Cameron says wants more budget for tackling Islamic extremism

PanARMENIAN.Net - After his government promised last week to hit NATO spending targets, UK Prime Minister David Cameron said on Sunday, July 12, that he wanted more of the military budget to be spent on tackling Islamic extremism, citing special forces, spy planes and drones as probable priorities, the New York Times reports.

In comments released by his office, Cameron suggested that a wide-ranging review of military capabilities, currently being conducted by Britain’s military leaders, should give special consideration to emerging threats, including terrorism and cyberattacks.

“I have tasked the defense and security chiefs to look specifically at how we do more to counter the threat posed by ISIL and Islamist extremism,” Cameron said, referring to the Islamic State.

“This could include more spy planes, drones and special forces. In the last five years, I have seen just how vital these assets are in keeping us safe,” he added, according to the NYT.

After months of pressure from the United States, Britain last week unexpectedly committed to hitting a NATO target of spending 2 percent of its gross domestic product on defense until 2020.

The statement said that Cameron hoped that the Strategic Defense and Security Review, which is supposed to conclude this fall, would prioritize protection from evolving threats, such as terrorism, extremism and cyberattacks.

It added that Britain’s response needed to be more agile and adaptable, and highlighted the importance of cooperation with partners, including the United States, to ensure that British naval vessels can project drones and deploy special forces.

Michael Fallon, the defense minister, argued last month that it was impossible for the government to massage its NATO spending figures because the definition of what qualifies for the 2 percent target, is agreed within the trans-Atlantic alliance, which issues statistics on the expenditure of its members.

However Cameron’s comments are likely to intensify the debate over what, precisely, the NATO spending pledge should mean in concrete terms for the British military, the NYT notes.

Along with France, Britain is one of two European nations with sizable armed forces, but the British Army has undergone significant cuts in recent years as the country sought to curb spending and restore its public finances after the financial crash of 2008.

Critics had argued that Britain’s global influence was receding, a notion also fostered by a parliamentary vote in 2013 against airstrikes in Syria, and the discussion, before a referendum to be held by the end of 2017, on whether to leave the European Union.