U.S. Mobilizes Allies to Widen Assault on ISIS
The New York Times reports that the U.S. “has begun to mobilize a broad coalition of allies behind potential American military action in Syria and is moving towards expanded airstrikes in northern Iraq.” The goal is to halt rapid advancements being made by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) across eastern and northern Syria.
Officials told the paper that President Obama is “broadening his campaign against the Sunni militants of [ISIS] and nearing a decision to authorize airstrikes and airdrops of food and water around the northern Iraqi town of Amerli, home to members of Iraq’s Turkmen minority. The town of 12,000 has been under siege for more than two months by the militants.”
“Rooting out a cancer like [ISIS] won’t be easy, and it won’t be quick,” Obama said on Tuesday. The U.S., he said, is building a coalition to “take the fight to these barbaric terrorists,” and militants will be “no match” for a united international community.
Syrian Official Warns U.S. Against Unilateral Airstrikes
The AP reports that Syria’s foreign minister, Walid Moallem, has warned the U.S. not to conduct airstrikes inside Syria against ISIS without Damascus’s consent. They were the first public comments the Syrian regime has made about the threat of ISIS.
His words “appeared timed to pre-empt any U.S. military action in Syria. President Barack Obama has resisted ordering U.S. military action in Syria for three years, even after a deadly chemical weapons attack a year ago near Damascus that he blamed on President Bashar al-Assad’s government. But now, Obama faces pressure from his own military leaders to go after ISIS inside Syria.
“Syria is ready to cooperate and coordinate on the regional and international level in the war on terror,” he said. “But any effort to combat terrorism should be coordinated with the Syrian government.”
Top U.K. Anti-Terrorism Officer Says Syria-Related Arrests Soar
Reuters reports that Mark Rowley, the U.K.’s top counter-terrorism officer, said Tuesday that arrests linked to fighting in Syria had “risen dramatically” in 2014 and that “significant progress” was being made to identify the ISIS fighter who executed U.S. journalist James Foley.
“Launching an appeal to Muslim communities to help identify ‘aspiring terrorists,’ Rowley said Britain had been escalating its efforts to address rising terrorism problems relating to Syria,” the wire writes. “A video released by ISIS last week showing the beheading of Foley, apparently by a masked knifeman speaking English with a London accent stirred proposals for tough new laws to deal with British Islamist militants traveling to Iraq and Syria to join the jihadists.”
“There is a lot at stake,” Rowley said in a statement. “High priority operations, especially against those involved in attack planning or on the cusp, have increased greatly.”
Meanwhile, CNN reports on the death of Douglas McCain, a 33-year-old American from San Diego who has died while fighting with ISIS in the Syrian city of Aleppo.
“McCain was not the first American to fight alongside militants in Syria,” it says. “Attorney General Eric Holder estimated this summer that there are 7,000 foreign fighters in the war-ravaged Middle Eastern nation.”Dozens of Americans, perhaps up to 100, are among those who have tried to join various militant groups there.”
Qatar Seeks to Free More U.S. Hostages in Syria
Reuters reports that Qatar is working to help free four Americans held hostage in Syria by armed groups. On Sunday, a diplomatic effort led by Qatari intelligence helped secure the freedom of American Peter Theo Curtis, who had been held by Jabhat al-Nusra since 2012.
“The reported initiative by Qatar coincides with an effort by the tiny state to rebut accusations by some of its Arab neighbors and Western politicians that it supports the most anti-Western militant armed groups in Iraq and Syria,” the wire says. “Those allegations followed months of criticism by human rights groups over its treatment of Asian guest workers and charges – denied by Doha – of corruption in its successful bid to host the 2022 World Cup.
“The wealthy country, which does back some rebel factions fighting to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has mediated the release of foreign and Syrian captives on several occasions in the course of Syria’s three-year-old civil war.”
Suggested Reads from Our Editorial Team
AFP: U.S.: ‘No Plans’ to Coordinate with Syria on Fighting ISIS
Reuters: Islamic State Turns Radical Islam on Syria Muslims
Der Spiegel: Dueling Jihadists: Is the Islamic State Beating al-Qaida?