Posted on 09/24/2014 8:22:39 PM PDT by GonzoII
Six Dutch F-16 fighter bombers and six Belgian ones are to join the U.S.-led air campaign against the Islamic State group in Iraq, officials said on Wednesday.
"The Netherlands will make six F-16s available for the first phase of the campaign, for one year," Dutch Deputy Prime Minister Lodewijk Asscher told reporters after an emergency cabinet meeting in The Hague.
Earlier in the day, the Belgian government said it plans to send six F-16 fighter jets to join the anti-IS coalition but will limit their use to Iraq.
The Belgian parliament must still approve the move, which follows a formal request from Washington on Tuesday, Belgian Defense Minister Pieter De Crem said.
The threat posed by the IS group prompted the United States to launch airstrikes in Iraq last month and on Tuesday the operation was expanded to IS and other groups in Syria.
De Crem was quoted as saying by the Belga news agency that the government had approved an initial one-month deployment, which could be renewed.
The deployment of the U.S.-built fighter bombers would be "limited to Iraq", as it had made an international appeal for help, Foreign Minister Didier Reynders added.
A full vote in parliament is expected in coming days, possibly on Friday. It is expected to pass.
The planes would be deployed two or three days later.
The F-16s would be based in Jordan, one of the Arab nations that has joined the coalition, and would be accompanied by around 120 personnel, the defense ministry said.
(Excerpt) Read more at naharnet.com ...
let them rake the streets with their 20mm’s and put the gun camera vid up on YouTube .
ISIS Ford trucks being blown to bits , full of ISIS fighters coming apart .
and any muz emigres that so much as squeek about it should be arrested , permanently deported and their properties seized . The entire families .
Interesting that no one wants to put boots on the ground. Also the Europeans are limiting themselves to Iraq. They don’t seem to want anything to do with Syria.
Probably because they don't trust our intentions in Syria. They're concerned that Obama might swerve into an attack on Assad's forces, which would bring Putin and the Russians to bear.
They'd want to stay clear of any such confrontation.
Well, everyone seems to be getting some good bombing practice.
I can’t help wondering where all these aircraft will be operating from?
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