West must condemn Russian action in Syria

Full marks to Natalie Nougayrède (Opinion, 6 February) for her timely dissection of the significance of Russia’s appalling bombardment in Syria. How can it be that the British parliament (including the vainglorious Hilary Benn) are prepared to make symbolic gestures towards confronting the “fascist” Isis, yet meekly accept the destruction of Syrians seeking only freedom and democracy by a totalitarian dictator and his Russian ally? Cameron and the west turn a blind eye to this aggression while preferring to accept an open-ended commitment to assist, however ineffectively, in the hopeless task of meeting the needs of the never-ending flood of pitiful refugees which that aggression causes.

The writing has been on the wall since Obama failed to make good his “red line” threat to intervene after Assad’s use of chemical weapons. No doubt the US and the UK feel constrained by the guilt associated with their disastrous Iraq campaign. But as Nougayrède rightly asserts, appeasing Russia and its bully boy leader now is likely to lead to more unchallenged aggression by them in future in areas like the Baltic. Meanwhile, the UK parliament will no doubt press on with the useless Trident project while failing to fund viable conventional forces to confront (with the rest of pusillanimous Nato) those of Putin .
Steve Smart
Malvern, Worcestershire

• We are told that “military observers claim at least 70% of (Russian) strikes have targeted opposition groups fighting to oust Assad” (Fears over refugee exodus as Aleppo hovers over the brink, 5 February). 

The claim gives the impression that Isis is not fighting to oust Assad; and that other opposition groups such as al-Qaida, the Islamic Front, and the rebels in Aleppo, whose draconian version of sharia law was so chillingly reported by the Guardian’s own Francesca Borri, deserve our support.