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 Some three weeks before U.S. congressional elections viewed
largely as a referendum on Obama's leadership, the president will
aim to show the U.S. public and allies abroad that he is committed
to a plan to "degrade" and "destroy" the group that has taken over
large swaths of Iraq and Syria.
Obama will attend a meeting led by General Martin Dempsey, chairman
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, with foreign defense chiefs at Andrews
Air Force Base outside Washington at 3 p.m. EDT to discuss the
coalition's work.
"It is part of ongoing efforts to build the coalition and integrate
the capabilities of each country into the broader strategy," said
Alistair Baskey, spokesman for the White House National Security
Council.
The strategy is being called into question.
Republican Senator John McCain, a frequent Obama critic, said on
Sunday that "they're winning and we're not," referring to Islamic
State. The United Nations said on Monday that fighting in Iraq's
western Anbar province had forced up to 180,000 people to flee after
Islamic State, also known as ISIS, captured the city of Hit.
"This is a long campaign. It hasn't gone badly, but it certainly
hasn't gone well," said Anthony Cordesman, national security analyst
at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
"It is very important, quite aside from trying to show Americans
that he's leading, that he shows other countries he's committed,"
Cordesman said, adding that the defense officials from abroad were
in many cases more involved in setting policy than their U.S.
military counterparts.
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Representatives from Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Denmark,
Egypt, France, Germany, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, the
Netherlands, New Zealand, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Turkey and the
United Arab Emirates were expected to attend.
Colonel Ed Thomas, Dempsey's spokesman, said no major policy
decisions were expected at the meeting, adding: “It’s about coming
together in person to discuss the vision, the challenges, the way
ahead.”
Having Turkey at the table will be key. Ankara has come under some
pressure to send its own ground troops into Syria against Islamic
State forces. The country could announce after the meeting that it
will join Saudi Arabia in training moderate Syrian rebels, Cordesman
said.
Turkey has not reached a new agreement to let the United States use
its Incirlik air base in the fight against Islamic State but reached
an agreement with Washington on training Syrian rebels, sources at
the Turkish prime minister's office told reporters on Monday,
without saying who would train the insurgents or where.
(Editing by Howard Goller)
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