Sept. 26 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron makes the case
for the U.K. to join the coalition of nations conducting airstrikes
against the Islamic State in Iraq. He speaks before U.K. Parliament.
“This will be a mission that will not just take months but years, and I think we have to be prepared for that commitment,” Cameron said in answer to a hostile question from an opposition Labour Party lawmaker. He told an emergency session of the House of Commons in London the threat from Islamic State, also known as ISIL, “is not fantasy, it’s happening in front
of us and we need to face up to it.”
Cameron announced two days ago he was recalling Parliament to seek authorization for airstrikes. He said today that while he supports action against Islamic State in Syria, he isn’t proposing joining U.S.-led strikes there because there’s no political consensus for it.
The prime minister needs the backing of lawmakers before ordering the Royal Air Force to join the strikes in Iraq. He waited to recall Parliament until he knew he had the support of Labour, which helped vote down a move to bomb Syria last year, the last occasion the legislature was summoned from recess. Labour leader Ed Miliband told Cameron on Sept. 24 he would support attacks in Iraq and repeated that backing today.
Prime Minister David Cameron leaves 10 Downing Street before heading to The Houses of... Read More
Six Tornados
The first U.K. strike would come within days of parliamentary approval, according to a government official who asked not to be identified while discussing military strategy. Further attacks may not follow immediately, as the Islamic State fighters are mobile and have few fixed positions, the official said. Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond told the BBC that the initial plan is for six Tornado jets to be deployed.Cameron told Parliament that the U.K. has “unique assets” to offer to the strikes, including Brimstone missiles, which he said reduce the risk of civilian casualties, and which the U.S. military doesn’t have.
“It is also our duty to take part,” he said. “This international operation is about protecting our people too. Protecting the streets of Britain is a task we should not be prepared to subcontract to the air forces of other countries.”
Danes Join In
France is already taking part in air attacks in Iraq and the Belgian Parliament is also voting today to approve action. The Dutch government has announced it’s sending planes, and Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt told a news conference today that her country will contribute seven F-16 jets. The U.S. expanded its bombing of Islamic State militants from Iraq to Syria this week, backed by the broadest Arab-U.S. military coalition since the 1991 Gulf War.Miliband, who spoke following Cameron, said he supports action in Iraq, but has yet to be convinced about extending it into Syria. He said there are “outstanding questions” about whether that would mean cooperating with President Bashar al-Assad.
Cameron argued in his speech that there’s a strategic case for joining attacks in Syria, and a legal basis for it. Still, he said, “I didn’t want to bring a motion to Parliament today which there was not consensus for. The situation is more complicated than the Iraq situation.”
The prime minister said that while he would seek a fresh mandate in Parliament before expanding strikes into Syria, he reserves the right to act without a vote if there was an urgent humanitarian need.
“If there was the need to take urgent action, for instance to prevent the massacre of a minority community or a Christian community, I would order that and come to the House to explain immediately afterwards,” he said.
‘Mission Creep’
Both Conservative and Labour lawmakers spoke to oppose airstrikes. First was veteran Labour parliamentarian Dennis Skinner. “How long will this war last, and when will the mission creep start?” he said.Edward Leigh, from Cameron’s Tory party, soon followed. “Is it seriously contended that by airstrikes alone we can roll back ISIL, or is this gesture politics?” he asked.
Challenged by Labour’s David Winnick that he was proposing a fight that could take years, Cameron replied that war had already been declared, by Islamic State. “There isn’t a walk-on-by option,” he said. “There isn’t an option of just hoping this will go away.”
Support Rises
Public backing for airstrikes has risen “dramatically” in the past six weeks, according to polling company YouGov Plc. A poll of 1,972 adults carried out Sept. 24-25 showed 57 percent supporting RAF involvement, with 24 percent opposed. In mid-August, opinion was evenly split, with 37 percent in favor and 36 percent against.In an effort to win support, Cameron’s office published a summary yesterday of the legal advice it had received on the attacks. Many lawmakers, including members of his coalition partners, the Liberal Democrats, have repeatedly questioned the legality of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq backed by the then U.K. prime minister, Tony Blair.
Cameron addressed the issue directly as he closed his speech. “It’s inevitable this country’s last military intervention in Iraq hangs heavy over this chamber today,” he said. “This is not 2003, but we must not use past mistakes as an excuse for indifference or inaction.”
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