British parliament approves airstrikes in Iraq against Islamic State
British Prime Minister David Cameron on Friday secured parliamentary support for the U.K. to join U.S.-led airstrikes against the militant group Islamic State, the final political hurdle that needed to be cleared before launching military action. In a special parliamentary session Friday, 524 lawmakers voted in favor of participating in airstrikes in Iraq against Islamic […]Nicholas Winning and Jenny Gross write for the Wall Street Journal:
British Prime Minister David Cameron on Friday secured parliamentary support for the U.K. to join U.S.-led airstrikes against the militant group Islamic State, the final political hurdle that needed to be cleared before launching military action.
In a special parliamentary session Friday, 524 lawmakers voted in favor of participating in airstrikes in Iraq against Islamic State, and 43 voted against. The key question that remains, however, is whether the U.K. will also expand the mission to Syria. Mr. Cameron has said he believes there are legal grounds to do so but said he limited Friday's discussion to Iraq because there wasn't sufficient support for military action in Syria as well. For many lawmakers, the situation in Syria appears less clear cut and there are concerns about the legal basis as intervention isn't at the request of the government—as they are in Iraq.
