Iraq Says Joint Effort With Russian Federation, Syria, Iran Needed To Defeat IS

Iraq says the cooperation is a result of “increased Russian concern about the presence of thousands of terrorists from Russia undertaking criminal acts with the Islamic State”.

And the ISIS movement continues to grow, with cells of fighters spreading to countries including Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Morocco, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and Afghanistan, according to the senior administration official and a USA intelligence official who was speaking anonymously because he was not authorized to speak publicly to describe the ISIS campaign. Col. Steve Warren, spokesman for the US coalition issued a statement.

On the question of allowing Russian Federation to fly military equipment to Syria via its airspace, Jaafari said Iraq “did not violate any of our commitments towards the global community”.

Washington’s ability to oust Mr. Assad, its stated goal in Syria, is rapidly diminishing, said the Arab diplomats.

In the United States, both Republicans and Democrats have lambasted the administration’s strategy against the IS group, especially after a US general acknowledged that just a few U.S.-trained Syrian rebels remain on the battlefield – others were wiped out by al-Qaida militants. The U.S.-led coalition has been carrying out regular airstrikes that punish but have failed to decimate the Islamic State, which controls large swaths of Syria.

It said President Barack Obama will take stock of the global campaign to counter ISIS at the United Nations tomorrow, a public accounting that comes as U.S. intelligence analysts have been preparing a confidential assessment that concludes that almost 30,000 foreign fighters have travelled to Iraq and Syria from more than 100 countries since 2011.

“But you hit it right on the mark and that’s what I’m going to say in Europe next week when I go”.

The Australian minister said the government was also concerned about convicted terrorists who are being released from jails in Asia, including in Indonesia, and the risks they pose if not rehabilitated. Mr. Kerry, they said, kept open the possibility that the White House and Kremlin could coordinate, if not cooperate, in fighting Islamic State.

In the interview with “60 Minutes“, Putin said the only option was to support existing government structures, not Western-backed rebel opposition.

“We didn’t talk about Iraq this morning”, the official said.

Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev earlier this month estimated that 1,800 Russian citizens are fighting for Islamic State, while reports have suggested Moscow is deliberately letting militants take their jihad away from its own borders.

When world leaders convene for the United Nations General Assembly this week, it will be a year since the USA president declared the formation of an global coalition to “degrade and ultimately destroy” the Islamic State group.

The USA position has been that Assad must go and can’t be part of a political solution, but Secretary of State John Kerry last week eased the US stance on Assad’s departure.

Both leaders addressed the assembly on Monday and spoke about the conflict in Syria.

Third, all the powers involved must work together to help form a transitional (five to seven years) representative government.

In the last hour, Obama has called al-Assad a tyrant and he’s criticised those who want to keep him in power.

As such, Assads importance and role will diminish once ISIS is defeated, and since he irreversibly lost much of his global legitimacy, he will become dispensable in the eyes of Russian Federation and Iran once the two countries secure their interests in Syria post-Assad.