Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I think the Tánaiste needs to be commended on taking the position that the embargo should not be lifted. Anyone who looks at history will see that it is pure madness to pour more arms into Syria. It is likely to cause more problems than it will solve. Two years of sanctions did nothing to sort out al-Assad, or bring him to the negotiating table. As it turns out, he seems to be more eager to go to the negotiating table now. Some of the western powers want the rebels to do likewise. Secularism in the area has been undermined by the western powers over the past 30 or 40 years. We have facilitated a civil war between Sunnis and Shias. The more western involvement in this conflict there is, the more hardship will be experienced by the peoples involved. Like the American backing for the Taliban in the 1990s, this seems to be based on the idea that "my enemy's enemy must be my friend". It could yet result in British or American forces fighting alongside al-Qaeda in Syria. The thought of it is just frightening. I encourage the Government to be strong in making the point that intervention in Syria would amount to madness.

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