ES Views Letter of the Day: Weak West led to Syria chemical attack

The recent chemical attack in Syria has exposed how weak the Western alliance and post-war global institutions have become.

The response to developments in the Middle East has been uncoordinated and inadequate and this latest atrocity once again highlights the human cost of inaction in handling dangerous forces.

It has also proved that for all the criticism of armed interventions without UN authority, the complete ineffectiveness of this organisation in halting such attacks has rendered unilateral action as sometimes necessary for protecting a large number of innocent lives.

There is every possibility that the chemical attack is the start of a larger campaign to create chaos and turmoil in the world during a time of weak American and European leadership.

If there are indeed more attacks to follow, there is little hope of an effective and united Western strategy to stop it.
Joe Alvares

Join the conversation: #esnewsviews