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David Cameron, ISIS Speech - Spineless PM?
zexstream
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David Cameron has just delivered a speech in his response to the latest killing by ISIS
Personally I think the speech is spineless and is more words than action, I doubt anyone in ISIS will lose any sleep or change their current course of action over Cameron's words.
Personally I think the speech is spineless and is more words than action, I doubt anyone in ISIS will lose any sleep or change their current course of action over Cameron's words.
Today the whole country will want to express its deep sympathy for David Haines' family.
They have endured the last 18 months of David's captivity with extraordinary courage and now David has been murdered in the most callous and brutal way imaginable by an organisation which is the embodiment of evil.
We will hunt down those responsible and bring them to justice no matter how long it takes.
David Haines was an aid worker. He went into harm's way, not to harm people but to help his fellow human beings in the hour of their direst need, from the Balkans to the Middle East.
His family spoke of the joy he felt when he learned he got his job in Syria. His selflessness, his decency, his burning desire to help others has today cost him his life. But the whole country, like his grieving family, can be incredibly proud of what he did and what he stood for in his humanitarian mission.
David Haines was a British hero. The fact that an aid worker was taken, held and brutally murdered at the hands of ISIL sums up what this organisation stands for.
They are killing and slaughtering thousands of people - Christians, Muslims, minorities across Iraq and Syria. They boast of their brutality. They claim to do this in the name of Islam. That is nonsense. Islam is a religion of peace. They are not Muslims, they are monsters.
They make no secret of their desire to do as much harm, not just in the Middle East but to any countries or peoples who seek to stand in their way, or dare to stand for values they disagree with.
It was an ISIL fanatic who gunned down four people in a museum in Brussels. So let me be clear, the British people need to know this is a fanatical organisation called ISIL that has not only murdered a British hostage, they have planned and continue to plan attacks across Europe and in our country.
We are a peaceful people, we do not seek out confrontation. But we need to understand - we cannot ignore this threat to our security and that of our allies. There is no option of keeping our heads down that would make us safe. The problem would merely get worse, as it has done over recent months. Not just for us, but for Europe and for the world.
We cannot just walk on by if we are to keep this country safe. We have to confront this menace. Step by step, we must drive back, dismantle and ultimately destroy ISIL and what it stands for.
We will do so in a calm, deliberate way, but with an iron determination. We will not do so on our own, but with working with our allies, not just in the United States and in Europe, but also in the region. Because this organisation poses a massive threat to the entire Middle East. So we will defeat ISIL through a comprehensive and sustained counter-terrorism strategy.
First, we will work with the Iraqi government to ensure it represents all of its people and is able to tackle this threat effectively.
We will support the Kurdish regional government who are holding the front line against ISIL. We will help them protect their own people and the minorities - including Christians that they have helped already - through our supplies of ammunition and of training.
Second, we will work at the United Nations to mobilise the broadest possible support to bear down on ISIL.
Third, the United States is taking direct military action. We support that. British Tornadoes and surveillance aircraft have been helping with intelligence gathering and logistics.
This is not about British combat troops on the ground. It is about working with others to extinguish this terrorist threat.
As this strategy intensifies, we are ready to take whatever steps are necessary to deal with this threat and keep our country safe.
Fourth, we will continue to support the enormous humanitarian efforts, including using the RAF to do so, to help the literally millions of people who have fled ISIL and are now living in appalling conditions.
Fifth, and perhaps most important, we will maintain and continue to reinforce our formidable counter-terrorist effort here at home, to prevent attacks and to hunt down those who are planning any.
People across this country will have been sickened by the fact it could have been a British citizen, a British citizen who carried out this unspeakable act. It is the very opposite of everything our country stands for.
It falls to the Government and to each and every one of us to drain this poison from our society and to take on this warped ideology that is radicalising some of our young people.
The murder of David Haines at the hands of Isil will not leave Britain to shirk our responsibility with our allies to deal with the threat that this organisation poses. It must strengthen our resolve.
