Should Britain Now Take Military Action Against Is?

[naomi24]

Just caught a bit of the television news where someone said public opinion is changing and the people of this country are now generally in favour of Britain taking military action against IS. What do you think? Yes or no?

[weecalf]

Is it a a war situation that can be won as in problem solved walk away .Don't think so ,so Id say no .

[askyourgran]

Decisive action should be taken now, there will of course be a reaction from others of their kind. Double safety measures should be taken, but treat any other jihadists the same way. It means our Border patrols should be on alert too a well as our own home-grown idiots. As for Jihadi Johnny I say lets play Russian roulette with his head (by sword) for a few outings before ending his misery.

[naomi24]

weecalf, no action, the problem intensifies, creating an even bigger problem. I think we have an 'all or nothing' choice now. If we do it we have to do it with the intention of obliterating this blight on the planet. Nothing less will suffice.

[sevenOP]

What is this 'all' that you are referring to?

and is it related to your reference " of obliterating this blight on the planet. Nothing less will suffice. " - what do you mean by this ?

[naomi24]

I mean what I say. If we're going to act, we need to do a proper job in ridding the planet of this menace once and for all. There is no compromise simply because they want no compromise. That's their choice - not ours.

[sevenOP]

You may mean what you say but have explained nothing and have put forward zero proposals on how this can be achieved: shades of Bush's "The War on Terror"

[naomi24]

This is a war on terror, and frankly I don't care how the end of this one is achieved. It needs to be achieved.

[sunny-dave]

We have Trident ... so why not use it?

[askyourgran]

We used to have Enola Gay.

[sunny-dave]

Well exactly AyG.

No point having a deterrent that doesn't deter anyone.

These fanatics are only able to operate because of tacit/covert support from Middle Eastern Governments.

We must know which ones they are (or we're wasting shedloads of money on GCHQ etc).

I suggest a list is produced of suspect capital cities - with an indication that we'll be nuking one for every hostage that is beheaded.

That might concentrate a few minds ... and if our bluff is called then there will be some nicely glowing holes in the *** end of nowhere - no loss to world civilisation at all.

[askyourgran]

Exactly, no-body really wants to stay there, they are all over here.

[FrogNog]

Are you seriously suggesting nuking them?
Really?
No, I don't have a solution, but really?

[Svejk]

you'd have to put London high on the list as we were their biggest fans/supporters 12 months ago.

[sandyRoe]

Strong ruthless leaders like Assad in Syria and Saddam in Iraq, with the tacit support of the West, held the lid on things.
It's not too late for the West to fall in behind Assad and surely it isn't beyond the wit of the FO and State Department to find someone to replace Saddam.
Outside military action won't provide any sort of a permanent solution. So no.

[sunny-dave]

I'm actually making the point that Trident is a big money-pit that deters no-one and that we can never use ...

... if we had cancelled it and spent even half the equivalent resources on conventional soldiery then we might be in a better position now.

[Svejk]

its clear, now, why Saddam, Assad etc. didn't put human rights too high on their agendas.

[Hopkirk]

No.

Surely we should have learnt the lesson by now.

It doesn't improve things but leads to bigger problems.

[jno]

this poll suggests most people don't even want airstrikes, let alone ground forces

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/majority-of-britons-oppose-airstrikes-against-islamic-state-militants-9705085.html?origin=internalSearch

[askyourgran]

What is the best solution? Sit and do nothing and let them carry on?, it is a dangerous game sandy, we have the enemy within now, measures will have to be taken to stop this whole business from exploding across Europe if the Uk and the US handle things badly. Their compatriots in the Arab world are doing nothing to prevent their actions so we must presume they are complicit.
We can thank Tony Blair and George Bush for opening this can of worms, I only wish Blair was made to stand to account.