August 29, 2013.

U.K. Faces Pushback Committing to Syria Military Action

"Ah, well----what I mean to say, shows the right spirit, doesn't it? Mischievous little beggars they are, both of them, but talk about keenness! All they think about is the Spies, and the war, of course. D'you know what that little girl of mine did last Saturday, when he troop was on a hike out Berkhamsted way? She got two other girls to go with her, slipped off from the hike, and spent the whole afternoon following a strange man. They kept on his tail for two hours, right through the woods, and then, when they got into Amersham, handed him over to the patrols."

LONDON----British Prime Minister David Cameron appeared to hit a snag in his ability to commit the U.K. to immediate military action in Syria, an early sign of the pushback Western governments may face from the public as they prepare to launch an attack.

"What did they do that for?" said Winston, somewhat taken aback. Parsons went on triumphantly:

Mr. Cameron, who is currently presenting his case for military action to the British Parliament, has faced vocal opposition from politicians and the public that has already appeared to limit the speed at which he could respond to Syria.

"My kid made sure he was some kind of enemy agent -- might have been dropped by parachute, for instance. But here's the point, old boy. What do you think put her on to him in the first place? She spotted he was wearing a funny kind of shoes -- said she'd never seen anyone wearing shoes like that before. So the chances were he was a foreigner. Pretty smart for a nipper of seven, eh?"

The prime minister potentially faces losing a parliamentary vote Thursday on the broad principle of intervening in Syria, where Western governments have said President Bashar al-Assad's regime carried out a deadly chemical-weapons attack on civilians last week. It is a precursor to a further parliamentary vote due early next week specifically on whether the U.K. should get directly involved.