Please Mr President, stay out of Syria

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said yesterday if America supplies arms to the Syrian rebels, it won't stop the bloodshed. "Only political solutions can address this situation sustainably" he said.  President Obama appeared to be on the brink of helping the rebels after reports that Bashar al-Assad had used sarin, a nerve gas, to kill up to 150 people.

But as we now know, on September 16, 2004, Secretary General of the UN Kofi Annan said about the invasion of  Iraq "I have indicated it was not in conformity with the UN Charter and from our point of view, from the charter point of view, it was illegal."  So what the UN says doesn't really count.

Meanwhile, Russia says they are not convinced that chemical weapons have been used and Putin is working with President Obama to arrange a peace conference.  If the two mightiest nations on the planet can work out a peaceful solution for Syria, the world would be eternally grateful.

Russia reminds us of the mistake the US made when they rushed into Iraq after reports that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and they believe that false evidence of chemical weapons could also apply here.

Assad issued a statement that read "The White House published a statement full of lies about the use of chemical weapons in Syria, based on fabricated information, through which it is trying to hold the Syrian government responsible for such use."

David Cameron needs to keep his nose out of Syria too.  The British government have said they are happy with America's "candid assessment" that the Syrian regime is using chemical weapons.  They need to remember that Tony Blair also believed the myth about WMD and plunged the world into two wars.

I can well understand that it's not right to stand by and allow a brutal dictator to use nerve gas to kill innocent civilians, but please wait until the evidence is irrefutable.  

Meanwhile, in a televised address yesterday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said they will continue to help Assad after recapturing the key town of Qusayr.

We now focus on the G8 in Northern Ireland where hopefully common sense will prevail.

Edit June 17, 2013: Iran will send 4,000 of its troops to Syria to aid president Bashar al-Assad's forces in its fight against rebels.  Just another reason for those not involved, to stay out of it.