We must recognise it will take time to eradicate a threat like this. It will require, as I have described, action at home and abroad. This is not something we can do on our own, we have to work with the rest of the world.
Ultimately our security as a nation, the way we go about everyday lives in this free and tolerant society that is Britain, has always depended on our readiness to act against those who stand for hatred and who stand for destruction. That is exactly what we will do.
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Comments
In fairness I dont know, Im not privy to the actions we could take and what intelligence we have.
But as it is with this speech It seems to be a speech that he would have been better not making, his words don't show enough anger to me, it certainly wouldn't scare me if I were someone in ISIS,
Actually he is talking to ISIS.
My pop at Cameron is because I would have expected a much more Churchill kind of statement in response to ISIS, as It is I think we have just had a Politically Correct speech that is worded to keep everyone happy.
I also voted for Cameron at the last election, my estimation of him has dropped because I think he isn't strong enough for Britain.
It wasn't meant to.
Why are there so many idiots on this forum?
Plenty of people want him to declare war.
I'll be very interested to see The Sun's front page tomorrow.
he is condemning their actions. he knows full well what they're capable and also knows they will not listen to reason or take any notice. he is telling the public that action will be taken
Hence my OP,
Was what he said enough to keep the public happy that he is doing everything the country could do to stop them?
Id like to see the SAS go in and locate the hostages and free them, Id even support boots on the ground to defeat this evil group.
But what Cameron delivered was far short of anything close to that, in fact he didnt even say our fighter jets would even attack them!
After what the UK government did in Iraq I think we have a duty to send the troops there to save the people from the evil that is ISIS.
well yes i agree with you about action being needed but seeing as Obama hasn't made any commitment yet, he might be holding off himself.
Sounds like you would have supported Neville Chamberlain.
Are you holding a piece of paper?
Sounds pathetic really, thank god we had the sense to put Churchill into power.
Im pretty sure all those people in Iraq being slaughtered by ISIS after having their country destroyed by Bush and Blair are delighted that Britain will standby and look statesmen like instead of actually helping them.
He keeps saying this as though ISIL is a small, terrorist group. They're not, they have an army that has swept through much of Iraq, while their well armed opponents have fled leaving their weapons behind them.
It's not a matter of hunting down those responsible, we can look for the individuals directly responsible for war crimes after we have removed the threat that ISIL pose. We are giving a "personality" to one of their recruits, but it doesn't really matter who he is. We have to wipe them all out or render them impotent.
I'm generally against most of what Cameron does, but he's rightly not going to do any of the above yet, because of:
a) Parliament's rejection of military involvement in Syria not long ago
b) Plans with the Americans and their 'coalition of the willing" not yet complete
c) The imminent Scottish Referendum.
You don't go rushing headlong into these things anyway. Give him time to work out a coherent strategy with the Yanks and get Parliament onside!
you've just pointed out why they are reluctant to rush into action. they were condemned for iraq and now they are expected to go into Syria.
So basically, not only should Cameron send the troops in without at least running it by parliament first, he should send them in without consulting the military or giving them a chance to get plans and logistics in place - he should also tell IS what's going to happen as well?
There should be a vote in parliament as soon as possible. Tuesday is probably the earliest it can realistically be. Possibly on an amendable motion to allow either just airstrikes or to allow boots on the ground as well.
Perhaps there should, but it would be a bit foolish for Cameron to threaten IS with military strikes until it has taken place. Even then, telling the public about airstrikes and the SAS going in would be a bit silly. I'm not sure the SAS like their whereabouts being publicised!
Which is what the OP doesn't seem to understand.
It's easy to criticise when we aren't actually in the situation that he is.
Unfortunately some short-sighted individuals seem to think we can just send in a few bombers and that will be that. In reality the situation there is complex and we risk being dragged into another long term conflict with god knows who else. Cameron is taking the right approach. Other states in the region need to step up to the plate.