French & now British military intervention in Mali exposes double standards & practical/moral weakness at heart of Western and global response to Syria

My thoughts on news that Cameron has deployed the RAF to Mali:

*****

We read over the weekend that David Cameron has agreed to deploy RAF aircraft to Mali (see report here). this action, in support of an escalating French intervention, illuminates the tragic and short-sighted double standards at the heart of western and global diplomacy, in which un security council members move rapidly to launch military action, without express un security council authorisation, against Islamist rebels in Mali, yet maintain a limp and morally-flawed position of 'active inaction' on Syria, despite 60,000 deaths.

It seems the ghosts of empire and the 'war on terror' weighs heavier on the moral conscience of the west and international community than the pleas for assistance by the countless thousands in Syria who face annihilation by a brutal dictator.

It is time for Britain and France to show the kind of leadership they displayed in helping Libya.