Bombs away for regime change: do to Syria what we did to Libya says British army general
"I do not associate the military with wars and bloodshed in a narrow sense. I actually associate the military with doing good, with bringing down tyrants, with releasing people's ambitions for their children." - General Sir David Richards
Lindsey German: ■ Despite his own role in Afghanistan and Iraq, General Sir David Richards does not allow catastrophic failure to get in the way of calling for yet more war, this time against Syria. It's that time of year again. ■ Another British army general retires, and marks the event with an interview in a right wing newspaper arguing the need for greater and more intense military interventions somewhere in the world. ■ This time it's General Sir David Richards, and his target is Syria. He tells the Daily Telegraph that a no fly zone in Syria won't be adequate 'to restrain the Syrian army'. ■ Given Richards' own role in an army which has presided over catastrophic wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and whose government's no fly zone in Libya led to a further 30,000 deaths there, you might think he would be thinking first and foremost about restraining his own institution. But no one could accuse the British army of hesitating in further conflicts just because of failure elsewhere. ■ Far from it. In his interview with Telegraph defence correspondent Con Coughlin, the retiring army chief of staff raises the possibility of a full war in Syria.