If the seeds of the current Syrian refugee crisis were planted and fertilized long ago, then the weeds were watered by inaction and poor policy and allowed to choke and overpower the moderates of this once great nation. Assad’s poor policy was to be expected. He tipped his hand long ago when he began to bomb his own people. It was at that point that other leaders had a chance to intervene. Plenty of journalists argued for it in articles or via social media at the time. I am p

Those of you who have followed me on Twitter and other social media for some time will know that my experience and in-depth knowledge means I frequently see some crisis situations coming, I quite often make suggestions as to how to deal with them which are often ahead of the news, twitter and apparently the political curve. This has been the case with several issues. Here's the latest in response to a tweet posted today by Nour Malas of The Wall Street Journal. https://t

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=88278945938&set=a.88278040938.86851.518870938&type=3&theater Those of you that follow mw on Twitter may have noticed me getting into some debates on this issue. I passionately believe in the human rights of genuine refugees and asylum seekers fleeing terrible situations. Here is a link to a photograph I took in 2009 of the hands of an asylum seeker who had come to the UK having been tortured inside Iran's notorious Evin prison. I