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(Bloomberg) — Prime Minister David Cameron is seeking a bigger role for the U.K. in the fight to eradicate Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, urging an intensified campaign against an ideology that uses recruits as “cannon fodder.”

Cameron will use a speech on Monday to warn young Britons against travel abroad to join the movement’s ranks, after saying over the weekend that his government is discussing how the U.K. can contribute more to the struggle against its expansion in the Middle East.
British recruits to the group will be no more than “cannon fodder,” according to excerpts of Cameron’s speech released in advance.

“If you are a boy, they will brainwash you, strap bombs to your body and blow you up,” Cameron will warn. “If you are a girl, they will enslave and abuse you.”

U.K. pilots have been helping other forces that carried out airstrikes against Islamic State in Syria even though Parliament voted in September to limit U.K. operations against the group to Iraq. Cameron said in an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that he was in talks over ways the U.K. can increase its role in the region.

“I want Britain to do more,” Cameron said. “I will always have to take my Parliament with me. We are talking and discussing at the moment, including with the opposition parties in Britain, what more that we can do. But be in no doubt, we are committed to working with you to destroy the caliphate in both countries.”

Training Strategy

General David Richards, a former chief of the defense staff, told the BBC’s “The Andrew Marr Show” that the military campaign against Islamic State needs to be reinforced if it’s to be successful.
“The current strategy is essentially one of equipping and training others to do the hard stuff for us,” Richards said. “I think that could work, but the scale of the effort going into it is woefully insufficient. If you really want to get rid of them, we need to effectively get on a war footing.”

In his speech, Cameron will announce a review of how opportunity and social integration can be enhanced as a means of undercutting extremists’ efforts to radicalize young Britons.
’’We need young people to understand that here in the U.K. they can shape the future by being an active part of our great democracy,’’ Cameron will say.

The review will examine issues such as how to ensure that minority community members learn to speak English, boosting employment opportunities, and guarding against funding for community groups being used in a divisive way.

Iran Deal

In Cameron’s interview on NBC News, he said last week’s agreement between international powers and Iran to curb its nuclear program in return for phasing out sanctions was “a successful negotiation for the allies” and represented “a good deal done.”
“Fundamentally, this is the toughest set of proposals put in place and verification put in place and inspection put in place that I think we’ve seen in any of these sorts of negotiations,” Cameron said.
Concerning criticism of the agreement from countries including Israel, he said that taking the nuclear-weapon issue off the table “is a success for America and Britain and our allies.”
“We want to see a change in the approach that Iran takes to issues like Syria and Yemen, and to terrorism in the region,” Cameron said. “So, we’re not starry-eyed at all. And I’d reassure our Gulf allies about that.”

To contact the reporter on this story: John Deane in London at jdeane3@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: James Amott at jamott@bloomberg.net Stephen Kirkland, Cindy Roberts

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Sure is nice to hear someone talking tough about ISIS. Wish it was our own president! —W.