Kerry: No specific threat against US from Islamic State

As Mr. Kerry travels, French President Franç ois Hollande is set to arrive in Washington on Tuesday for bilateral talks on coordinating anti-Islamic State efforts. Further, 66 percent of Americans do not believe President Obama has a good idea of how to deal with ISIS, and 83 percent think a terrorist attack is likely to happen in the U.S.in the near future.

The White House urged allies on Monday to do more in the campaign against the Islamic State, while President Barack Obama faced pressure in return to show the U.S.-led coalition will intensify efforts in response to the Paris attacks, even without a major shift in strategy.

“Are we all talking about things that might be able to augment it, move faster?” A few steps were in motion before the Paris attack, he said, such as the decision to deploy a few USA special forces to Syria and ongoing efforts toward a cease-fire between Syria’s government and rebel groups.

The strategy was agreed to earlier this month in Vienna during meetings attended by Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council – the United States, Britain, France, Russian Federation and China.

“I am just in Abu Dhabi now, we ve just had serious meetings here, I’m about to meet with the Saudi Arabians there is a very clear focus by everybody, there is a united front, and I am absolutely convinced that Daesh will be defeated and there will be increased steps taken in order to do, Secretary Kerry said”.

Separately, the USA military said it had destroyed 283 tanker trucks used by IS militants to transport oil from producing fields in eastern Syria to smuggling points, an acceleration of attacks aimed at crippling the group’s oil revenues.

“But this street violence doesn’t provide any leader with the framework within in which they could look their people in the eye and say, ‘There’s a reason we’re sitting down and talking.’ People aren’t in the mood for concessions”, Kerry said. “There is a strategy in place, growing by the day”, said Kerry, who’s in the United Arab Emirates, his first stop during his Middle East visit that also will include stops in Israel and the West Bank. But they’re gaining support from other terrorist groups around the world, making defeating them more urgent. That’s different. And we know there are people who are terrorists in Libya, in Yemen, in Afghanistan, and other places.

Kerry said discussions Monday with Abu Dhabi’s crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir touched on Ahrar ash-Sham. For one, the plan doesn’t say when Assad might leave power.

“You don’t want to categorize everybody automatically”, he said.

“And”, he added, “under the right circumstances the answer is “yes”, it’s possible, but we need to get the political process moving, we’re weeks away, maybe one or two weeks”.