Wednesday, October 15, 2014

President Obama Meets With The Top Military Commanders From 21 Countries Allied With The U.S. In The War Against The Islamic State

President Barack Obama, center, meets with Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, left, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff U.S. Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, right, and combatant commanders Oct. 8 at the Pentagon. (Glenn Fawcett / DoD)

No 'Quick Fixes' In Battle With Islamic State, Obama Says -- L.A. Times

Amid growing signs of the limits of the U.S.-led air campaign against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, President Obama appealed for the public's patience Tuesday as he met with more than 20 defense chiefs of nations he enlisted in the struggling campaign.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Obama acknowledged the prospects of "periods of setback" and indirectly addressed critics who point to continued territorial gains of Islamic State forces as signs that the U.S.-assembled coalition is losing the battle against the surging extremists.

Read more ....

More News On President Obama's Tuesday Meeting With Allied Military Chiefs

Obama Rallies Allies as Doubts Grow on Islamic State Plan -- Bloomberg
Allies united in goal against Islamic State, says Barack Obama -- The Australian/WSJ
Obama Meets Anti-IS Coalition As Air Strikes Intensify -- Radio Free Europe
Coalition Chiefs Hold Talks as Islamic State Jihadists Advance -- Defense News/AFP
Obama, foreign military chiefs coordinate Islamic State plans -- Reuters

Update #1: This is not good .... Serious disagreements remain in U.S.-led coalition battling the Islamic State (Washington Post). This tells me that what President Obama wants and what the military chiefs are saying are two different things. In short (and I am speculating) .... the military chiefs want boots on the ground, and President Obama is saying no.

Update #2: After meeting the Generals I guess this is next .... Obama to discuss Islamic State with European leaders (BBC). My prediction .... the same differences (as stated in Update #1) will arise.

6 comments:

Rhaegar said...

They didn't invited Norway even our PM wanted Norway on this meeting, but personaly I am happy Norway didn't get invited since why should we Norwegians intervene in Syria and Irak, if we must do that, let eighter the Norwegian people vote or wait for an UN mandate. If the US try to force Norway in this and use the argument that we are a NATO member, can't we just say that NATO is a defence aliance and not a war alliance?

James said...

Rhaegar,
There is a lot going on here that's purely political and trumping military considerations.
WNU, do you notice that the number of 20 or 21 is used a lot to describe the coalition, but to my knowledge the names of all members of this coalition has never been listed. been

War News Updates Editor said...

Susan Rice mentioned 61 members in the coalition on one of the Sunday morning talk shows .... but she has zero credibility in my eyes.

James said...

Did she enumerate them or just use the number 61?

War News Updates Editor said...

she just threw out the number.

War News Updates Editor said...

President Obama mentions the number 60 at the beginning of this statement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQOBKEuKD_U