Damascus road

Full marks to Allan Massie 
(Perspective, 15 August) for
exposing the callous hypocrisy of opposing world powers in the struggle for control of Syria. Our own intervention has no more to do with freeing a native people from governing tyranny than was the invasion of Iraq.

We have absolutely no right to attempt to remove another country’s ruler, elected or not.

As Allan Massie points out, neither did anyone elect the Free Syrian Army (FSA) leaders to whom Britain is supplying aid.

Indeed, the only thing we seem to know about the FSA is that it is not the only opposition group: others may be opposed to it and each other as well as to Assad – not the best omen for a peaceful outcome.

The whole intrusion is also selective on two fronts.

Firstly, the aid is directed specifically to the FSA: what about the innocents suffering on the other side?

Even worse is the wider selectivity of this attempt to impose our version of democracy on another country: would our reaction be the same if the people of Saudi Arabia rose up against their rulers?

Robert Dow

Ormiston Road

Tranent, East Lothian