What is Britain Doing, Sending More Troops to Iraq/Syria?

British military specialists arrive in

Middle East to train Syrian rebels

FILE PHOTO: Soldiers from the RECCE and PATROLS Platoon, Fire Support Company of The 1st Battalion The Royal Welch Fusilers (1 RWF) mount heli borne Eagle VCP's (Vehicle Check Points) near the southern Iraqi City of Basra. © The British Defense Ministry / AFP

More specialist UK soldiers have arrived in Iraq to train anti-Islamic State rebel forces to fight in Syria, joining the 500 already deployed to the region.

Their arrival was announced as the UK hosts a conference of defense ministers from countries involved in the coalition fighting Islamic State.

The 20 trainers – who are likely to be special forces soldiers – will teach so-called ‘moderate’ fighters infantry skills, combat first aid and other battlefield tactics.

The existing deployment is thought to be made up of around 500 soldiers from the 4 Rifles infantry regiment, which is based near the Kurdish-held city of Erbil alongside specialist soldiers from the Royal Engineers and Royal Signals.

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has previously stated that anyone receiving UK training would be vetted to ensure that no knowledge was passed on to jihadist groups.

The deployment of UK special forces has come under increasing scrutiny, with critics claiming that it has now become the basic form of UK military operations and as such should be brought under democratic oversight.

Thank you Britain for putting me in the position of agreeing with Jeremy Corbyn; I may never forgive you for that; but he is right on this issue. Parliamentary oversight just might be sufficient to help the government see that by supporting rebel fighters you are prolonging this dreadful war, killing more civilians, making their lives miserable, and creating thousands more migrants.

There is no 'moderate' opposition in Syria. There may be some groups of mercenaries who are not as bad as others, but, in the end, if Assad is overthrown, you have no way of controlling who takes power, whether a 'moderate group' or something far worse than Assad. In all probability it will require a coalition of several rebel groups, which means some of the worst elements of militant Islam will be involved.

Most Syrians don't want regime change, certainly to an unknown entity that could very likely impose Sharia upon the country. 

If the west, and Saudi Arabia stopped supporting these rebel mercenaries, the war in Syria would end in weeks and people could start to rebuild their lives. Eventually, some Syrian migrants might even decide to return home. But, of course, that wouldn't sell bombs and missiles.

The UK is one of the few countries which flatly refuses to comment on covert military activities to either the media or to questions by elected lawmakers in parliament.

Calls for a new war powers act have been backed by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, among others, who made his case to the Middle East Eye website in August.

“I’m very concerned about this because [former Prime Minister] David Cameron – I imagine [Prime Minister] Theresa May would say the same – would say parliamentary convention requires a parliamentary mandate to deploy British troops. Except, and they’ve all used the ‘except,’ when special forces are involved,” Corbyn said.

His comments were immediately attacked by former soldier-turned-Tory MP Bob Stewart, who told the Times that the PM must have the opportunity to deploy troops “when they think it’s crucial.”