Sheep magazine Archive 2: issues 10-17

operation had cost £45m in the previous 12 months. He reassured his
audience that “our position remains that we would return to the House for
approval before conducting air strikes in Syria”.
Before making this statement, Fallon was said to have been unsettled
by talk in Washington political circles that the UK’s refusal to act in Syria
could be seen only as a sign of British decrepitude. His statement was
deeply misleading: for at least 18 months, RAF pilots who were said to
have been “embedded” with the US and Canadian military had been
carrying out airstrikes against targets in Syria. Others had been flying
combat missions with the French military over Mali. They were said to be
under the command of these foreign forces, but they were clearly a British
contribution to a war that MPs had decided the country should avoid.
53
Two weeks later the truth was out, and Fallon was back on his feet in the
Commons, explaining himself to angry MPs.
“Embedded” service personnel were nothing new, he declared; they
comply with UK law, but “have to comply with the rules of engagement
of the host nation”. He had not publicised what had been happening
because these pilots had been assisting with other countries’ operations.
Moreover, he made clear that the failure to publicise what was happening
should be regarded as “standard practice”.
In December 2015, MPs voted that overt military action against
Islamic State forces should finally proceed. The government was given
parliamentary approval for military operations that had already been
covertly under way for two years.
SEPTEMBER 2016