Syria: guiding principles not guided missiles

"Our guiding principle now must be to do all we can to protect lives." - a great quote from Caroline Lucas yesterday and one that I completely support. The situation is clearly appalling and complex but one thing is for certain, the UK and US should NOT attempt to unilaterally act as the world's police yet again.

Assad's actions are deplorable and he should face the ICC for war crimes, but there is no UN mandate to go into Syria or to target sites for missile strikes and arguing a humanitarian need for military intervention is questionable, especially as the consequences of such intervention could cause greater problems, i.e. an escalation of aggression.

Until the UN agrees a course of action, what is clear is that there is a need to drastically increase the humanitarian aid for the refugees.