UK votes for Iraq air strikes

Vote...Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron speaking during the debate in the Houses of Parliament, London. Picture: AP Source: AP
BRITAIN will join what's being dubbed Gulf War III after Westminster this morning voted in favour of air strikes in Iraq against Islamic State.
The move came as Londoners were warned to be vigilant for potential attacks on the Tube underground train network and as police made further terrorist-related arrests in Britain.
After more than six hours of debate, during which British Prime Minister David Cameron highlighted a terror plot in Australia to urge support for war against IS, British MPs voted 524 to 43 in favour of military action.
Mr Cameron’s appeal was limited to air strikes in Iraq and not Syria, although he left the door open for another vote for military intervention in that country should it be required.
The move was flagged as potential for “mission creep” by some MPs who heavily questioned the justification for Britain entering another Middle East conflict but the motion was overwhelmingly passed anyway.
History repeating...A demonstrator bangs a drum at an anti-war demonstration near Downing Street in London. Picture: AP
Mr Cameron told the House of Commons emergency session, with MPs recalled two days ago to the special sitting, it was Britain’s “clear duty”.
And he warned it was a duty that would not go for weeks but years.
“This international operation is about protecting our people too, and protecting the streets of Britain should not be a task that we are prepared to entirely subcontract to other air forces of other countries,” he said
“This is not a threat on the far side of the world. Left unchecked we will face a terrorist caliphate on the shores of the Mediterranean and bordering a NATO member, with a declared and proven determination to attack our country and our people. This is not the stuff of fantasy.”
Target...US Lt. Gen. William C. Mayville Jr., US Joint Staff Director of Operations Director of Operations, shows before and after photos as he speaks on the airstrikes in Syria during a briefing at the Pentagon this week. Picture: AFP
Mr Cameron said inspired attacks by IS, also known as ISIL or ISIS, had already taken place in Europe, notably Brussels, and there could be more.
“Security services have disrupted six other known plots in Europe as well as foiling an attack in Australia aimed at civilians, including UK and US tourists,” Mr Cameron said, referring to a plot to behead random citizens on the streets of Sydney.
Mr Cameron continued: “ISIL is a terrorist organisation unlike those we have dealt with before. The brutality is staggering – beheadings, crucifixions, the gouging out of eyes, the use of rape as a weapon, the slaughter of children. All these things belong to the Dark Ages.”
Within hours of MPs voting to support air strikes, six British RAF Tornado GR4 fighters were launching from Cyprus to bomb run positions over Iraq.They are to be armed with Brimstone missiles which are designed to minimise civilian casualties.
Rubble...Syrians examine a damaged house, reportedly hit by US-led coalition air strikes, in the village of Kfar Derian in the western Aleppo province on September 23. Picture: AFP
Mr Cameron told Parliament it was not to be “shock and awe” as the previous Gulf War.
“The hallmarks of this campaign will be patience and persistence, not shock and awe,” he said. “We must not use past mistakes as an excuse for indifference or inaction.”
Labour leader Ed Miliband, who a year ago forced the Prime Minister to abandon plans for air strikes against the Syrian regime by inflicting a Commons revolt on the issue, said the UK "cannot simply stand by".
The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev Justin Welby, backed the air strikes, telling the House of Lords: "The action proposed today is right."
Anti-war...demonstrators gather near Downing Street in London as UK parliament voted to support air strikes on IS targets in Iraq. Picture: Getty
But he warned "we must not rely on a short-term solution" and a wider effort was needed to turn extremists away from the "evil of Isil".
Meanwhile, London Mayor Boris Johnson said called on those in the capital to be vigilant particularly on the Tube.
He said there had been no specific threat made against London, unlike reported plots in the subways in New York and Paris, but people had to be vigilant and report suspicions to authorities.
His words came as counter terrorism police arrested two men on a motorway coming into London for belonging to a known terrorist organsaition.
Their arrests came after nine men including radical preacher Anjem Choudary were arrested yesterday with more than a dozen addresses in London raided.
The properties are still being searched and the men questioned.

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