BBC Online :The UK is “letting down” its allies by failing to launch air strikes against terrorist group Islamic State in Syria, says Britain’s top military commander.General Sir Nicholas Houghton, the chief of the defence staff, criticised the UK policy of restricting RAF air strikes to neighbouring Iraq. He told Sky News the decision “makes no sense” when IS, also known as Isil, has its stronghold in Syria.MPs rejected possible UK military action in Syria in 2013. Sir Nicholas told Sky’s Murnaghan programme: “To an extent, yes, we are letting our allies down by not being a full player.”He also likened the situation where the UK could not cross Syria’s borders to attack IS positions as “like being asked to win a football match but not being able to go into the opponent’s half”.He added: “Isil, they have a caliphate which extends across that border. “But the source of their power, their command and control, their logistics, their organisation, the place from which they issue orders to international terrorists, is from within Syria. “And so to be denied our ability to play a proportionate role in that makes no sense.” He further explained to the BBC’s Andrew Marr show that the UK had only ever said it could make a contribution towards an international effort to defeat IS.
