World News

British Lawmakers Approve Airstrikes VS ISIS

The British government  voted to join the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State and approved to conduct airstrikes on militants in Iraq on Friday.

In a majority vote of 524-43, the lawmakers approved Britain’s plan to aid the U.S. militarily in the fight against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, which poses a great security risk against the U.K. as a significant number of Britons have flown to Iraq and Syria to fight for the extremist group, reports the Associated Press.

“I believe it is our duty to take part,” British Prime Minister David Cameron said in a passionate speech to the House of Commons, before parliament debated about the matter for seven hours.

[quote text_size=”small” author=”–British PM David Cameron”]

This international operation is about protecting our people, too, and protecting the streets of Britain should not be a task that we are prepared to entirely subcontract to other air forces of other countries,

[/quote]

Approval was never an issue with the lawmakers as all three main British political parties —Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat — expressed they are prepared to approve a military campaign against the ISIS in Iraq partly because the Iraqi government directly asked the U.K. for help.

Even opposition leader, Ed Milliband of the Labour Party recognized the worries of some Brits to engage in an international military campaign against the militants, but underscored that ISIS’ beliefs has nothing to do with the “peaceful” religion of Islam, The New York Times reported.

“Let us be clear at the outset what is the position: airstrikes against ISIL in Iraq,” he said. “Not about ground troops, nor about the U.K. military action elsewhere. And it is a mission specifically targeted at ISIL.”

Click to comment
To Top

Hi - We Would Love To Keep In Touch

If you liked this article then please consider joing our mailing list to receive the latest news, updates and opportunities from our team.

We don't want an impostor using your email address so please look for an email from us and click the link to confirm your email address.