This Tuesday the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, requested the parliament’s support in order to join the bombardment against IS in Syria. In the Chamber he exposed the diverse reasons why he believes the United Kingdom should join the forces against the terrorism currently holding Europe hostage due to threats of new attacks similar to Paris.
Cameron put across a series of strategies to face the terrorists, among which is the extension of the attacks against yihadist groups located in Syria. Up until now, the British Government has only been authorized to operate against this organization in Irak; to this, the Prime Minister voiced his opinion that it would be a mistake not to carry over the coalition’s achievement in Irak to Syria.
“The reason for our action is the quite direct thread ISIS represents to our country and our way of life”, said Cameron in his Parliament speech. Likewise, he remarked that he would not call for a vote in the Chamber on the topic of ISIS bombardment, unless he was certain of the majority’s support. “We will not deliver a publicity stunt to ISIS”, he stated.
However, the leader is convinced his plan might receive the majority of the representatives’ and their parties’ votes. The attacks on Paris and the unanimous vote in the UN’s Security Council last Friday may motivate the representatives to battle ISIS.
Among his arguments, stands the possibility that ISIS is planning mortal and fateful attacks against British citizens from the north part of Syria; specially taking into account the past foiled attempts to execute 7 terrorist attacks, which were previously known, allegedly conducted by ISIS or similar groups.
The Prime Minister sees the need for airstrikes to become part of an intelligence strategy, corresponding to a political/diplomatic effort in the quest to defeat ISIS and, with this, put an end to the Syrian Civil War.
“It’s wrong for the UK to lease its safety to other countries and hope their air forces can carry the burden and the risks of striking ISIS in Syria to halt terrorism in the United Kingdom”, he surmised. Another aspect which may add weight to this request, is that the opposition leader, Jeremy Corbyn, has manifested plenty of times his concern about a possible military intervention in Syria.
While all of this is being put together, it is still unknown whether Cameron’s requests and plans such as keeping the antiterrorist measures in the UK, striking ISIS with military force and sustain a political agreement in Syria, will receive the parliament majority’s back up; the hours to come are expected to bring this answer.
ALFA