Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate that the Government likes the idea of keeping the peacekeeping force in position on the Golan Heights. I am aware that the troops want to go. I have serious reservations about the idea of having them there. I think the Minister knows it is not as safe as it was.

The situation has deteriorated. It is no longer just a conflict between Syria and Israel. The original UNDOF troops were put into position to deal with the Israeli Syrian conflict and given the fact that the mission was put in place 40 years ago, it really has not worked. In fact, for all practical purposes, it has failed because the conflict between Syria and Israel has never been sorted and that was part of the remit of the force initially.

It would also appear that the UNDOF troops on the Golan Heights are currently in the process of being withdrawn west of the Israeli defence lines. The UNDOF mission established in 1974 was intended as a disengagement force - hence the name. Its primary purpose was and is to form a buffer zone between Syrian forces in the east and Israeli forces in the west but now the bulk of the UN troops are being withdrawn to the west of the Israeli forces. Therefore, the UNDOF mission is no longer forming a buffer zone or operating as a disengagement force. In reality, it is serving no valid purpose. Recent media reports and statements from the Minister would seem to indicate that Syrian militia forces are in the process of occupying parts of the buffer zone previously occupied by the UN forces. Since these militias are opposed not only to the Syrian State forces, but also to the Israeli forces, it is possible that there will be some conflict in the region. The Islamic State is not the only group causing problems in the region. The so-called moderate forces who are very active in Syria and who are operating very close to this area are being armed by the US at the moment which, to my mind, is absolute madness. It is one of the craziest international situations we have ever seen. Russia is pouring arms into the region, as is Saudi Arabia. Now the US is pouring arms into the region and is bombing parts of Iraq and Syria, contrary to international law. The situation is getting worse by the day and the people who are suffering the most are the citizens on the ground. Military intervention in these places does not work. It is crazy. It is just throwing oil on the fire to pour more arms into the region. The US has the strength and the authority to deal with this in a different way but it has not chosen to do so, which is very disappointing.

Given that the Irish troops are now being pulled to the west, it is as if they are forming a buffer for the benefit of the Israelis and I do not see how the Minister can assert that there is a genuine argument for the Irish troops remaining in place. As I said to the Minister last week during question time, I really believe that there are better things that our soldiers could be doing. I mentioned the peacekeeping mission in the Congo, where a lot of the troops are not nearly as well trained as the Irish. Our personnel could do very useful work there. A lot of the forces in that UN mission are from Third World countries where, unfortunately, the level of training is not as high as in Ireland. The Irish troops would be of huge benefit there. I also wonder if Europe is seriously interested in a peaceful solution to the conflict in Ukraine or whether it is happy to go along with NATO's expansionist policy. Has everyone forgotten that NATO did a deal with Gorbachev when the Soviet Union split up that it would not encroach on the former Soviet Union? That is exactly what it is doing now and that is where the problems in Ukraine stem from. That said, we are where we are with Ukraine and we need a peacekeeping force in place there if we want a peaceful solution.

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