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Wednesday 24 June 2015

Mouaffaq Nyrabia and Patrick Porter on the NFZ debate



The latest contributions to our No-Fly Zone Debate come from Mouaffaq Nyrabia, the Syrian National Coalition’s EU representative, and Patrick Porter, University of Exeter.

Earlier in 2015 we agreed on a call for a no-fly zone for Syria, a decision that has been controversial even within Syria Solidarity UK. To encourage debate we want to publish arguments both for and against, as well as analysis of issues involved in choosing one form of intervention versus another.

Please respond in the comments, or if you would like to submit an article please email us at info@syriauk.org

The case for a no-fly zone in Syria

By Mouaffaq Nyrabia, the Syrian National Coalition’s EU representative.
The senseless acts of terrorism in Paris and Copenhagen, the increasing use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime, alongside the large numbers of refugees fleeing Syria for Europe, demonstrate that the crisis is one which the wider international community must urgently address. However the US-led anti-ISIL is not working. In order to save lives, alleviate the refugee crisis, and set the basis for a peaceful transition, the only feasible option four years into this bloody conflict is a no-fly zone.
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Intervention means war

By Patrick Porter, Chair of Strategic Studies at the University of Exeter, Academic Director of SSI and Senior Associate Fellow at RUSI.
Syria in 2015 is not Libya in 2011, or Iraq in 1991. Each context is different, each correlation of forces is different. But there is at least a strong possibility, suggested by recent experience, that once we step into the conflict, the reasons we enter are replaced by a new set of pressures.

We don’t know enough, satisfactorily, about beleaguered countries like Syria or its wildly complex war. But we do know a little about ourselves to anticipate how we might respond if out intervention is met with defiance: and defiance we can reasonably expect, as we know that Assad is serious about his survival.
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