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Britain Says Iraq Campaign Will Last ‘Weeks and Months’ Britain Says Iraq Campaign Will Last ‘Weeks and Months’
(about 1 hour later)
LONDON — As Kurdish forces in Iraq, backed by United States airstrikes, fought for strategic gains against Sunni militants, Britain’s defense minister was quoted on Monday as telling air force personnel that the campaign against the insurgents would last “weeks and months” and was no longer simply a humanitarian affair.LONDON — As Kurdish forces in Iraq, backed by United States airstrikes, fought for strategic gains against Sunni militants, Britain’s defense minister was quoted on Monday as telling air force personnel that the campaign against the insurgents would last “weeks and months” and was no longer simply a humanitarian affair.
The remarks by the minister, Michael Fallon, followed a warning by Prime Minister David Cameron that the fight against militants of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, represented “a generational struggle” that “I believe we will be fighting for the rest of my political lifetime.” But, in a clear attempt to allay worries that British troops might be drawn back into full-scale combat in Iraq, Prime Minister David Cameron used an appearance on television Monday morning to stress that there would be limits to Britain’s involvement.
Both men seemed to be readying Britons for a longer and riskier military commitment in support of Kurdish and Iraqi forces opposed to the ISIS militants, who swept into Iraq in June from Syria and seized broad swaths of territory. Over the weekend, American airstrikes against militant positions at a major dam north of the city of Mosul were reported to have enabled Kurdish forces to advance. “I want to be absolutely clear to you and to families watching at home,” he said. “Britain is not going to get involved in another war in Iraq. We are not going to be putting boots on the ground. We are not going to be sending in the British Army.”
As of late Sunday, Kurdish government officials said fighting around the dam complex, Iraq’s largest, was continuing, despite early reports that the site had been retaken. The British leader’s remarks followed a warning he made in a newspaper article on Sunday that the struggle against militants of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, represented “a generational struggle” that “I believe we will be fighting for the rest of my political lifetime.”
On Friday, the European Union endorsed efforts by some of its members — including Britain, France and the Czech Republic — to send military aid directly to the Kurdish forces, known as pesh merga. British Tornado warplanes, operating from the Akrotiri base on Cyprus, have flown surveillance flights in support of efforts to rescue members of the Yazidi religious minority stranded on Mount Sinjar. Defense officials disclosed on Monday that a small number of British soldiers had in fact been on the ground in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq last week when Western nations, led by the United States, were contemplating a huge rescue effort for members of the beleaguered Yazidi religious minority. But the troops were withdrawn within a day of an American assessment that the need for a rescue mission was no longer urgent.
Western nations have been alarmed by the apparent ease of the militants’ advance, which has sent tens of thousands of civilians fleeing and at one point seemed to threaten Erbil, the capital of the Kurdish region in Iraq. Echoing his newspaper article, Mr. Cameron said on Monday: “Yes, we should use all the assets that we have, our diplomacy, our political relationships, our aid, the military prowess, the expertise that we have to help others — we should use these things as part of a strategy to put pressure on Islamic State and make sure this terrorist organization is properly addressed and it cannot cause mayhem on our own streets.”
In remarks released by his office, Mr. Fallon told pilots and flight crew at Akrotiri over the weekend to prepare for continued surveillance “in the next few weeks and months.” His comments seemed part of an effort to prepare Britons for a longer commitment in Iraq and to define their country’s role following criticism that government policies were incoherent.
“We want to help the new government of Iraq and Kurdish forces,” he said. “This is not simply a humanitarian mission. We and other countries in Europe are determined to do what we can to help the government of Iraq combat this new and very extreme form of terrorism.” In remarks released by his office, Michael Fallon, the defense secretary, told pilots and flight crew at a British base at Akrotiri in Cyprus over the weekend to prepare for continued surveillance “in the next few weeks and months.”
Mr. Fallon said Britain had also deployed specialized surveillance aircraft alongside the Tornados to track the insurgents’ movements in Iraq. “This is not simply a humanitarian mission,” he said.
The comments followed an article by Mr. Cameron in The Sunday Telegraph saying that, while Britain “should avoid sending armies to fight or occupy,” it would only be possible to achieve what he called true security “if we use all our resources — aid, diplomacy, our military prowess — to help bring about a more stable world.” Britain, along with other European powers, has offered to join the United States in supporting Kurdish and Iraqi forces opposed to the ISIS militants, who swept into Iraq in June from Syria and seized broad swaths of territory. Over the weekend, American airstrikes against militant positions at a major dam north of the city of Mosul were reported to have enabled Kurdish forces to advance.
“The creation of an extremist caliphate in the heart of Iraq and extending into Syria is not a problem miles away from home. Nor is it a problem that should be defined by a war 10 years ago,” he said, apparently referring to the American-led invasion of Iraq, in which Britain participated. On Monday, state television in Baghdad reported that a combined force of Iraqi and Kurdish troops had retaken the dam, but the militants disputed the claim.
“It is our concern here and now. Because if we do not act to stem the onslaught of this exceptionally dangerous terrorist movement, it will only grow stronger until it can target us on the streets of Britain,” he wrote. On Friday, the European Union endorsed offers by some of its members — including Britain, France and the Czech Republic — to send military aid directly to the Kurdish forces, known as pesh merga. British Tornado warplanes, operating from the Akrotiri base, have flown surveillance flights as part of what the authorities had called a humanitarian effort, largely designed to help members of the Yazidi minority stranded on Mount Sinjar.
ISIS “makes no secret of its expansionist aims. Even today it has the ancient city of Aleppo firmly within its sights,” he said, referring to Syria’s largest city. “And it boasts of its designs on Jordan and Lebanon, and right up to the Turkish border. If it succeeds, we would be facing a terrorist state on the shores of the Mediterranean and bordering a NATO member.” On Sunday, Mr. Cameron wrote in The Sunday Telegraph that while Britain “should avoid sending armies to fight or occupy,” it would only be possible to achieve what he called true security “if we use all our resources — aid, diplomacy, our military prowess — to help bring about a more stable world.”
His words recalled arguments by previous British governments used to explain deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, depicted as states that directly threatened British security. ISIS “makes no secret of its expansionist aims. Even today it has the ancient city of Aleppo firmly within its sights,” Mr. Cameron said, referring to Syria’s largest city. “And it boasts of its designs on Jordan and Lebanon, and right up to the Turkish border. If it succeeds, we would be facing a terrorist state on the shores of the Mediterranean and bordering a NATO member.”
His words were reminiscent of arguments by previous British governments used to explain deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, depicted as states that directly threatened British security. But some people have criticized Mr. Cameron’s handling of the crisis.
“We do not seem to have a coherent or comprehensive approach to Islamist extremism as it is developing across the globe,” Bishop Nicholas Baines of Leeds said in a letter endorsed by the Most Rev. Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, who is the spiritual head of the world’s 80 million Anglicans.
“Islamic State, Boko Haram and other groups represent particular manifestations of a global phenomenon, and it is not clear what our broader global strategy is — particularly insofar as the military, political, economic and humanitarian demands interconnect,” the bishop said, referring to ISIS and to militants in northern Nigeria.
“The focus by both politicians and media on the plight of the Yazidis has been notable and admirable,” the letter said. “However, there has been increasing silence about the plight of tens of thousands of Christians who have been displaced, driven from cities and homelands, and who face a bleak future.”
The letter also asked whether Mr. Cameron felt Britain should offer asylum to Iraqi refugees.
Referring to ISIS on Monday, Mr. Cameron said: “We do want to have, and we do have, a fully worked through strategy for helping allies to deal with this monstrous organization.”