The US has announced that Nato
allies have agreed to form a
coalition to fight the Islamic State,
with Barack Obama stating the
group’s “savage nihilism” must be
confronted.
The US president said on Friday
that the US and its key allies
would be mount a sustained effort
to push back the group, formerly
known as ISIL, which he said
posed a significant threat to Nato
countries.
There would also be efforts to
include Middle Eastern nations in
the coalition, a concerted effort to
cut the group’s funding, and help
those groups which reject the
“nihilism” it has spread through
Syria and Iraq.
The announcement was made at
the conclusion of a Nato summit
in Wales, after high-level talks to
agree a plan by the time the UN
general assembly meets this
month.
The coalition comprises the US,
the UK, France, Australia,
Germany, Canada, Turkey, Italy,
Poland and Denmark.
Obama said it would stand ready
“to confront this terrorist threat
with military, intelligence, law
enforcement as well as diplomatic
efforts”.
“I did not get any resistance or
push back to the basic notion that
we have a critical role to play in
rolling back this savage
organisation that is causing so
much chaos in the region and is
harming so many people and
poses a long-term threat to the
safety and security of Nato
members,” he said.
“So there’s great conviction that
we have to act, as part of the
international community, to
degrade and ultimately destroy
ISIL, and that was extremely
encouraging.”
Laying out a strategy for Iraq,
Obama hinted at a broader military
campaign, likening it to the way
US forces pushed back al-Qaeda
along Pakistan’s border with
Afghanistan, taking out the
group’s leadership and shrinking
the areas it controlled.
In Syria, he noted that moderate
Syrian rebels fighting both the
group and the government of
Bashar al-Assad were “outgunned
and outmanned” and needed aid.
Obama pressed Arab allies to
reject the violent “nihilism”
projected by the group.
The US secretary of state, John
Kerry, will travel to the Middle East
next week, where he expects to
expand the coalition beyond
Western nations.
Said Obama: “I think it is
absolutely critical that we have
Arab states – and specifically
Sunni-majority states – that are
rejecting the kind of extremist
nihilism that we’re seeing out of
ISIL,… join us actively in the fight.”
“What we can dismantle this
network, this force that has
claimed to control this much
territory, so that they can’t do us
harm,” Obama said.
In a meeting with the foreign and
defence ministers from the
coalition countries, Kerry said
leaders need a clear idea about
what they could contribute. Those
not offering military assets could
instead provide intelligence,
equipment, ammunition or
weapons.
The French president, Francois
Hollande, said France was
discussing with allies what type of
action might be taken.
Georgia, which is not in Nato but
has previously sent troops to
Afghanistan and Iraq, was quick to
offer its support.
http://www.punchng.com/politics/us-announces-coalition-to-fight-islamic-state/