UK needs clearer guidelines on going to war, MPs say
A cross-party group of MPs has urged the government to set out clearer guidelines for Britain embarking on another war,warning of the increased threat of "state versus state conflict" after years in which terrorism was considered the most significant concern.
A 46-page Commons defence select committee report says the existing definition for intervention as "securing, protecting or promoting UK national interests through the use or threat of force" is too narrow.
The ghosts of the still-controversial Iraq and Afghanistan interventions hang over the report. But so too does the Commons vote in August against intervention in Syria and worries over Russia in the light of the Ukraine crisis.
The committee, chaired by Conservative MP James Arbuthnot, says: "A strategic and well-articulated vision of the UK's position in the world would lead to more rational decisions on whether or not to intervene as well as a better public understanding of the rationale for any future decision. It would also assist in identifying the strategic objective of such operations, contributing to a more coherent UK foreign, defence and security policy."
It recommends that the next British defence and security reviews, scheduled to begin next year, should confront the issue of under what conditions intervention can be contemplated.
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/apr/28/uk-clearer-guidelines-going-to-war-defence