The images are haunting - children and families lying dead in basements, gassed while sheltering from barrel bombs. The chemical attack in Douma in Syria, which killed 75 people and injured 500 more, horrified us all. The stories from eye-witnesses are almost too awful to read.
But we mustn’t turn away. Chemical weapons are barbaric and should never be used. The air strikes that Britain and our allies carried were specifically targeted at chemical weapons facilities in Syria. Everything possible was done to avoid civilian casualties.
All the evidence points to the responsibility of the Assad regime. Along with eye-witness reports of a regime helicopter, we know that the Syrian opposition does not have helicopters or barrel bombs.
Assad has used chemical weapons before. After the Sarin attack in Damascus in 2013 he committed to get rid of Syria’s chemical weapons under the supervision of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons [OPCW] and Russia. But he has not done so and there have been more attacks. The OPCW has investigated four chemical attacks and found his regime responsible.
The Prime Minister has said that there is further intelligence that she is not able to share, which indicates the Syrian military coordinated this attack.
Every attempt to hold Assad to account through the UN has been blocked by Russia. Just last week, Russia blocked an independent inspection. When Russia is preventing UN-mandated intervention, we have a choice: let Russia determine our foreign policy, or to make our own decisions.
And we should be aware that Russia is fighting a propaganda war, using media channels – particularly social media – to undermine support for Western engagement and humanitarian intervention in Syria.
This intervention in Syria will not end the war, but the air strikes that Britain has carried out alongside America and France will undermine Assad’s ability to kill more of his people with chemical weapons. These strikes send a strong message to Assad and others that chemical weapons are abhorrent and there are consequences for using them. We will not allow the use of chemical weapons to become normalised, whether used against civilians in other countries or in our own. We will not stand by and let that happen.