A vote on whether to extend bombing into Syria took place on Wednesday this week. Which party was right- the Corbyn minority or the Con/Lab pact? Here is a balanced review of the evidence…

Bombing kills and terrorises civilians.

The West’s last operation in Iraq killed half a million people, millions fled the country and Iraq’s infrastructure was all but destroyed.

Bombing generates deep resentment against the West and encourages moderate people to become terrorists.

The rise of Isis was a response to 8 years of military occupation.

The open discrimination of the Western-backed Maliki government provoked a Sunni insurgency last year that fuelled the rise of Isis in Iraq.

All three of Britain’s major military interventions in the last 14 years have been disasters. The 2001 invasion of Afghanistan was supposed to destroy the Taliban, but tens of thousands of deaths later the Taliban is stronger than ever.

The bombing of Libya in 2011 was supposed to stop a massacre by Gaddafi, but led to 30,000 being killed. The country is now a failed state.

The countries planning the bombing of Syria include the ruthless and dubious regimes of Saudi Aarbia which regularly executes opponents of the state, Qatar and UAE which all have notorious human rights’ records that include the use of forced labour. All three have funded violent Jihadi groups in the region.

Before 2001 and the ‘War on Terror’ there were relatively small numbers of terrorist groups, centred mainly on Pakistan. Now there are many more and they have spread across the middle east, central Asia and Africa.

Mission creep is inevitable. In Britain a growing number of voices (e.g.Tony Blair) are recommending British boots on the ground.

All bombing is hugely expensive. One Tomahawk cruise missile costs £850,000, enough for the annual salary of 28 NHS nurses. It is estimated Britain spent £750 million bombing Libya in 2011.

The US has been bombing Isis for a year and admits that Isis is as strong as ever and has continued recruiting.

The latest UN security resolution did not expressly authorise the use of military force against Isis, so the only legal excuse to bomb Syria is that it is in the UK’s national security interest – but Britain is not a target.

Assad’s regime in Syria is a greater threat to the majority Sunni population than Isis.

Some Labour MP’s seem to be using this issue as a means of embarrassing Corbyn and may vote for bombing even though they don’t support it.

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