KINGSTON, Jamaica – Professor of Social and Political Change at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Brian Meeks, has warned that if the United States takes military action against Syria, Jamaica’s fragile economy could be in serious trouble.
On the weekend, Professor Brian Meeks said a more dangerous Middle East is a more dangerous world and inevitably this would lead to even more instability in Jamaica.
“One thing that we are already feeling is oil prices. Once there is instability in the Middle East , and there is a lot of it now, oil prices will go up and have continued to go up . A more dangerous Middle East is a more dangerous world, the world will become more unstable and that can have tremendous impact on our economy if war spreads and more particularly on the price of oil”
He believes that a decision to take military action is not the best one for the United States.
“The United States should wait to hear what the United Nations has found and should operate clearly in the bounds of the United Nations and multilateralism. I frankly think that the United States went the unilateral route in Iraq and paid the price for it. I think they should wait until the international community clearly identifies what happened in Syria” he said.
On Sunday, the Obama Administration in the United States called on Congress to support a move to take military against Syria.
US Secretary of State, John Kerry said evidence collected independently of a United Nations probe shows t hat Syria used sarin gas in an attack on its people.
According to Kerry the United States has to act. “If you don’t do it, you send a message of impunity,” he said.
The United Nations has argued that world leaders should wait until U.N. investigators determine whether chemical weapons were used. CMC
