Letter to the I: Syrian Civil War

I believe that Patrick Cockburn is too one sided in his reporting on the Syrian Civil War.  He seems to go out of his way to minimise the Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad's responsibility for the current state of affairs while putting the majority of the blame on the West.  He barely mentions Al-Assad's quickly resorting to violence against legitimate and peaceful protests.  He also neglects to mention the legitimate causes that groups like the Syrian Democratic Front and the Free Syrian Army fight for.  More widely he does not seem bothered by the prospect that the widespread hatred of Al-Assad in Syria may not be conducive to a long term and sustainable peace.

Regards

Zachary Barker 

Letter to the I: The Cost of Royals

With regards to Chris Vaite's letter concerning Yasmin Alibhai-Brown's mention of funding the Royal Family and their palaces, I believe he was being disingenuous.  Yes of course if we had an elected Head of State under a British Republic they would have costs to.  However this would not involve paying for the lifestyles of their extended family, which the current system does for the Windsor family which is still growing.  A lack of a royal family to house in palaces means more room for tourists.  The proud republics of France and Germany have outperformed us on tourism for the past several years.

Regards

Zachary Barker

Letter to the I: Representation for British Overseas Territories

With regards to Christopher Jackson's letter I don't think the British Caribbean deserves to be neglected because of the way they run their affairs.  As long as these self-governing territories do not have a say in British Parliament, they will not be able to chart a more productive course beyond being tax havens.  With MPs representing their interests they could stake bigger claims to develop their economies and get provision for better defences against hurricanes.  In this way we could emulate the French who treat these territories as a part of France.  Given their brush with nature the voters on these islands will have an interesting insight into the issue of climate change.

Regards

Zachary Barker

Letter to the I: In Defence of Tony Blair

Most comments about Tony Blair's foreign policy record, in response to his recent media appearance, have varied from being very unfair to being hysterical.  It should be remembered that Tony Blair's timely intervention into the Sierra Leone Civil War in 2000 saved many lives.  As did his decision to intervene in Kosovo the year before.  He also invested a great amount of political capital in securing peace in Northern Ireland.  In light of this, it is unfair that his legacy should begin and end with the Iraq War.

Regards

Zachary Barker

Bristol

Letter to the I: Jacob Rees-Mogg Letter

The public's response to Jacob Rees-Mogg's opinions about  pregnancy and abortion caused by rape is very telling and disturbing.  The public, in their current fatal attraction to populism have fallen in love with conviction politicians.  But just because you strongly believe something strongly does not make it moral or relevant to real life.  The same goes for opinions derived from scripture.  Accepting people's right to voice opinions is one thing.  However we can't allow the religiously inclined or anyone else to deny people their freedom merely because of their strong convictions.

Regards

Zachary Barker

Letter to the I: France and Security Letter

Robert Jolly's letter seemed to recall the stereotype of the French as 'cheese-eating surrender monkeys' most unfairly.  Far from being timid in terms of security, the French have actually been quite active and forward thinking in recent years.  The French launched Operation Serval, the intervention in Mali against Islamists in 2013, thus saving Mali from collapsing.  To follow this up the French have embarked on Operation Barkhane, a multi country anti-terror operation across west Africa, which is ongoing.  It should also be noted that the election of President Emmanuel Macron has brought in perhaps the most critical speaking Western leader against the scheming of Putin's Russia.

Regards

Zachary Barker

Letter to the I: Democracy in North Korea

Ian Birrell's article on North Korea made an interesting reference to technology starting to breach that isolated country.  It is true that a sort of secret middle class is developing in North Korea that has access to smart phones and is linked to a black market.  Hillary Clinton made reference in her memoirs to the US State Department supporting pro-democracy activists with such technology.  What is to say the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office cannot do the same?  Sadly this US State Department initiative is threatened by President Trump's budget cuts.  If such initiatives are supported, perhaps the North Koreans will have the opportunity to tear down their rotten system from the inside.

Regards

Zachary Barker