New Iraq Coalition Not a 2003 Redux, U.S. Insists
U.S. plans to forge a coalition to defeat Islamic militants are not modeled on the global front brought together for the heavily-criticized 2003 invasion of Iraq, American officials insisted Friday.
"When we talk about what we are doing today, in no way do we want to resemble anything that was done in 2003 in the invasion of Iraq," State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters.
"We're certainly not using that playbook."
U.S. President Barack Obama said Friday he was confident he could gather a broad international coalition to defeat Islamic State extremists, after two days of talks at a NATO summit in Wales.
Following the beheading of two U.S. journalists by the Islamic State, which has overrun swathes of northern Iraq and Syria, Obama said there was "unanimity" among NATO members that the group "poses a significant threat."
"It's not going to happen overnight," Obama said, but "we're going to achieve our goal."
Kerry Friday co-chaired with Britain a meeting of ministers from Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Turkey to discuss the issue, although US officials cautioned against seeing those nations as the "core coalition."
Kerry will also drum up more support from other allies when he travels to the Middle East in the coming days.
"We believe that all countries, regardless of their differences, should work together toward the goal of degrading and ultimately defeating ISIL," Harf said, using an alternate acronym for the Islamic State (IS).
"This isn't about a U.S. coalition; this is about a global coalition."
The 2003 so-called Coalition of the Willing brought together by then president George W. Bush to oust then Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein eventually comprised 49 countries.
But it notably did not include France or Germany, which both vehemently opposed the Iraq invasion.
Canada said Friday that it was ready to deploy several dozen military advisors to work alongside Americans already in Iraq, and French President Francois Hollande said his country would join the coalition but would not commit to acting in Syria.
France would wait "until we have sufficient evidence that what we do, or what we could do, will not advance (Syrian President) Bashar Assad's cause," Hollande said.
The United Arab Emirates and Australia have also said they are willing to join the fight against the Islamic State.
Harf said meanwhile Washington had "no plans" for any military coordination with Iran in the fight against IS.
"We're not going to coordinate military action or share intelligence with Iran. We have no plans to do so," Harf insisted.
"But we've been clear that ISIL represents a threat, not only to the US but also to the entire region, including Iran, and believe all countries, regardless of our differences, should work towards the goal of degrading and ultimately defeating ISIL."
She also ruled out cooperating with Assad in Syria against the Islamic State. Washington has long insisted that Assad should step down and end the civil war.
Source: Agence France Presse
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