Lindis Percy: To prevent a catastrophe, we must give peace a chance

As I stood in the shopping centre in Harrogate on Wednesday afternoon, holding an upside down US flag (the symbol of protest for the Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases) with “Utter folly to attack Syria” written on it, I was very encouraged by the positive responses from people passing.

They put thumbs up, nodded in agreement, said “I agree with that” and came to talk. Later, when standing on a roundabout on the road out of Harrogate to the American base at NSA Menwith Hill with the same upside down US flag, the response was similar.

The democratic process has been followed surprisingly and unusually well over the last few days with Parliament being recalled, the coalition Government conceding to public and opposition demands for a debate and MPs given a chance to vote 
for or against military action against Syria. For the moment, the rush to military action has been put on hold.

The rhetoric used by the US and UK governments has been alarmingly reminiscent of that used as justification in the lead-up to the illegal war in Iraq in 2003.

The same arguments have been used by Barack Obama and David Cameron as were used then. As the Green Party MP Caroline Lucas said, the Government has “a cavalier attitude to international law seeing international law as an inconvenience”.

William Hague has rightly spoken out for a long time about the horrific situation in Syria. However at the same time the UK government has supplied weapons to Syria, including material that could potentially be used to manufacture chemical weapons. This week he said: “This is the first time in the 21st century that chemical weapons have been used and cannot be tolerated”. This is not so. I remember with horror the use of phosphorous by US forces in Fallujah and depleted uranium by both the UK and US military in the illegal war in Iraq. Hypocrisy abounds.

No thought, it seems, has been systematically worked out and logically and responsibly argued as to the unforeseen and catastrophic consequences which may result if military action is taken. The Middle East region is an incredibly volatile and dangerous area of the world (no thanks to the meddling of the West) and it would be irresponsible to add petrol to the fire. It would only make things worse.

What will missile strikes achieve and what would be the consequences? Isn’t it rather dangerous to fire off missiles at a chemical weapons store? Wouldn’t that cause hundreds and hundreds of deaths? Wouldn’t the American intelligence gathering and surveillance base at NSA Menwith Hill become more of a focus than it is already, for unknown and angry people determined on threatening and attacking this unaccountable US base?

Wars and conflicts rely on intelligence and are led by the sophisticated technology of NSA Menwith Hill. All our security is put at risk. I wonder if Barack Obama and David Cameron have thought of this? These questions must be answered.

So should nothing be done and the criminal use of chemical weapons against the people of Syria go unpunished? Of course not, there are a range of measures that should be taken.

It is thought that the Russian and Chinese members on the UN Security Council will predictably veto any military action. Wouldn’t it be better to pursue quiet diplomacy and political mediation with these delegates?

Lakhdar Brahimi, the joint UN and Arab League envoy, has been trying to convene an international conference to resolve the crisis for some time. He should be supported and rigorously helped to achieve this.

There should be targeted sanctions applied to freeze the assets of President Assad and anyone else who is responsible for the crimes against the Syrian people. Those responsible should then be brought to the International Criminal Court as soon as possible.

This path is far preferable to a military strike with unknown catastrophic consequences and no sense of how it might end. It will take time, patience and skill to achieve but violence is not the way in a dangerous and unstable region of the world.

Ban Ki Moon, the General Secretary of the UN, has urged all those involved to “give peace a chance”. I agree.

• Lindis Percy is an anti-war campaigner and co-ordinator of the Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases.