Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for picking the subject. International law, under the UN Charter, makes clear two exceptions to the general prohibition of war. The first is the use of force by a state against another, the self-defence clause as defined by Article 51. The second permits certain military interventions when authorised by the UN Security Council under chapter 7 of the Charter. Until the US, France or the UK have been attacked or the UN Security Council acts, Article 51 in chapter 7 of the UN Charter makes the US, UK or French airstrikes in Syria illegal under international law. Will the Minister consider condemning the breach of international law in this situation?

The current situation in Syria is mad and very hard to fix. However, the line that has been spun by much of the media as to what has happened there is very disturbing. More than anyone else, the Saudis, with the help of the Israelis, have escalated the war out of all proportion. Two and a half years ago, it looked like a group of fundamentalist jihadists was going to take over Syria with the backing of the Saudis and US support. We must not forget that the United States has put over $1 billion into training the opposition to the Assad regime in Syria. The so-called acceptable opposition is made up of groups such as al-Nusra, al-Qaeda and Ahrar al-Sham. They are mad people. No one likes Russia or Iran bombing anyone but if a country were to invade Mexico, would the United States stand by and allow the forces of a hostile country to operate along its border? It is rational that Russia did not want a crowd of mad fundamentalist jihadists on its border, controlling Syria. It would be mad to have allowed that. It is unfortunate that that means war.

What is the United Nations doing about it? If the United States got Saudi Arabia to call off its dogs of war - the so-called rebels or opposition, who the Syrians call terrorists, being made up primarily of Saudi Arabian and Chechnyan nationals - the Russians and the Iranians would pull out. The primary aim of the EU should be to stop the bombing and the supply and infiltration of weapons into the region - the place is awash with weapons on both sides - and avoid any escalation of the conflict. The EU could play a positive role. It should change position and advocate for an end to all military activity in Syria.

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