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| Obama Offers First Sketch of War Plan for Taking On ISIS | |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| NEWPORT, Wales — The Obama administration said on Friday it had formed a new international coalition of the willing to fight the marauding Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, as President Obama sketched the outlines of a strategy he said could ultimately defeat that organization and other extremist groups around the world. | NEWPORT, Wales — The Obama administration said on Friday it had formed a new international coalition of the willing to fight the marauding Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, as President Obama sketched the outlines of a strategy he said could ultimately defeat that organization and other extremist groups around the world. |
| In his most expansive comments to date about how the United States and its allies can destroy ISIS without putting American or other foreign troops on the ground in either Iraq or Syria, the president laid the beginnings of a war plan that replicates what the United States has done in Pakistan. That plan, as described by Mr. Obama, would rely on American airstrikes on ISIS leaders and positions, while strengthening the capacity of moderate Syrian rebel groups to reclaim ground seized by ISIS, which has proclaimed itself a monolithic Islamic caliphate that knows no borders and slays or enslaves its enemies. | In his most expansive comments to date about how the United States and its allies can destroy ISIS without putting American or other foreign troops on the ground in either Iraq or Syria, the president laid the beginnings of a war plan that replicates what the United States has done in Pakistan. That plan, as described by Mr. Obama, would rely on American airstrikes on ISIS leaders and positions, while strengthening the capacity of moderate Syrian rebel groups to reclaim ground seized by ISIS, which has proclaimed itself a monolithic Islamic caliphate that knows no borders and slays or enslaves its enemies. |
| “You initially push them back, you systematically degrade their capabilities, you narrow their scope of action, you slowly shrink the space, the territory that they may control, you take out their leadership,” Mr. Obama said. “And over time, they are not able to conduct the same kinds of terrorist attacks as they once could.” | “You initially push them back, you systematically degrade their capabilities, you narrow their scope of action, you slowly shrink the space, the territory that they may control, you take out their leadership,” Mr. Obama said. “And over time, they are not able to conduct the same kinds of terrorist attacks as they once could.” |
| He added that “we are going to degrade and ultimately defeat ISIL, the same way that we have gone after Al Qaeda,” using the acronym for a variant of ISIS’s name, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. | He added that “we are going to degrade and ultimately defeat ISIL, the same way that we have gone after Al Qaeda,” using the acronym for a variant of ISIS’s name, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. |
| He held up American drone strikes against Qaeda leaders in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan as an example of how the United States can go to war against militants while limiting the number of American ground combat troops. | He held up American drone strikes against Qaeda leaders in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan as an example of how the United States can go to war against militants while limiting the number of American ground combat troops. |
| His comments came at a news conference at the end of the NATO summit meeting, during which American officials also unveiled what Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel called the “core coalition” to fight the Sunni militants. | His comments came at a news conference at the end of the NATO summit meeting, during which American officials also unveiled what Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel called the “core coalition” to fight the Sunni militants. |
| In a hastily organized meeting on the outskirts of the NATO summit talks, diplomats and defense officials from the United States, Britain, France, Australia, Canada, Germany, Turkey, Italy, Poland and Denmark huddled to devise what they described as a two-pronged strategy: bolstering allies on the ground in Iraq and Syria, while bombing Sunni militants from the air. | In a hastily organized meeting on the outskirts of the NATO summit talks, diplomats and defense officials from the United States, Britain, France, Australia, Canada, Germany, Turkey, Italy, Poland and Denmark huddled to devise what they described as a two-pronged strategy: bolstering allies on the ground in Iraq and Syria, while bombing Sunni militants from the air. |
| “There is no containment policy for ISIL,” Secretary of State John Kerry said at the beginning of the meeting. “They’re an ambitious, avowed, genocidal, territorial-grabbing, caliphate-desiring quasi state with an irregular army, and leaving them in some capacity intact anywhere would leave a cancer in place that will ultimately come back to haunt us.” | “There is no containment policy for ISIL,” Secretary of State John Kerry said at the beginning of the meeting. “They’re an ambitious, avowed, genocidal, territorial-grabbing, caliphate-desiring quasi state with an irregular army, and leaving them in some capacity intact anywhere would leave a cancer in place that will ultimately come back to haunt us.” |
| But he and other officials made clear that at the moment, any ground combat troops would come from either Iraqi security forces and Kurdish pesh merga fighters in Iraq, or moderate Syrian rebels opposed to the government of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria. “Obviously I think that’s a red line for everybody here: no boots on the ground,” Mr. Kerry said. | But he and other officials made clear that at the moment, any ground combat troops would come from either Iraqi security forces and Kurdish pesh merga fighters in Iraq, or moderate Syrian rebels opposed to the government of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria. “Obviously I think that’s a red line for everybody here: no boots on the ground,” Mr. Kerry said. |
| For President Obama, assembling a coalition to fight ISIS is critical. The president whose initial arrival on the global stage was centered around his opposition to the war in Iraq is loathe to be viewed as going it alone now that he is becoming drawn into a combat role in the same country. | For President Obama, assembling a coalition to fight ISIS is critical. The president whose initial arrival on the global stage was centered around his opposition to the war in Iraq is loathe to be viewed as going it alone now that he is becoming drawn into a combat role in the same country. |
