UK parliament recalled over British action in Iraq

World Today

The British Parliament has overwhelmingly voted in favor of air strikes against Islamic State terrorists in Iraq, effectively taking the U.K. back to war in Iraq for the third time in over a decade. CCTV America’s Richard Bestic reports.

‘The shadow of the last military involvement in Iraq hangs heavy over this chamber today, but the situation we face today is very different. We are responding to a direct appeal from the sovereign government of Iraq to help deal with this mortal terrorist threat.’-David Cameron UK Prime Minister

With the approval of Parliament, Britain is expected to deploy Tornado fighters, a handful of which are in Cyprus and within striking distance of northern Iraq.

The U.S.-led coalition began its aerial campaign against Islamic State fighters in Syria early on Tuesday, aiming to roll back and ultimately crush the extremist group that has created a proto-state spanning the Syria-Iraq border.

Some US lawmakers and legal experts are questioning whether President Barack Obama has the authority to attack the Islamic State.
For more on the debate, CCTV America was joined by Daniel Serwer. He is a professor at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies while working at the state department he was involved in the Dayton Peace Talks and also worked on preventing sectarian conflicts in Iraq.