Need to build a strong and broad coalition against Islamic State: Obama

Washington: US President Barack Obama has called for building a strong coalition with broad international participation against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the terrorist outfit that has gained control over a large part of Iran and Syria. Obama met General (rtd) John Allen, the Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL and Brett McGurk, the Deputy Special Presidential Envoy yesterday, the White House said. During the meeting Obama stressed that the comprehensive approach to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL requires a wide range of political, diplomatic, military, economic and other efforts. He also expressed his deep appreciation for the work and sacrifices of US servicemen and women as well as diplomats engaged in the struggle to counter ISIL, the White House said. The President would meet today his top generals in Tampa, Florida, which is headquarters of the US Central Command, where he will discuss the plan for building an international coalition to degrade and destroy ISIL, White House Press Secretary, Josh Earnest said. [caption id=“attachment_1706873” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] US President Barack Obama. AP[/caption] Meanwhile, American forces continued with its air strike against the ISIL positions in Iraq. “As we broaden out this campaign to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL, the President and his team are insistent on working with the support of an international coalition to succeed in this mission,” Earnest said. “And the President is confident that this mission can be successfully executed without deploying American servicemen and women in a combat role on the ground in Iraq and Syria,” he said. Obama has been very clear that the US will not have troops on the ground in combat roles, State Department Deputy Spokesperson, Marie Harf, said. “That is an underlying principle of our actions in Iraq. I think there was a long exchange this morning about what the advisors are doing; but again, we’ve been very clear about the combat boots on the ground question,” she said. She said the US has not been coordinating with the Syrian regime and will not coordinate with the regime. “That means we will not hesitate to take action against ISIL in Syria as well as in Iraq. We are not going to telegraph our plans in advance, and again, as we said on numerous occasions, we won’t ask their permission,” she said “I would note the rescue operation we undertook to try and rescue the hostages. Of course, we did not ask their permission,” she added. PTI