Obama Thanks Arab Nations for Joining Syria Strikes
President Barack Obama thanked Arab leaders Tuesday for joining a US-led coalition aimed at defeating Islamic extremists, winning pledges from his allies that they were in the fight for the long haul.
Speaking just hours after he launched air strikes against the Islamic State group in Syria, Obama said the coalition "represents partners and friends with which we have worked for many, many years to make sure that security and prosperity exists in this region."
Flanked by Secretary of State John Kerry and national security advisor Susan Rice, Obama told the leaders of Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq he was "very appreciative" of their help.
He praised them "all for their participation and commitment to rolling back the violent extremism that has so disrupted Iraq and Syria and friends in the region as a whole."
Obama was "very clear in terms of actually laying out where we are. Talking about the fact that this is a threat that unifies everybody, and everybody's head around the table was nodding," a senior State Department official said.
"Everybody around the table agreed that there are times in the world when you need to make a stand... but particularly the region needs to come together and make a stand, because this is a threat that is prominently affecting our partners around the region."
The official stressed that "we would like to defeat ISIL as fast as we can, but that is not going to be possible."
Fighting the militants, who have captured a large swathe of territory in Iraq and Syria, was going to be a long-term multi-pronged effort, which would include military, financial, humanitarian components as well as stemming the flow of foreign fighters.
"Until you degrade ISIL ... to the point that it is not effectively controlling a quasi-state the size of Jordan, until you degrade it to the extent that it cannot control entire cities... then the chances of political outcomes and de-escalating conflicts are increasingly minimal," the State Department official said.
All countries would also have to work to delegitimize the Islamic State group and other militants, to stop them being able to attract funds and fighters.
"Because of the almost unprecedented effort of this coalition, I think we now have an opportunity to send a very clear message that the world is united," the US president said.
Obama warned the air strikes were "not the end of the effort but... rather a beginning."
It was also important to tackle the root causes allowing extremist ideologies to take hold, including seeking to wipe out poverty.
"We have to make sure that we are providing the education necessary for young people to succeed in a modern economy, that we all have to promote religious tolerance," he said.
