The Poolie Bunker

To Syria:

Surprised it isnt more. Not like its needed by anyone in the UK.

This is how international schmoozing is done. Pretty much need to get Syria back on its feet. Don't want it to be an international breeding ground for terrorists and it might be nice if it successfully becomes a country that people want to stay and build a life in.

The people who have toppled Assad are Islamists with connections to Al Qaida (is that the spelling?) Not sure how in line with Western values they are. Might be that one evil regime has been replaced by another. We'll see.

Thought that was what Raj wanted for Pools for a minute there.

I thought it was Raj’s Xmas pressy to Lenny to enable him to snap up a couple of EFL strikers to fire us back into the League......

You’ll have to get it back on its knees before it gets anywhere near its feet.
The Middle East has been addicted to self destruction for 80 years, I see little change on the horizon .

Agreed. The whole region has been beset by infighting, bickering and internecine hatred for decades. Why should a regime change in Syria herald any major change in this situation? Granted, the influence of Putin has all but gone but Iran's remains, as does Islamic fanaticism.

Strategically it is a very important country. If this helps to support a government that is not anti west so be it. Oil???????

Because treating it like Libya after its regime change (which was a cock up) would be a mistake so they're trying to do it differently. Being on the fence is not an option. That's why hardly anyone is.

If Obama had left Libya alone…and Egypt too we mightn’t be in the clarts we are in the Middle East, but the whole place is a consistent tinder box….fact is they like a firm hand on the tiller, but always have head cases in charge.
It would help if they moved into the 19th Century never mind 21st….that’s the problem.

Different argument. This is about what you do when there is regime change regardless of who made it happen. There are lessons to learnt from previous events, you're quite right.

It’s too early…..alright ask what they need and we can supply it, but cash at this stage is dubious till we know the true nature of the regime and could be used for weapon purchases for instance.
It’s a sign of naivety.

Oil Money!

hpw much are other countries giving which is more to the point.

The U.K. has the 6th highest economy in the world it’s just expected of us to be giving it to others.

I very much doubt it's as simple as a bank transfer.

The world needs stability. Got to get it somehow.

You can give millions of aid but once it lands in the country it’s meant for the U.K. have no control over it and where it is distributed.

Wont be oil money because Syria has no oil to speak of. The UK produces more oil than Syria.

We have food banks, a chronic shortage of housing and all our public services are stretched to breaking point yet we dish out money to dodgy Islamic gangs like lady bountiful at a garden party. I wouldsay I was angry about it but so much insane shit goeson these days, you get numb to it.

but they will just say that the money they gave was just a very small percentage of the budget they have. no matter how small it is unless we have money to burn it should like foreign aid stay in this country. what ever happened to things like looking after your own we were brought up to follow.

Watch this space fella, Production has been restricted because Syria was not allowed to sell oil on the open market.
So therefore had to sell its production on the blackmarket at a ridiculously reduced price.

The big oil Companies would not touch Syrian oil, Because contracts could not be upheld.

They have not got a budget, But they do have a black hole

But the British people expect our tax money to be spend on our people before giving it away like confetti at the never ending wedding.

It all means cock all in this country without security. Why do we have it? Cos we spend money on it. We join in the with the international community trying to keep things from falling apart. We only have freedom because there are people thinking beyond how many pot holes we need to fill in.

Here is a quote from Wikipedia. "In 2018 Syria had an estimated 2.5 billion barrels of oil reserves, compared to Saudia Arabia's 297 billion, Iran's 155 billion and Iraq's 147 billion." In a report published on October this year by the North Sea Transition Authority it was estimated that UK's oil reserves were 3.3 billion barrels. So Syria does not have very much oil.

Don't worry Donald 'Where's your Trousers' Trump will sort it..