Leading article: Syria – the wisdom of restraint

Syria – the wisdom of restraint

Sometimes it is braver to do nothing; more courageous for a politician to admit openly that he cannot save the day than it is for him to call for immediate action. Too many of our leaders are too quick to cry ‘something must be done’, without worrying about whether that something will make things better or worse.

Which is why William Hague deserves credit this week for stating clearly and firmly that Britain cannot and will not intervene in Syria. The Foreign Secretary was rightly criticised in the early days of the Arab Spring for being slow to grasp the gravity of the situation, but this week he has been quick off the mark and admirably candid. Military intervention is ‘not a remote possibility’, he said, ‘even if we were in favour of that, which we’re not’. This is of course a practical reality as well as a political judgment: Britain and America are overstretched abroad and broke at home.