British Prime Minister David Cameron said today that he wants Great Britain to do more than just provide logistical support to the US in the fight against Islamic State. It was revealed last week that British pilots have flown missions in Syria using US warplanes — a revelation that didn’t sit well with opposition MP’s who accused Cameron of misleading parliament.
Cameron will also announce tonight a 5 year plan to combat Islamic extremism.
British Prime minister David Cameron is pledging a full-blown Royal Air Force offensive against Islamic State targets in Syria and Iraq to “destroy the caliphate in both countries”.
In his most explicit comments on the terrorist threat, the Prime Minister reveals he wants Britain to “do more” than just provide logistical support for US attacks.
In a speech tonight, Mr Cameron will launch a five-year plan to combat Islamist extremism, with a warning to young Muslims tempted to join Islamic State that they are “cannon fodder” who will be killed or raped if they do.
He will call on moderate Muslims, teachers, police and parents to face down the “bigotry, aggression and theocracy” of extremists who “brainwash” the young.
British pilots embedded with the US military have already taken part in air raids on Syria in American warplanes — provoking claims that ministers have deceived the public. British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon will be summoned to make a statement to MPs on the issue tonight.
But in an interview with NBC news in the US, to be broadcast overnight, Mr Cameron made clear he wants to go further. The Prime Minister accepted he would “have to take my parliament with me” but added: “We have to destroy this caliphate, whether it is in Iraq or in Syria. That is a key part of defeating this terrorist scourge that we face.”
Addressing a US audience, he said: “I want Britain to do more. Be in no doubt, we’re committed to working with you to destroy the caliphate in both countries.”
In his speech tonight, Mr Cameron will acknowledge that some young people find Islamic State “glamorous”. But he will issue a stark warning about the “sick and brutal reality” of joining the group. “Here’s my message to any young person here in Britain thinking of going out there: You won’t be some valued member of a movement,” he will say.
“You are cannon fodder for them. They will use you. If you are a boy, they will brainwash you, strap bombs to your body and blow you up. If you are a girl, they will enslave and abuse you.”
The Royal Air Force is a first class outfit and will be a valuable addition to the fight — if Cameron can convince parliament to authorize British combat operations. There is some residual distrust of the US because of the perception that George Bush sold Tony Blair a bill of goods on Iraq, but Cameron’s request should meet with parliament’s approval. That request probably won’t happen until September.
There will also be a rash of new laws to deal with home grown extremism:
In his speech Mr Cameron will set out new laws to rein in those who “quietly condone” Islamic State and defend bigoted attitudes as well as those who explicitly advocate violence against the West. He will announce the creation of a new legal definition of extremism encompassing opposition to democracy, the rule of law and religious tolerance.
New money will go to campaign groups who oppose extremism and rules will be tightened to prevent a repeat of the Trojan Horse affair, in which radicals infiltrated Birmingham schools.
And there will be new surveillance powers also. Taken all together, there doesn’t seem to be much substance to these proposals — window dressing to show the public he’s “doing something” about the problem. What needs to happen is a total change in attitude by the elites in Great Britain who tolerate Muslim “otherness” and the refusal of immigrant to adopt to living in a western democracy.
All the feel good measures in the world will do nothing unless a clear-eyed reappraisal of British attitudes and tolerance for the enemy in their midst takes place.
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