'UK must accept the West has lost war in Syria', former defence chief says

Evacuated: Syrian government forces and Russian soldiers watch Aleppo exodus.
AFP/Getty Images
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Britain must accept the West has “lost the war” in Syria, an ex-head of the armed forces said today as the evacuation of Aleppo was hit by fresh delays.

Lord Richards also urged the Government to recognise the “reality on the ground”, with tyrant Bashar Assad still in power, in order to end the civil war and appalling humanitarian suffering. Russian president Vladimir Putin and Assad had “outsmarted” Western nations with their “clear strategy”.

Syrian state TV this morning said evacuations of civilians and rebels from the last rebel-held territory in eastern Aleppo had resumed for a second day.

Four convoys were said to have set off from the rebel area of the ruined city. But later there were reports that the operation had been halted, amid conflicting claims that pro-Assad commanders had imposed new conditions and that rebels had sought to take prisoners with them.

Forced out: Syrian civilians leave towards safer rebel-held areas of Aleppo.
AFP/Getty Images

Aid agencies and vehicles were told to leave the area without explanation, said the World Health Organisation.

With a final victory in Aleppo in sight, Mr Putin said today that he was working closely with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to start new Syrian peace talks aimed at securing a nationwide ceasefire.

Lord Richards, Chief of the Defence Staff between 2010 and 2013, told BBC radio: “I’m afraid we have lost the war, but that does not mean that if we get the right strategy that we need to lose the peace.” He stressed the Government and Parliament had rejected two opportunities to act to oust Assad, in 2012 and 2013, as there was no “appetite” for another military intervention post-Iraq.

“We have to be pretty grown up about this and say that moment has gone,” he added. “I remember saying at the time ‘Well if you don’t want to do this, we’d better start thinking about backing Assad because the result of not doing it properly could be the worst of all worlds’.”

The civil war had now to be brought to an end, he urged, otherwise the “horrifying” humanitarian situation would “go on for years”. After addressing the humanitarian situation, he said, the West should “deal with” Islamic State and thirdly focus on a strategy to “win the peace”.

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