Iraq to share intelligence to fight ISIS

A spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition battling Islamic State in Iraq, Colonel Steve Warren, says the US objects to Syria being part of the intelligence-sharing group.

The number of Australians fighting for the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq doubled in the past year but was not expected to continue to grow so rapidly, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said.

“Russia wants to get rid of ISIS”.

By willingly putting military equipment on the ground with the intention to fight IS extremists, Russia, she says, is sending a very clear message to the region that it is willing to be a credible partner.

That said, the overall strategic picture remains, for the moment, something of a draw because ISIS retains its centers of power in Raqqa in Syria as well as in Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, as well as Anbar province in western Iraq, the largely Sunni region where Ramadi is located.

“As it’s become more hard for these individuals to travel overseas to join the foreign terrorist fight, ISIL will issue direction for them to attempt attacks here at home”, Carlin said, using the administration’s preferred acronym for the group.

Moscow already has a powerful military detachment on a Syrian airbase in government-held territory, equipped with warplanes and tanks, and will now work more closely with neighboring Iraq.

Under pressure to demonstrate progress against the Islamic State, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Monday praised Russia’s growing security assistance for his government.

Mr Obama – who will later have a rare face-to-face meeting with his Russian counterpart – signalled a new willingness by the West to contemplate a role for Assad in some form of transition that sees him removed from office. From the start, the military had trouble recruiting and vetting Syrians who were interested in fighting against the Islamic State, rather than against Assad.

American officials suggested that the timing of the weekend announcement was created to enhance Putin’s credibility as he appeared at the United Nations to denounce the USA campaign against the Islamic State, which is stalemated in Iraq and has suffered a series of embarrassing setbacks in Syria.

These days Assad is so weak Russian Federation and Iran are effectively running Syria.

President Obama (R) and President Putin at the G-20 summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 2013.

Without directly mentioning the Baghdad structure, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with CBS television that he was seeking enhanced coordination in the Middle East.

Some of the cash crunch comes from falling oil prices and airstrikes targeting oil facilities, and sources contend that ISIS spends more on weapons than on fulfilling the needs of the people living under its control.

NYT learned from intelligence and law enforcement officials that “among those who have entered or tried to enter the conflict in Iraq or Syria are more than 250 Americans, up from about 100 a year ago”.

6 Iraq said it would be OK with Kremlin requests to conduct reconnaissance flights over its airspace.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, also in New York, told CNN television: “I think today everyone has accepted that President Assad must remain so that we can combat the terrorists“.