingly little or no time to think things
through.
Some politicians seem keen to make the big
bombing decision in the face of public opinion and in many cases (sadly) public
indifference. In the UK 2:1 against bombing or believe Syria is of no concern
to the West.
I argue that the thinking decision is to do
nothing. Look at history: in the 1990s Algeria over 100,000 died in a bloody
civil war as Islamist fought the Army for power , in Turkey its Islamic state
was overthrown by in a peaceful coup by ‘Young Turks’ leading a secular army to
create an equally secular state. Similar
- sometimes peaceful , sometimes violent - things appear to be happening
in Egypt and Syria today in the overt struggle between Islamism and Secularism.
I would ask politicians to look at the
legacy of Tony Blair and George Bush that must make some of them think
twice.
If politicians believe they must become
involved in Syria then I urge them to puruse a covert electronic war with
Assad. The hidden, some say dirty, war - the one that goes unpublicised,
behind closed doors – a few key strokes on a computer on one side of
world causing problems the other side of the world. Internet war ,
virus spreading and the like can be very effective eg the Stuxnet virus
used against Iran’s nuclear capability.
There are no plaudits or Nobel Peace prizes
in a covert war to constrain Assad, no votes to be won. But I would argue this
is the most effective solution using the Internet, to make electronic
strikes on Assad and his infrastructure.
If the US or UK do not have a hidden handle
or kill switch on Assad's technology I would be surprised, after all they sold
Syria a lot of it, so they know how it works, so surely, they know how to
stop it working.
I urge US and UK governments to bring
together their covert internet technologists in order to contain Assad's regime
– switch off their iPhones, their smartphones, their Kindles, their Blackberrys
, switch off their power transformers, restrain Assad's regime
electronically.
Leave
Syria alone. Let Syria work out its own destiny - secular or Islamic state - like Egypt is
doing now as Algeria and Turkey did in the past, in doing so let history take
its course.
