U.S. Mobilizes Allies to Widen Assault on ISIS
Source: New York Times
WASHINGTON The United States has begun to mobilize a broad coalition of allies behind potential American military action in Syria and is moving toward expanded airstrikes in northern Iraq, administration officials said on Tuesday.
President Obama, the officials said, was broadening his campaign against the Sunni militants of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and nearing a decision to authorize airstrikes and airdrops of food and water around the northern Iraqi town of Amerli, home to members of Iraqs Turkmen minority. The town of 12,000 has been under siege for more than two months by the militants.
Rooting out a cancer like ISIL wont be easy, and it wont be quick, Mr. Obama said in a speech on Tuesday to the American Legion in Charlotte, N.C., using an alternative name for ISIS. He said that the United States was building a coalition to take the fight to these barbaric terrorists, and that the militants would be no match for a united international community.
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As Mr. Obama considered new strikes, the White House began its diplomatic campaign to enlist allies and neighbors in the region to increase their support for Syrias moderate opposition and, in some cases, to provide support for possible American military operations. The countries likely to be enlisted include Australia, Britain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, officials said.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/27/world/middleeast/us-mobilizes-allies-to-widen-assault-on-isis.html?_r=0
jakeXT
(10,575 posts)pampango
(24,692 posts)the go-betweens with the al Nusra group in Syria to get Peter Theo Curtis released. Either they are realizing they have gone to far in funding some of these groups or they are just conducting a big PR effort to improve their image.
jakeXT
(10,575 posts)http://m.state.gov/md230863.htm
Renew Deal
(81,866 posts)happyslug
(14,779 posts)And that is not the same as the side the US is supporting.
TwilightGardener
(46,416 posts)sucked up all the oxygen. You'd think an impending war would galvanize our attention, but I guess not.
IthinkThereforeIAM
(3,076 posts)... but I am keeping tabs on it at least once a day, usually checking in with BBC's GMT on PBS in the AM. (OK, I got a bit carried away there. Was that actually a sentence?) And via the net.
Psephos
(8,032 posts)flamingdem
(39,313 posts)?
Psephos
(8,032 posts)Along the lines of "slippery slope" or "foot in the door."