Kerry Says Coalition Seeks to Decimate Islamic State

By Indira A.R. Lakshmanan September 18, 2014

John Kerry, U.S. Secretary of State, testifies before a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 17, 2014. Photographer: Pete Marovich/Bloomberg

Secretary of State John Kerry said more than 50 countries have joined the U.S. fight against Islamic State, and some coalition members are prepared to launch airstrikes in Syria against the extremist group.

Kerry, 70, who spent the past week trying to build global support against Islamic State, told U.S. lawmakers in testimony yesterday that he expects the number of participating nations will grow and that the coalition would seek to destroy the extremists holding swaths of Syrian and Iraqi territory.
“This mission isn’t just about taking out an enemy on the battlefield,” Kerry said in testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “It’s about taking out a network, decimating and discrediting a militant cult masquerading as a religious movement.”

Video: Kerry Says New Iraqi Government a Major Milestone

The top U.S. diplomat addressed the Senate panel as lawmakers consider legislation that would grant President Barack Obama’s request to arm and equip Syrian opposition groups who could help battle Islamic State. In his remarks, he urged lawmakers in both houses of Congress to approve the measures.
“With the help of the Congress, we will be able to succeed in degrading and ultimately destroying this monstrous organization wherever it exists,” Kerry told the panel.
The House voted 273-156 yesterday in favor of an amendment to a spending measure that would allow the U.S. to train and supply vetted, moderate Syrian rebels. The spending measure was later approved on a 319-108 House vote, and the Senate is set to vote today.

Video: Coalition Needed to Stop Islamic State, Ridge Says

Other Countries

Asked at the hearing whether any country had committed to conducting air attacks on Islamic State positions in Syria, Kerry responded “yes,” though he declined to name the countries publicly.
Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, the committee’s top Republican, expressed concern that the Obama administration is basing its strategy against Islamic State on the use of Syrian rebel groups that he said have been ineffective.
“You’re asking us to approve of something that we know, the way you’ve laid it out, makes no sense,” Corker said. “We know the Free Syrian Army cannot take on” Islamic State, he said, referring to one of the moderate rebel factions.

Video: Kerry on U.S. Islamic State Strategy (Statement)

Committee Chairman Bob Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, said that lawmakers won’t write a “blank check” for the fight against Islamic State and called on the administration to clearly define the campaign’s objectives.
As part of the multinational effort against Islamic State, the U.K. and France are conducting airstrikes over Iraq, and Australia and Canada are sending military advisers, Obama said yesterday during a stop in Florida.

Ground Troops

Saudi Arabia has agreed to host training for Syrian opposition forces, and its top religious clerics offered their support to the Al-Saud ruling family’s effort to defeat Islamic State by a statement banning travel to conflict zones. The U.S. also is working with states that border Iraq to stop the extremists from smuggling oil, he said.

Video: John Kerry on Threat of Islamic State

In his testimony, Kerry emphasized that U.S. troops would not engage in ground combat during the campaign against Islamic State. Earlier yesterday, Obama reaffirmed that during his appearance at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida.
The question of whether American forces would be pulled into ground operations emerged on Sept. 16 during testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee by Army General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
In his remarks to the panel, Dempsey said he would recommend that U.S. military advisers accompany Iraqi troops into battle if that becomes necessary to defeat Islamic State. He added that such a step isn’t needed now, and that Obama has told him to come back on a “case-by-case basis” with the military’s recommendations on using American personnel.

Video: Kerry: Egypt `Critical' to Stopping Islamic State

To contact the reporter on this story: Indira A.R. Lakshmanan in Washington at ilakshmanan@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: John Walcott at jwalcott9@bloomberg.net Michael Shepard, Justin Blum
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