Yesterday, the British parliament held an emergency three-hour session to accuse Russia of war crimes and to discuss Britain’s involvement in establishing a no-fly zone and possibly sending troopos into Syria. The debate was initiated jointly by Conservative MP Andrew Mitchell and Labour’s Alison McGovern, a co-chair of the so-called “Friends of Syria” group. Their initiative was supported by the former US Iraq commander and CIA director General David Petraeus.

In his interview with the BBC radio, Andrew Mitchell submitted that, “the international community has an avowed responsibility to protect and that protection must be exerted. If that means confronting Russian air power defensively, on behalf of the innocent people on the ground who we are trying to protect, then we should do that.” On the Labor party side, most notable proponents of military action in Syria were Ben Bradshaw, Angela Smith and Ann Clwyd who was a vocal supporter of the 2003 Iraq invasion. Angela Smith pilloried the newly elected leader Jeremy Corbyn for his opposition to military intervention.

UK’s military options were outlined by the retired General sir Richard Shirreff who told the Daily Telegraf that the British troops should train and fight alongside the Assad “opposition”. Thus, in addition to the bloody enforcement of a no-fly zone, British parliamentarians are looking to send ground troops to Syria to overthrow its government.

Such enthusiasm should be rewarded. These valiant men and women should be given the opportunity to put their own boots where their mouths are. My modest proposal would be to give them rifles and orange jumpsuits and send them off to east Aleppo where they can pick a side and give their humanitarian zeal a place to flourish. For sure, in leading by example, they would make the world a better place, if only by reducing the number of chickenhawk warmongers in our midst.