Syria; imagine that - an academic declines to answer questions

[David Guyatt]

On the BBC 2 Radio 2 programme earlier this week (Thursday 3 December), discussing the vote in Parliament for the UK to go to war against ISIS, one of Vine's guests, the American academic, Professor Scott Lucas, stated a number odd things. These statements seemed to me to be so obviously inaccurate and propagandistic, that I immediately emailed him, using a pseudonym) to ask a small number of questions.

This is my email:

Dear Prof. Scott Lucas,

I listened with interest to your debate today on the Jeremy Vine BBC Radio 2 show.

During this debate you stated that there were over 70,000 fighters (referencing David Cameron's disputed figure). Are you able to tell me how many of this number are estimated to be Kurdish?

You also referenced that there were a considerable number of the Free Syrian Army fighters withing this 70,000 figure. However, General Lloyd J Austin III, recently stated that the US programme to train and equip these fighters have only resulted in "four or five militants? Robert Fisk, meanwhile, said in November last year that he belies the FSA is a "complete myth". And in March this year, Eric Banco in an article published by the International Business Times, concluded the the FSA has collapsed with members joining extremist groups like the Nusra Front.

I wonder how you respond to this?

Also, you stated that the Syrian government was responsible for the Sarin gas attack, but surely this claim has now been convincingly debunked by Seymour Hersh in his article published by the London Review of Books on 19th December 2013? What indisputable evidence is there that your claim is justified?

From your further comments I understood that by developing safe areas for fighters to congreate, you were suggesting or indicating a Balkanization of Syria? Is this the case?

Kind regards,

Professor Lucas sent a brief reply later that same day:

These are well-put, important questions. I am just out of a busy day of lectures and media work, so if you can bear with me, I will give a full reply tomorrow.

Best,

Scott

"Tomorrow" was last Friday. It is now Sunday. Looks like he's not going to reply to those important questions.

I think the figure of 70,000 fighters ready to fight ISIS used by David Cameron is his "dodgy dossier" moment. However, in those short number of years since Tony Bliar broke ground by telling direct lies to Parliament, the world has come a long way. Lies now form so much an integral part of the government case that I can't imagine that Cameron has the slightest worry about his moment of infamy. He's probably right too. His real moment of infamy arrived some while back when it was revealed that in his earlier days he had a love affair with a dead pig and publicly mimicked an act of fellatio with it.