U.S. wants to ‘squeeze’ ISIS in Iraq ‘from multiple directions’ but won’t expand war into Syria without help
America’s top military officer detailed the U.S.-led effort to beat back the extremist group in Iraq but said success will depend on whether Arab nations enlist to help out with airstrikes.
BY ADAM EDELMAN
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Sunday, September 21, 2014, 3:05 PM
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MINDAUGAS KULBIS/APU.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin E. Dempsey shared details of the strategy to ‘squeeze’ ISIS out of Iraq.
The military campaign to beat back ISIS will involve attacking the bloodthirsty jihadist group from multiple directions simultaneously, but the U.S.-led coalition’s success will likely depend on whether Arab nations will help out, America’s top military officer said Sunday.
“We want them to wake up every day realizing that they are being squeezed from multiple directions,” Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said from Croatia, where he was attending a NATO meeting. “If we can get (ISIS) looking in about five different directions, that’s the desired end state.”
So far, the Obama administration’s military campaign has only involved airstrikes in Iraq. Last week, Congress approved a plan for the U.S. to arm and train vetted Syrian rebels to combat ISIS, but White House officials signaled Sunday that the airstrike effort could soon be expanded into neighboring Syria if the U.S. receives foreign help.
“We will not do the airstrikes alone, if the President decides to do the airstrikes,” U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power predicted on ABC’s “This Week,” asserting that Obama wouldn’t go forward with a new stage of the air campaign unless another country pledged to assist. “It will be up to each country to announce for itself whether it’s prepared to participate.”
JUSTIN LANE/EPAU.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power predicted President Obama wouldn’t go forward with a new stage of the anti-ISIS air campaign unless another country pledged to assist.
As of Sunday, no country had publicly committed to joining the U.S. in a potential airstrike effort on ISIS targets within Syria. Even with targets in Iraq, France has been the only ally to execute airstrikes with the U.S.
Both Dempsey and Power, however, doubled down on the contention that the U.S. would need greater participation from Arab nations, for any phase of the operation, for a better shot at making the operation successful and “more credible — that is to say, this is not just about the United States,” Dempsey said.
“This is a regional and even an international issue,” he said, adding that Obama might not even agree to expand the effort at all without wider Arab participation.
UNCREDITED/APISIS militants stand guard in front of a police station in Nineveh province, Iraq. The U.S. has commenced airstrikes against ISIS targets in the region, but is waiting for further international assistance before possibly expanding the campaign.
To date, a handful of Arab nations, including Jordan and Saudi Arabia, have said they support the U.S. airstrikes in Iraq but have not agreed to participate in any way.
Obama was briefed last week on the possible plan expansion, which would include more coalition aircraft and a more persistent airstrike effort, but has not yet approved it, the Associated Press reported.
In an opinion column published Sunday in the Tampa Bay Times, he reiterated his desire for a strong coalition of partners in the fight against ISIS.
KHALIL ASHAWI/REUTERSFree Syrian Army fighters ride on a military vehicle in Kaferzita. Congress last week approved a plan to aid and arm vetted Syrian rebels in their fight against ISIS.
“This is not and will not be America’s fight alone. That’s why we continue to build a broad international coalition,” he wrote.
His editorial comes just days before Obama is slated to address the U.N. General Assembly, where he’s expected to again call upon world leaders to help aid in the fight against ISIS.
Meanwhile, lawmakers far and wide continued to blast the terrorist group and urged Obama to move forward with the fight.
UNCREDITED/APISIS militants lead away captured Iraqi soldiers dressed in plain clothes after taking over a base in Tikrit, Iraq.
“The President is absolutely right to take on ISIS and to build the broadest possible coalition,” former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” "We’ve got absolutely no choice but to do this and not just in order to destroy the onward march of ISIS but to send a very strong signal to the other terrorist groups operating in the region. We intend to take action and see it though."
But at least one former Obama confidant said he thought the President was overreaching.
“I think that destroying ISIS is a very ambitious mission. I think our goal ought to be pushing them back out of Iraq, denying them a place where they can have a permanent foothold,” former Defense Secretary Bob Gates said on ABC’s “This Week. “We’ve been at war with Al Qaeda for 13 years, we haven’t destroyed it.”
With News Wire Services
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| New York Daily News | - |
The military campaign to beat back ISIS will involve attacking the bloodthirsty jihadist group from multiple directions simultaneously, but the U.S.
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