British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon personally selected the targets and described the mission as “successful”.
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AMY GOODMAN: That’s British Labor Parliamentarian, Hilary Benn, yes, the son of the famous antiwar late Parliamentarian, Tony Benn, preceded by Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn and British Prime Minister David Cameron.
Luton MPs, Gavin Shuker and Kelvin Hopkins, voted against air strikes, while Mid Beds MP Nadine Dorries backed the government’s motion. “We will be reminding [them] again about what they’ve done and they’ll be regretting it – we know what to do”.
Russian Federation is also bombing Syria outside the U.S.-led coalition.
Britain has carried out its first airstrikes in Syria, “successfully” targeting oil fields in eastern Syria controlled by terrorist group ISIS.
“The answer is not dropping more bombs”, said Hassan Hassan, a Syria expert at the Chatham House think tank, pointing to the risk of radicalising residents of areas targeted by warplanes. “That’s where they are, that’s where these plots against Britain and other countries in western Europe are being directed from”.
Neither an explanation of who the ground troops will be, nor the political settlement we are seeking in Syria, or how we get there, has been provided by the government. The debate is expected to last all day with a vote on possible British airstrikes on Islamic State targets in Syria taking place.
Far from an attack on Islam, we are engaged in a defense of Islam.
The vote has blown open deep divisions in the Labour Party with claims that MPs in favour of military action have faced threats of recriminations.
At least 110 MPs from six different parties signed up to an amendment seeking to block air strikes, spearheaded by Tory John Baron and the Scottish National Party’s (SNP) Westminster leader Angus Robertson.
The choice likely guaranteed Cameron a victory.
Mr Cameron declined to apologise, but insisted that he had “respect” for those who would vote no, saying that a vote on either side was “honourable”.
In any case, the decision of Parliament to approve British involvement in Syria is at least somewhat of a boost to the ongoing efforts there.
Britain’s participation in the 2003 invasion of Iraq was guided by a Labour prime minister, Tony Blair – a man whom Corbyn has said could be subject to war-crimes charges.
Mr Morris’ vote reflected the majority vote in Parliament yesterday, December 2, which triggered the launch of RAF Tornadoes into planned attacks in Syria within hours of a decision being made.
The Government has said bombing raids will begin “as soon as is practical”.
He said: “In an ideal world, there should be boots on the ground, but whose boots?” Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar also have taken part, though their participation has fallen off substantially. Some have called for thousands of additional troops to be deployed to the region, where Islamic State militants control wide swaths of territory.
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Two more Tornados and six Typhoons have been despatched to region from their bases in the United Kingdom, doubling the strike force at RAF Akrotiri on Cyprus which has been spearheading the UK’s attacks on IS – also referred to as Isil, Isis or Daesh.
