Some of those countries, Carter added, had indicated their intent to contribute more to the campaign, which is seeking to wrest away the militant group’s control of parts of Iraq and Syria.
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These are “going to be a primary focus, obviously, of the discussions”, acknowledged Brett McGurk, President Barack Obama’s special envoy to the anti-ISIS coalition. And some are expected to pledge more contributions to the battle.
Carter told the defense ministers that coalition forces had seized a key junction on the road between Mosul and Raqqa, partially cutting off the route, and had surrounded the city of Manbij in Syria, a crucial transit point near the Turkish border for Islamic State extremists seeking to depart Raqqa and travel overseas to carry out attacks. The meeting of defense leaders lasted about two hours. The coalition has established an “immediate stabilization” fund, which officials say contains about $100 million at any given time.
That includes efforts to get basic services turned back on and removing the threat of hidden bombs.
The US-led aerial campaign against alleged Daesh positions in Iraq started in August 2014.
That failed coup and its potential to distract Turkey from the mission against ISIS, along with reports that the USA killed 56 civilians in a botched airstrike in Manbij, Syria Tuesday, appeared to dominate much of the attention at Wednesday’s events.
“This isn’t going to be some kind of absolute victory”.
“Daesh is not only a terrorist army that has seized territory”, he said, referring to the swath of desert the group has claimed as a “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria.
With extremist attacks proliferating around the world, the United States has reassembled its coalition partners for meetings Wednesday and Thursday to review a two-year-old campaign to eliminate Daesh (the so-called IS).
As many in Washington focus on the the political spectacle in Cleveland, a number of high-ranking global diplomats and defense officials have quietly assembled around the capitol to discuss the future of Iraq and how to defeat ISIS.
“Secretary Carter reiterated the support of the United States for Turkey’s democratically elected civilian government and the rule of law”, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said in a statement.
Iraqi Defense Minister Khalid al-Obeidi said less than 10 percent of Iraqi territory remains in Islamic State’s hands, but battlefield advances have not been matched by security gains.
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But power to the Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey still remains severed, forcing the US operation flying anti-ISIS missions to continue using generator power.
