British Parliament is expected to vote in favor of an increased military campaign in the war on terror in Iraq and Syria. The marathon debate on the issue is expected to end on Wednesday evening, followed closely by a voting session.
The debate and the voting on the issue was initiated on the request of British Prime Minister David Cameron in the wake of the Paris terror attacks and the increased threats to the English government. The result of the vote in favor of the campaign will increase the United Kingdom’s military effort in the war on terror.
The UK has been fighting the Islamic State in Iraq for almost a year now. The UK military support has been limited, however, to airstrikes in Iraq after the Parliament voted on the condition of restricted support to the allied forces in the region.
If the majority of parliament votes in favor of military action, it will include both expansion in the airstrikes and deployment of the ground forces. The radius of the British airstrikes will now span over both Syria and Iraq, in the strongholds of the radical group ISIS. After weakening the communications and depot infrastructures, the UK will deploy ground military forces in alliance with the U.S. and France to fight the terrorist group.
“This is the right thing to do to keep Britain safe, to deal with this evil organization, and as part of a process to bring peace and stability to Syria,” British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond told lawmakers.
The vote is facing some opposition from the Labor party, especially the Leader of the Opposition, Jeremy Corbyn, a veteran pacifist. He has urged his party’s MPs to think the issue over. However, he has assured that all the members of his party will vote with a clear conscience, which is good digression from the traditional influence of the leader of the party in voting on major issues.
The voting comes as a precautionary measure rather than a repercussion of the Paris attacks, as some experts are saying. Following the Paris attacks, ISIS has threatened Germany, the UK and the U.S. of major terrorist attacks in their metropolitan areas.
Germany has also put the issue for vote in their Parliament. The issue, however, is expected to face little or no opposition, as Angela Merkel assured an increase in its military assistance to the allied forces in the war on terror when she met French President Francois Hollande after the Paris atrocity.
After the bill is passed, Germany will increase its reconnaissance operations in the air over Iraq and Syria to assist the allied forces in their military campaign. It will also increase its training missions in Iraq and Syria, the state-run German news agency Deutsche Welle reported. However, as their constitution prohibits, Germany will not be able to assist the U.S., UK, and France in the airstrikes and ground assaults.
The U.S. is also expected to deploy a special targeting force in Syria and Iraq, which will support the Iraq army and Kurdish Peshmerga in the ISIS-controlled areas.
“In full coordination with the government of Iraq, we’re deploying a specialized expeditionary targeting force to assist Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces and to put even more pressure on ISIL,” U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said before the House Armed Services Committee.
“These special operators will over time be able to conduct raids, free hostages, gather intelligence and capture ISIL leaders.” This special targeting force is in addition to the 30-plus Special Forces troops Obama ordered to assist the Peshmerga in Syria.
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