Bombing is indiscriminate. It kills civilians: men, women and children. Those traumatised and bereaved by our bombings will become recruits to Daesh if only because they are the dominant power in the region.

Bombing Syria simply to join forces with our allies is not a rational approach to solving the conflict.

The bombing will only add to the mayhem of a war of tribal and ideological conflict and revenge. Our own revengefulness will only exacerbate this.

As the situation deteriorates, the power of Daesh is likely to increase. There is no way to ensure that “moderates” will win the day. There are no moderates in this situation.

Further bombing will further destroy what remains of civil society in the region. This will make the process of recovery and restitution even less achievable than at present. We have no plan for restoring civil society in Syria. Our bombing will enlarge the vacuum that Daesh will fill. We must learn from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya.

Bombing will also increase the number of people fleeing to seek refuge in other countries, including our own.

The way to peace is to refuse to arm any of the parties fighting in Syria and to use strategic means to resolve the conflict. This will mean putting people on the ground – not just soldiers but intermediaries: a United Nations peacekeeping force including members from Muslim countries. Any plan must be rationally evaluated to ensure it will not exacerbate the situation.