Four actions the UK could take against Syria that don’t involve bombing Following the suspected chemical weapons attack in the Damascus suburb of Douma on April 7, Theresa May has convened a meeting […]

Following the suspected chemical weapons attack in the Damascus suburb of Douma on April 7, Theresa May has convened a meeting of the emergency cabinet to discuss the UK’s response.

It is widely expected that the UK will join the US and allies in military action against Syrian government targets, but Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the Labour Party, has said that “more bombing, more killing, more war will not save life. It will just take more lives and spawn the war elsewhere.”

There are other non-lethal methods that the UK could employ in its response.

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A no-fly zone

It could enforce a no-fly zone over Syria which would limit the possibility of any similar attacks in the future since gas attacks are often perpetrated from the air.

Sixty per cent of the British public would support such action, in comparison to the 22% of the population who are in favour of launching cruise missile attacks on Syrian military targets, according to a YouGov poll.

Further sanctions

Alternatively, the UK could impose further sanctions upon people affiliated to, and in the employment of, the Syrian government, as it did along with the US and the EU did after sarin gas was used against civilians in April 2017.

Naval blockade

Another possible option would be to establish a naval blockade around Syria as Russia threatened in 2015, in that case to ensure the delivery of armaments.

This would not affect the delivery of arms by land but it could help starve Assad’s regime of essential equipment. However, the move would almost certainly provoke Russia into some sort of response.

Make the delivery of aid more efficient

The UK could also reconsider its strategy of dispensing aid to Syrian rebel forces, such as the Free Syrian Army, through private contractors.

In December 2017, the BBC claimed that money intended to help establish a police force had been channeled to people linked to the al-Nusra Front, an extremist group with ties to Al-Qaeda.