The message to ISIS militants on Friday was clear: The British are coming, and this time they're bringing more than muskets.
"A very significant vote has taken place in the United Kingdom. Parliament, the British, have voted to go to war."
Prime Minister David Cameron, who only weeks ago faced political oblivion during Scotland's independence referendum, led the charge in calling for military intervention in northern Iraq.
"We will face a terrorist caliphate on the shores of the Mediterranean and bordering a NATO member, with a declared and proven declaration to attack our country and our people."
And in the end, the vote wasn't even close — the New Statesman reports the tally was 524 for, and only 43 against.
Because despite worries about mission creep and cost, ISIS has made a point of making itself as terrifying as possible to the average Briton.
Just weeks ago, it recorded the grisly beheading of British aid worker David Haines and sent the tape to just about everyone — an act designed specifically, it seems, to outrage.
BETHANY HAINES VIA THE TELEGRAPH: "IS needs to be eradicated. They can’t continue this way. They can’t be doing this to people and getting away with it."
ISIS has also been loud about its future plans — which, real or not, include a lot of attacks on Britain.
Great Britain abruptly raised its domestic terror threat from substantial to severe. Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron today declaring there is no doubt that ISIS is targeting Western Europe."
The threats are especially terrifying because of their focus on transportation systems — a callback to the July 2005 bus bombings that killed 54 Londoners.
And on top of all of that, the group has been recruiting heavily in London's Muslim neighborhoods. The UK Foreign Minister estimates 400 UK nationals are currently fighting for ISIS in Iraq. (Video Via VICE)
The acts of ISIS, when taken together, made the British military involvement in Iraq not just possible, but almost a formality — a stunning achievement, considering the nation's hangover from the last Iraq War.
And whatever ISIS's reasons are, it no longer matters to the United Kingdom: British jets will begin dropping bombs as soon as Friday night.
