President Barack Obama on Wednesday night hailed a vote by British lawmakers to join the air campaign against the Islamic State (ISIS) group in Syria.
In a statement that also praised a German government decision to provide 1,200 military personnel to support the fight against the radical group, Obama praised a "special relationship" with Britain "rooted in our shared values and mutual commitment to global peace, prosperity, and security," according to AFP.
Earlier on Wednesday, parliamentarians voted by an overwhelming majority to expand British participation in a counter-Islamic State air war in Iraq to neighboring Syria, offering Prime Minister David Cameron a much needed foreign policy victory.
Cameron was humiliated in 2013 when parliament voted against strikes against the Syrian regime of Bashar Al-Assad, a vote that left Obama isolated in pressing for air strikes in response to chemical weapons use.
"Since the beginning of the counter-ISIL campaign the United Kingdom has been one of our most valued partners in fighting ISIL," Obama said in a statement, using an alternative acronym for ISIS.
"We look forward to having British forces flying with the coalition over Syria and will work to integrate them into our Coalition Air Tasking Orders as quickly as possible," he added.
Obama also praised a German cabinet move to bolster Berlin's role in the crisis.
Ministers approved a package of measures, which still requires legislative approval, that would supply Tornado reconnaissance jets, a naval frigate and up to 1,200 troops.
"While this still requires German parliamentary approval, this is a clear sign of Germany's continued commitment to the counter-ISIL campaign and to working with a broad range of partners to defeat this shared threat," Obama said according to AFP.
"ISIL is a global threat that must be defeated by a global response. The United States welcomes any partner's genuine counter-ISIL efforts in Syria and Iraq, and I applaud the steps taken by the UK and Germany that demonstrate our unity and resolve," said the American president.
Cameron’s victory in the vote was enabled when members of the Labour party, which was deeply split on the issue, were given freedom to vote as they choose by leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Before the vote, Cameron considerably turned up the rhetoric against Corbyn, urging his own MPs not to "sit on their hands" or "walk through the lobbies" with Corbyn and his allies, who he branded "a bunch of terrorist sympathizers".
Cameron was later asked to apologize for the comments, but refused to do so, saying only, "I respect people who come to a different view from the government."