A successful strike indeed and one that mirrors hundreds of others in terms of CDE, PID, POL etc. A stretch on the UK Self Defence term the military are used to, but I guess the AG knows his stuff.

But be under no illusion folks this is a huge departure from what has occurred since Reapers first took to the Afghan skies in the winter of 2007. Whatever your views, this is new territory.

I was annoyed by the chap on the telly, I think he was a relative of the dead guy, talking about 'The British have done this that and the other and more questions need to be asked.' Are you not British yourself then?

As for the strike, win win for everyone. We get rid of a scumbag and he's gone to his twenty virgins to rape or whatever they do in hell.

It does seem a big step and it does seem the general publics view is 'meh'.

Which is handy. More please.


WWW

Clinical Syrian RPAS Strikes.
 

Are those birds operated from the UK ? By RAF personnel?

Yes, that is correct! ;)

In an open democracy there should be no problem in asking which particular due process is being followed in the eradication of terrorist targets. In cases such as these, where obvious bad players are exporting terrorism on a global scale the rationale is easy to explain and easy to follow. The Attorney General should have no problem in explaining that solid intelligence (no need to discuss the nature of that intelligence of course) led to the identification, location and likely intent of the subsequent target; and as a consequence, the appropriate extreme violence was dispensed forthwith and the threat was neutralized. Because, of course, the Government of the day has never modified or misused intelligence reports has it? No PM has ever gone to war on manufactured intelligence for their own ends have they?

That’s the trouble with the Nigel Farage or Daily Mail approach to foreign policy and fighting terrorists. When it’s all obvious and nicely black and white such as in this case, of course it’s the right way to deal with terrorism. But when the targets become less obvious, and the threat to the UK more nuanced, do we still sing rah-rah team and not care which due process is being followed, or do we care when that process is not even remotely transparent. Surely we can trust the PM and AG (not even the Government in this case) to act in our best interests without question? That doesn’t mean the public need to know anything about intelligence sources or target identification, but surely the key protagonists in the due process can enlighten the elected government of the day with the broad outline of how the State decides capital punishment is wholly justified. What if we find the Real IRA are planning a spectacular in Northern Ireland? Is there any difference in eliminating terrorists threats with drones in ‘Derry or Damascus? Rubbish you cry, but how do you know if there is no due process to review, classified or otherwise?

Do you not wonder for a minute why details of military engagements such as these are released lock, stock and literally smoking barrel to the great unwashed, to be devoured by the tabloid press, despite an obviously high level of content about classified modes and methods? Surely only a cynic would consider that planting a story where a pair of really bad actors get taken out without a hitch furthers the case for further Prime Ministerial level execution without the burdensome nonsense of judicial or even parliamentary review. This pair absolutely got their just deserts in this case, but be careful wishing away long established legal process in the heat of the moment. As for the “…angst in the US when the Americans whacked one of their own citizens…”; this was not driven so much by the left-wing fluffies, as much as the dawning realization that every time Chuck or Randy working as a Government acronym contractor whacked yet another Pakistani wedding party (oops, sorry about killing the wrong brown people) they created more terrorist converts than any Taliban recruiting drive ever did.

Just because this action appears at first blush to be wholly justified, please try to be at least a little curious about the due process surrounding how an elected Government decides when and where to execute people. You never know, one day that SNP affinity might come back to bite you in the arse.

The process was:

Troops in contact (Helmand?) = No, so no self-defence.
Hostile act? = don't know yet, intelligence-led.
Hostile intent? = You betcha!
Under certain cirumstances, proscribed enemy target sets can be engaged when not involved with any of the above, but it depends on the theatre-specific rules...

Remarkable, even the Grauniad. In fact the only media screeching about a need for an inquiry and sorrowfully seek friends and family of the deceased to complain about unnecessary violence are the Baghdad Broadcasting Corporation - no surprise there.........


Was it lawful for UK forces to kill British Isis fighters in Syria? | Joshua Rozenberg | Comment is free | The Guardian

.......On the facts as we know them, this unprecedented attack on British would-be terrorists in Syria appears to be within the law. The attorney general, we are told, “was clear there would be a clear legal basis for action in international law”. We are unlikely to see the full text of his advice because some of the details are likely to be highly classified. But we are entitled to expect the government to publish a summary, not least because the convention that legal advice on such matters is confidential seems no longer to be observed by ministers themselves.

So the only remaining question is whether the drone strike on Khan and those with him was morally justified. On this, I am with Cameron. As he said, his first duty is to keep the British people safe. “There was a terrorist directing murder on our streets and no other means to stop him,” the prime minister said.

And I don’t suppose that Khan himself would have disagreed. If he was waging war on British troops and civilians, he can hardly complain the UK’s armed forces were one step ahead of him.

Two's in - IMO you are spot on and I congratulate you on a damn good post.

Some readers on here really have no idea how evil the IRA are. (Our wonderful governments might have put them back into a state hibernation for a little while by appeasing cold blooded murderers). FFS our 'democracy' let them all out, gave them pardons and vast sums in compensation. Some reading here still have this misplaced romantic notion of 'freedom fighting' bollox against the oppressive British.

As for theatre specific rules - even more bollox - terroriism is terrorism and the only way to fight terrorism - is with terrorism. I certainly have no axe to grind with what was done - not one single bit. I do have an axe to grind about how many were and still are, dragged through the law courts for far less acts of, so called democracy.

We should all rejoice at the demise of these British passport holding Muslim traitors. well done the RAF.

We should hunt and kill them where ever we find them. And their scumbag lawyers if possible.

BZ PM

Def Sec on Today prog came across quite well just now, considering the bias ingrained in the Bolshevik Broadcasting Corporation. Michael Fallon jumped at the chance to say he would do it again if needs be.

Bravo!

From an old mud-mover: Well done all involved. More of the same please.

To assist this, should she not go and do a personal fact finding inspection of the attack site?

Why are we ever bothering to give this event media time?

Quote:

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We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.

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Nice work.

More of the same please.

Clinical Syrian RPAS Strikes.
 

Sorry to reiterate the question but are those birds operated by RAF personnel? Out of the U.K.? No detailed operational details needed but if this is via civil contractors out of Nevada it opens another can of worms...

You asked in post #24 and were answered in post #25. what more do you want, names and addresses? :hmm::hmm:

So Dave should have asked Parliament first? But they were on one of their (long) holidays weren't they? It would take a week to recall them.
mmitch.

Atakacs,
See following media reports with videos. The media were granted access a few years ago.

Reaper Attack HQ: Rare Access To Top Secret Site

RAF opens drone control centre in bid to 'demystify' controversial weapons | World news | The Guardian

Inside Britain's military drone base at RAF Waddington - BBC News

After the Prime Minister announced that an RAF drone strike inside Syria killed two British men fighting for Islamic State, footage from another RAF Reaper attacking an ISIS boat loaded with hundreds of mortar and rocket rounds has been released.

Forces TV

WATCH: RAF Blow Up ISIS Boat | Forces TV