| “Getting sucked deeply back into another set of violent conflicts in the Middle East runs against the grain and the very DNA of this administration,” said Brian Katulis, a national security expert with the Center for American Progress, a research group with close ties to the Obama administration. “But the stunning actions by ISIS this summer has been a wake-up call.” | “Getting sucked deeply back into another set of violent conflicts in the Middle East runs against the grain and the very DNA of this administration,” said Brian Katulis, a national security expert with the Center for American Progress, a research group with close ties to the Obama administration. “But the stunning actions by ISIS this summer has been a wake-up call.” |
| Even as Mr. Obama is weighing airstrikes in Syria, he and his aides have been questioning what to do after launching those strikes, especially as targeting ISIS in Syria will help the government of Mr. Assad, regarded by the Obama administration as an odious leader who must resign. | Even as Mr. Obama is weighing airstrikes in Syria, he and his aides have been questioning what to do after launching those strikes, especially as targeting ISIS in Syria will help the government of Mr. Assad, regarded by the Obama administration as an odious leader who must resign. |
| An administration official on Friday said that there were concrete reasons for assembling a coalition that go beyond any political cover that such an alliance might provide to a war-weary American public. For one thing, the official said, certain countries bring expertise, like Britain and Australia in special operations, Jordan in intelligence, Turkey in border control and Saudi Arabia in financing. | An administration official on Friday said that there were concrete reasons for assembling a coalition that go beyond any political cover that such an alliance might provide to a war-weary American public. For one thing, the official said, certain countries bring expertise, like Britain and Australia in special operations, Jordan in intelligence, Turkey in border control and Saudi Arabia in financing. |
| “Sure, the American military can handle airstrikes,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity about delicate policy matters. “But it’s always nice to have help from your friends.” | “Sure, the American military can handle airstrikes,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity about delicate policy matters. “But it’s always nice to have help from your friends.” |
| American officials are hoping to expand the coalition against ISIS to include as many countries, particularly in the region, as possible. Obama administration officials said privately that in addition to the countries that attended the meeting Friday morning, the United States is hoping to get quiet intelligence help about the Sunni militants from Jordan. Its leader, King Abdullah II, was attending the Wales summit meeting. | American officials are hoping to expand the coalition against ISIS to include as many countries, particularly in the region, as possible. Obama administration officials said privately that in addition to the countries that attended the meeting Friday morning, the United States is hoping to get quiet intelligence help about the Sunni militants from Jordan. Its leader, King Abdullah II, was attending the Wales summit meeting. |
| United States officials said they also expected Saudi Arabia to contribute to funding moderate Syrian rebel groups. In addition, Yousef Al Otaiba, the United Arab Emirates ambassador to the United States, said in a statement this week that the Emirates stood ready to join the fight against ISIS. “No one has more at stake than the U.A.E. and other moderate countries in the region that have rejected the regressive Islamist creed and embraced a different, forward-looking path,” the ambassador said. The Emiratis, he said, are “ready to join the international community in an urgent, coordinated and sustained effort to confront a threat that will, if unchecked, have global ramifications for decades to come.” | United States officials said they also expected Saudi Arabia to contribute to funding moderate Syrian rebel groups. In addition, Yousef Al Otaiba, the United Arab Emirates ambassador to the United States, said in a statement this week that the Emirates stood ready to join the fight against ISIS. “No one has more at stake than the U.A.E. and other moderate countries in the region that have rejected the regressive Islamist creed and embraced a different, forward-looking path,” the ambassador said. The Emiratis, he said, are “ready to join the international community in an urgent, coordinated and sustained effort to confront a threat that will, if unchecked, have global ramifications for decades to come.” |
| Enlisting the Sunni neighbors of Syria and Iraq is crucial, experts said, because airstrikes alone will not be enough to push back ISIS. The Obama administration is also seeking to pursue a sequential strategy that begins with gathering intelligence, followed by targeted airstrikes, more robust and better-coordinated support for moderate rebels, and finally, a political reconciliation process. | Enlisting the Sunni neighbors of Syria and Iraq is crucial, experts said, because airstrikes alone will not be enough to push back ISIS. The Obama administration is also seeking to pursue a sequential strategy that begins with gathering intelligence, followed by targeted airstrikes, more robust and better-coordinated support for moderate rebels, and finally, a political reconciliation process. |
| Administration officials said that amassing support for moderate rebels in Syria was particularly critical. This summer, President Obama set aside $500 million to train and support vetted members of the moderate opposition to Mr. Assad of Syria. Officials say they expect that Congress will approve that request at the beginning of October. | Administration officials said that amassing support for moderate rebels in Syria was particularly critical. This summer, President Obama set aside $500 million to train and support vetted members of the moderate opposition to Mr. Assad of Syria. Officials say they expect that Congress will approve that request at the beginning of October. |
| But even after that money is approved, American officials will still face obstacles in strengthening the Free Syrian Army, the moderates of choice for the United States. “This is going to take months,” one Pentagon official said on Friday. | But even after that money is approved, American officials will still face obstacles in strengthening the Free Syrian Army, the moderates of choice for the United States. “This is going to take months,” one Pentagon official said on Friday. |