NATO Members to Form Coalition to Defeat ISIS

NATO allies and partners meeting at the alliance summit in Wales agreed to form a broad international coalition to counter the ISIS terrorist threat to Iraq, the Middle East, and Western nations, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday. “We and the ministers agreed today that there is no time to waste in building a broad international coalition to degrade and, ultimately, to destroy the threat posed by [ISIS],” the two Secretaries said in a joint statement. They called the formation of an inclusive government in Iraq a “critical step,” saying they hoped that would be completed shortly and the allies would join in supporting it. Among the united steps to defeat ISIS that the allies discussed were: military support to Iraqi partners, which probably includes Kurdish forces; stopping the flow of foreign fighters; countering ISIS’ funding sources; addressing the humanitarian crises, and de-legitimizing ISIS’ ideology, the statement said. “We agreed today that NATO allies in particular should work in concert toward these goals,” they said. The Secretaries said it would “require a unified approach at the international, regional, and local levels combining military, law enforcement, intelligence, economic, and diplomatic tools” to defeat ISIS.