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Page added on October 22, 2014
US and Russia to share intelligence on ISIL
Military leaders from more than 20 countries have met in the United States to discuss how to combat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), as US and Russia announced an agreement to share intelligence on the armed rebel group.
US President Barack Obama met on Tuesday defence ministers from 22 countries, acknowledging that he is “deeply concerned” about the advances ISIL is making in Iraq’s Anbar province and in Syria, including the Kurdish town of Kobane.
He vowed that US air strikes will continue in both countries, while saying that “important successes” have also been made in stopping ISIL in areas such as Erbil and Mosul.
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| Pinpointing military and humanitarian aid from nations in the international struggle against the armed group. |
“This is going to be a long-term campaign,” Obama said without hinting at any changes in the current military strategy, which mainly involves air strikes.
“There are not quick fixes involved. We are still in the early stages. As with any military effort, there will be days of progress and there are going to be periods of setbacks, but our coalition is united behind this long-term effort.”
A US military official told Reuters news agency after the talks that there was an acknowledgement that ISIL was making some gains on the ground, despite the air strikes.
“In the short term, there are some gains that they have been able to make. In the long term, that momentum will be reversed,” the official said.
Also on Tuesday, US Secretary of State John Kerry met his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Paris, to discuss the latest developments in Iraq and Syria.
Kerry said the US had agreed to “intensify intelligence cooperation with respect to ISIL and other counter-terrorism challenges of the region”.
He said Moscow would also explore whether it could do more to help arm and train Iraq’s embattled military.
However, Kerry stopped short of saying that Moscow would join the US-led international coalition against ISIL.
The US and Russia have common ground in their concern about fighters from their countries joining ISIL, and then returning to carry out attacks at home.
“There may be as many as 500 or more from Russia,” Kerry said. These include fighters from Russia’s predominantly Muslim North Caucasus, a region where armed rebels have waged daily violence to establish an Islamic state.
Intensified operation
American-led forces sharply intensified air strikes against ISIL on Monday and Tuesday in the Kurdish town of Kobane in Syria near its border with Turkey.
The coalition had conducted 21 attacks in two days and appeared to have slowed ISIL advances there, the US military said, but cautioned that the situation remained fluid.
US Central Command said the strikes on the rebel group’s staging areas, compounds and armed vehicles, were meant to hit supply lines and stop reinforcements.
The number of air raids is the largest in a single 24-hour period since the coalition began its bombing of ISIL in Syria.
“Indications are that air strikes have slowed ISIL advances,” it said, adding however that the situation remained fluid.
Al Jazeera’s Patty Culhane, reporting from outside the Obama meeting at Andrew’s Air Force Base, said about 90 percent of the air strikes involved US planes.
Contrary to reports in other media, the attacks on Kobane had not forced ISIL to withdraw from a strategic hill overlooking the town, according to Al Jazeera sources.
14 Comments on "US and Russia to share intelligence on ISIL"
Plantagenet on Wed, 22nd Oct 2014 11:36 pm
Obama wants to help the Shia government in Baghdad fight the Caliphate and Putin wants to help the Assad Shia government in Damascus fight the Caliphate. They should be able to cooperate on fighting ISIS as long as Obama sticks to attacks on the Sunnis in the Islamic state and does’t go after Putin’s clients in the Assad regime in Syria
Davy on Thu, 23rd Oct 2014 6:53 am
Let us hope Russia and the US find reasons for cooperation outweigh their cold war tendencies. A descent will be very difficult to mitigate if valuable resources are wasted. We can’t afford a cold war between major powers at this point.
JuanP on Thu, 23rd Oct 2014 10:02 am
I am not afraid of ISIS. I consider them irrelevant.
Bread and circus is what it all amounts to these days. The ignorant masses of people in the world are extremely easy to manipulate. I actually am having fun with all this ISIS BS. LOL
GregT on Thu, 23rd Oct 2014 10:36 am
Offer a bounty on ISIS militants. Say $10,000 US per head. The ‘War on Terror’ could be won in a matter of months. No need for outside military intervention. Bring the troops back home, and use the trillions saved to help solve the bigger problems brewing at home.
Davy on Thu, 23rd Oct 2014 11:01 am
Greg that would be too easy and how would the war pigs play with their toys?
Plantagenet on Thu, 23rd Oct 2014 11:59 am
I disagree that GregT’s idea of paying a bounty for each ISIS militant would be easy. Consider:
1. How would the bounty hunters prove they killed an Isis militant? Would they have to take a selfie with the dead ISIS militant? Or collect a scalp? How?
2. Would the US pay the bounties to the Assad regime in Syria for all the ISIS fighters they kill? They’d wind up with millions from the US, but the Obama has actually pledged to topple the Assad regime. What to do?
JuanP on Thu, 23rd Oct 2014 12:05 pm
I like Plant’s scalping idea, very retro!
GregT on Thu, 23rd Oct 2014 12:27 pm
Plant,
Good god man, think! Can you not see the satire in what I wrote above?
Northwest Resident on Thu, 23rd Oct 2014 12:54 pm
GretT — And just think of all the tax revenue gained from all those ISIS heads — many of them no doubt mounted on plaques or served up on a silver platter, amounting to “value added” and therefore an even larger tax base for the U.S. Government to feed off of. Your idea might just be a solution to the national deficit, and a great “jobs program” that could get our economy moving again. Oh, and in answer to your question, obviously not.
Plantagenet on Thu, 23rd Oct 2014 2:29 pm
GregT Good god man, think! Can you not see that we are satirizing what you wrote above?
Northwest Resident on Thu, 23rd Oct 2014 3:40 pm
Plant — Nice save. I mean that sincerely.
peakyeast on Thu, 23rd Oct 2014 4:05 pm
I have a better solution:
Make a convincing islamic text entirely based on the koran that explains how much good they do to the world, country and religion by matyring themselves themselves (no mistake).
More space and food for their people, children and wives.. A public recognized martyrdom (by the most powerful nation on earth) with a plaque with their name(s) on a big stone. And the promise of 42 virgins (but let allah provide).. – Dont forget to give them their extra large sugar-key for the gates to heaven. Its clearly a win-win situation for them.
Their families will flock to the collection stations with the scalps and many time 10.000$ are saved.
Davy on Thu, 23rd Oct 2014 7:00 pm
I say capture as many of them as you can and warehouse them on a cruise ship with plenty of virgins, wine, and pork sausage. They will think they are in heaven and forget their evil ways. If that does not work scalps.
Makati1 on Thu, 23rd Oct 2014 9:14 pm
This is ALL about money and resources. This variation on the terrorist theme is necessary to keep the wars going and the billions rolling into the Military Industrial Complex, America’s only real export.
I don’t follow much of anything in the ME anymore as it is ALL BS of the highest grade. But, I do read articles that involve Asia or Russia as that is my neighborhood and I like to see the spin from other countries.
Pull ALL of the weapons and financial help out of the ME and it would soon end. But, Russia arms some of them and the USSA arms more of them and money flows by the pallet loads so the ‘war’ goes on … and the MIC smiles all the way to the bank while foolish ‘soldiers for money’ die and the other side goes to their ‘reward’ a bit early.
Not even a good story plot and will never end unless it is with nukes that kill everyone.