UK Begins Bombing Syria Hours After Vote Passes

By Crystal James at theantimedia.org

Protesters rallied outside of Parliament Square on Wednesday afternoon as members deliberated for ten hours over whether or not the U.K. would take military action against the Islamic State (ISIS). The 397-223 vote in the House of Commons came in late Wednesday evening in favor of air raids. At the announcement of the vote, protesters began chanting “Shame on you.”

Britain already participates in airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq, and it is no secret that Prime Minister David Cameron has long been a supporter of targeting the group in Syria. In 2013, Cameron called for the U.K. to attack Syrian President Bashar Assad, but his motion was rejected.Since last month’s attacks in Paris, the pressure for Britain to join its allies in attacks targeting the the Islamic State has intensified. Cameron spoke to the House of Commons, claiming,”These terrorists are plotting to kill us and to radicalise our children right now. They attack us because of who we are, not because of what we do.“

Despite Cameron’s statement that “we’re going to need to be patient and persistent,” the U.K. has wasted little time plotting its attacks. The BBC reported that immediately following Parliament’s vote, four Tornados took off from  RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. It has been said that the jets have already returned to base after having carried out a successful mission, bombing the Omar oil fields in eastern Syria. The Omar oil fields were seized by ISIS in 2013. CNN reported that this particular oil field may represent up to 10% of ISIS income and is possibly why it was the first target for the U.K.

What will the U.K.’s involvement in the fight against ISIS accomplish? Some believe it will only increase the threatof terrorism. Kumar Ramakrishna of Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University told the Huffington Post ISIS knows it stands no chance of defeating the allies, but rather, that the group wants to “raise the domestic costs of Western coalition diplomatic and military involvement in Syria and Iraq.” If that is their plan, they are executing it adeptly — at the cost of many innocent lives.

Do you believe the U.K.’s involvement in further military intervention will have a positive effect on the fight against the Islamic State?

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