Britain Close to Considering Syria Air Strikes on ISIS

Britain indicated it could expand its bombing campaign against the Islamic State beyond Iraq and into Syria.

“It is a new parliament and MPs will want to think very carefully about how we best deal with ISIL [ISIS]. [There is an] illogicality [with] ISIL not respecting the border lines; they don’t differentiate between Syria and Iraq, they’re establishing this evil caliphate across both countries. There is no legal bar to us operating in Syria but we don’t have the parliamentary approval for it,” UK defense secretary Michael Fallon told BBC radio.

“We don’t need it at the moment because we are playing our part in the campaign and what we do in Iraq actually frees up the U.S. aircraft to attack in Syria. ISIL has to be defeated in both countries. Its evil in Iraq is all being directed by its headquarters in Syria,” he added.

Fallon said Prime Minister David Cameron was eager to explore Parliament’s readiness for a widening of the campaign for a “full spectrum” response to ISIS, especially after an ISIS gunman killed 29 Britons at the Tunisian beach resort of Sousse on June 26. Cameron is due to present his strategy to respond to the ISIS threat abroad and at home within weeks and Fallon’s remarks are viewed as preparation for a renewed parliamentary vote to permit air strikes on targets in Syria.

New Video Shows Rival Islamists Executing 18 ISIS Fighters

In a move mimicking the Islamic State’s own gruesome tactics, the Jaysh al-Islam (Army of Islam) rebel group released a video purporting to show the executions of 18 ISIS fighters.

Jaysh al-Islam fighters in the video – clad in the orange prison uniforms ISIS often makes its victims wear – said the black-clad ISIS members were being executed in part as revenge for the beheading of at least three of their own members by ISIS, Agence France-Presse reported. The ISIS fighters were shot in the head.

Notably, the video accused ISIS of betraying Sunni Muslims and allying with Shiite Muslims and the Alawite sect of Bashar al-Assad. In their “confessions,” the ISIS fighters say they did not fight against the Syrian army.

Pentagon Defends Plan to Train Syrian Rebels

Following media reports the Pentagon’s plan to train and equip moderate Syrian rebels is badly floundering, the country’s top general said he was committed to the program.

The U.S. Congress last September approved the $500 million plan earlier this year to train 5,400 rebels a year for three years to counter the Islamic State. However, the program has attracted fewer than 100 recruits, according to the Associated Press.

“Of course we always look to see how … any program can be adapted. And at the end of the day, we need credible, moderate partners on the ground,” chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, told reporters on Wednesday.

“The only way to have a lasting defeat of ISIL is to have someone who can govern and secure territory once ISIL is defeated,” added U.S. defense secretary Ash Carter, who also briefed reporters.

“That has to be a local force on the ground. That’s why the strategy calls for the United States to help train and equip, and then help enable local ground forces,” he said.

The officials reiterated that the plan to train more than 15,000 rebels is the major part of the White House’s plan to take on the Islamic State without putting boots on the ground.

Last month the Pentagon said the problem was that “only a fraction” of volunteers who were vetted were eligible for the program.

Recommended Reads

• Reuters: Talk of Syria Action May Be Erdogan’s Latest Gambit to Pressure the West
• The New York Times: Child Labor Rises Sharply in Syria, Upended by War and Mayhem
• The Daily Star: Bashar Is Already Out of Power in Syria
• Newsweek: Ambulance Lynching Reveals Israel’s Secret War in Syria
• Huffington Post: Dear Media: ISIS Is Neither Winning nor Losing Despite the Sinai Attack and Others It Claims
• Middle East Monitor: Israel Anticipates the Expansion of ISIS
• The New York Times: ISIS Finances Are Strong
• Business Insider: This Detailed Syria Map Shows What Territory ISIS Is Truly Fighting for
• Bloomberg: Water Shortages Unite Iraq, Islamic State Against Turkey
• AlJazeera America: For Syria’s Druze, Survival Hinges on Choosing the Right Ally
• Today’s Zaman: Erdoğan’s Syria Gamble