Army may return to Iraq as David Cameron wins backing for air strikes
Labour and Lib Dems suggest they would give backing as sources say troops could offer training again Isil
12:21AM BST 04 Sep 2014
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David Cameron has received indications of cross-party support for air strikes against Isil jihadists, as sources indicated that Britain could send troops to Iraq on a training mission.
The Prime Minister pledged that Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isil) would be “squeezed out of existence” as he travelled to a Nato summit in Wales to hold talks with world leaders.
He said he would do whatever was in “the national interest” and again refused to rule out military action in Iraq amid growing calls to join American air strikes in the region.
Government sources also suggested that British soldiers could return to Iraq to help train troops fighting Isil. They would be the first British “boots on the ground” in the country since the Army was withdrawn from Iraq in 2011.
President Barack Obama is also coming under domestic pressure to step up his country’s military involvement in Iraq and Syria after the murder of Steven Sotloff, an American journalist. Threats were also made against a British hostage.
Mr Obama promised to “degrade and destroy” Isil, pledging that “justice will be served” after the beheading of Mr Sotloff. The US president called the killing a “barbaric” act that summed up the group’s “empty vision”.
Mr Sotloff’s family said that the murdered journalist “had a gentle soul that this world will be without but his spirit will endure in our hearts”.
In a statement, the family said: “Today we grieve, this week we mourn but we will emerge from this ordeal. We will not allow our enemies to hold us hostage with the sole weapon they possess: fear.”
Mr Obama and Mr Cameron wrote a joint letter to The Times in which they said it was “morally right” for their two countries to lead an alliance against the “barbaric” Isil terrorists.
The two leaders pledged not to be “cowed” by the murders of two American journalists and said they would not “waver in our determination to confront Isil”.
“If terrorists think we will weaken in the face of their threats they could not be more wrong,” they said.
They added: “Countries like Britain and America will not be cowed by barbaric killers. We will be more forthright in the defence of our values, not least because a world of greater freedom is a fundamental part of how we keep our own people safe.”
There were growing signs yesterday that Mr Cameron could get the support of Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband if he tried to launch air strikes on Isil targets.
The Liberal Democrats said they would not rule out air strikes, and senior figures in the Labour Party indicated that they would be prepared to discuss military action as long as Mr Cameron presented any plan to the Commons.
Douglas Alexander, the shadow foreign secretary, said: “The Prime Minister made very clear that if he was going to bring forward proposals involving direct military intervention, for example air strikes, that would naturally and appropriately be a matter that would come to the House of Commons. As I understand it, no such request has been made.”
A number of Labour shadow ministers have also voiced support privately for air strikes, it is understood.
Sir Gerald Howarth, a Conservative former defence minister, said: “This is no time for knee-jerk reactions, but there are things we can do, including air strikes.
"It is already the case that the US air strikes have been effective in blunting the attack of Isil, who we know were trying to advance upon Baghdad.”
Simon Hughes, the Lib Dem justice minister, added: “Liberal Democrats are of one view — it’s shared across the Government — that we must rule out no options.”
At this week’s Nato summit, leaders will also discuss the formation of a “rapid reaction force” that can respond to incidents in as little as two days. There will also be a series of military training exercises.
A YouGov poll for The Sun last night found that 47 per cent of Britons supported the RAF joining US bombing missions on Isil, compared with 37 per cent who were against.
Three weeks ago, before the two beheading videos were released, 37per cent were for action and 36 per cent against
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