Obama and Cameron Call on NATO push for coalition against ISIS
Written by : Mohamed Abdel Fattah
4 Sep 2014
President Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain have called on NATO to reject “isolationist” impulses and confront the rising terrorist threat posed by Sunni militants in the Middle East.
Cameron met Barack Obama for more than 40 minutes to discuss the principles of a campaign that will extend through Kurdish northern Iraq, Sunni Iraq and possibly into Syria itself.
Cameron, announced Britain would start supplying lethal military equipment to Kurdish forces resisting the Islamist advance.
But although Nato leaders debated how to combat Isis, which now calls itself Islamic State, Mr Obama has yet to ask other nations to join American bombing missions.
The NATO summit, which is formally scheduled to address the drawdown in Afghanistan and the conflict in Ukraine, comes days after the ISIS released a video depicting its beheading of a second American journalist.
Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported that over the past day, Secretary of State John Kerry and other administration officials have reached out to leaders from Australia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Italy and Israel to discuss how to combat ISIS.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the discussions focused on what each country might contribute including weapons, humanitarian aid and other resources and noted that some nations already have.
The U.S. has launched airstrikes against the Islamic militant group in Iraq, and the Obama administration is weighing action against ISIS in Syria, where the group is based.
Obama, under intense domestic pressure to set out his strategy for dealing with Islamic State, pleaded for patience to build support in the region, saying: "It is going to take time for us to form the regional coalition that's going to be required so that we can reach out to Sunni tribes in some of the areas that Isis has occupied, and make sure that we have allies on the ground in combination with the air strikes that we've already conducted."
Obama, criticised last week for saying the US "did not have a strategy" to defeat Isis in Iraq and Syria, also gradually expanded his military objectives, saying the aim was to degrade and destroy Isis, rather than just to protect US citizens and vulnerable minorities.
However , leaders focus during meeting on responding to Russia’s escalating military intervention in Ukraine.
Russia has taken over large swaths of Ukraine, including annexing the Crimean region of the country. Russian-backed separatists have been accused of downing a Malaysian Airlines passenger plane over eastern Ukraine, killing more than 200 people on board.
Both Obama and Cameron have struggled to censure Russian President Vladimir Putin for his incursions in Ukraine, as Russian forces move further into the country, despite increased sanctions from America and the European Union.
Sources
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/sep/04/david-cameron-broad-based-assault-isis-syria-barack-obama
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/05/world/europe/obama-and-cameron-call-on-nato-to-confront-isis.html?_r=0
http://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/obama-cameron-stand-together-against-isis-russia
4 Sep 2014
President Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain have called on NATO to reject “isolationist” impulses and confront the rising terrorist threat posed by Sunni militants in the Middle East.
Cameron met Barack Obama for more than 40 minutes to discuss the principles of a campaign that will extend through Kurdish northern Iraq, Sunni Iraq and possibly into Syria itself.
Cameron, announced Britain would start supplying lethal military equipment to Kurdish forces resisting the Islamist advance.
But although Nato leaders debated how to combat Isis, which now calls itself Islamic State, Mr Obama has yet to ask other nations to join American bombing missions.
The NATO summit, which is formally scheduled to address the drawdown in Afghanistan and the conflict in Ukraine, comes days after the ISIS released a video depicting its beheading of a second American journalist.
Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported that over the past day, Secretary of State John Kerry and other administration officials have reached out to leaders from Australia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Italy and Israel to discuss how to combat ISIS.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the discussions focused on what each country might contribute including weapons, humanitarian aid and other resources and noted that some nations already have.
The U.S. has launched airstrikes against the Islamic militant group in Iraq, and the Obama administration is weighing action against ISIS in Syria, where the group is based.
Obama, under intense domestic pressure to set out his strategy for dealing with Islamic State, pleaded for patience to build support in the region, saying: "It is going to take time for us to form the regional coalition that's going to be required so that we can reach out to Sunni tribes in some of the areas that Isis has occupied, and make sure that we have allies on the ground in combination with the air strikes that we've already conducted."
Obama, criticised last week for saying the US "did not have a strategy" to defeat Isis in Iraq and Syria, also gradually expanded his military objectives, saying the aim was to degrade and destroy Isis, rather than just to protect US citizens and vulnerable minorities.
However , leaders focus during meeting on responding to Russia’s escalating military intervention in Ukraine.
Russia has taken over large swaths of Ukraine, including annexing the Crimean region of the country. Russian-backed separatists have been accused of downing a Malaysian Airlines passenger plane over eastern Ukraine, killing more than 200 people on board.
Both Obama and Cameron have struggled to censure Russian President Vladimir Putin for his incursions in Ukraine, as Russian forces move further into the country, despite increased sanctions from America and the European Union.
Sources
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/sep/04/david-cameron-broad-based-assault-isis-syria-barack-obama
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/05/world/europe/obama-and-cameron-call-on-nato-to-confront-isis.html?_r=0
http://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/obama-cameron-stand-together-against-isis-russia
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