UK national press airs reservations about Cameron's Syrian mission

David Cameron may have secured a large majority in the Commons to go to war in Syria, but the UK national newspapers are anything but convinced about this decision.

There was an obvious lack of full-hearted support in several of Thursday’s leading articles in which grave reservations about the venture were aired.

However, there was widespread admiration from political commentators, and in editorials, for the speech by Labour’s shadow foreign secretary, Hilary Benn,

The Times, despite its firm backing for air strikes against Isis in Syria, wondered where it would lead, pointing out that “there is no enthusiasm in parliament or the country for the deployment of troops.”

Then it asked two pertinent questions: “When does British bombing end? When can victory over Isis be declared?”

And in calling for the mission to “be framed realistically” the paper said: “It is not reasonable to expect Raqqa to fall without the deployment of troops. Concentrated force can, however, weaken Isis to such a degree that it becomes less of a global danger.”