Baroness Jolly
Main Page: Baroness Jolly (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Baroness Jolly's debates with the Ministry of Defence
(8 years, 9 months ago)
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Earl Howe
The noble Lord is right that airpower alone will not defeat Daesh. Indeed, military action alone will not defeat Daesh. We have to counter its ideology as well and cut off its sources of finance. We have set our face against putting British troops on the ground in Iraq or Syria. Prime Minister Abadi of Iraq has made it very clear that he wishes the action on the ground to be pursued by Iraqi armed forces, not western troops, and we respect that.
Baroness Jolly (LD)
My Lords, the Minister spoke earlier of careful planning. Can he tell the House how many time strikes have been called off as a result of that planning to prevent civilian losses or casualties?
Earl Howe
My Lords, the noble Baroness makes an extremely important point. There have been many occasions—I cannot give her a precise number—when a strike mission has been called off because it has been deemed too risky to the civilian population. We always err on the side of caution in that respect.