US Secretary of State John Kerry said Wednesday in Baghdad that a global coalition will defeat jihadists in Iraq and Syria, hours before President Barack Obama is expected to announce expanded strikes against them. "We all know - I think we come to this with great confidence - that, ultimately, our global coalition will succeed in eliminating the threat from Iraq, from the region and from the world," Kerry said.
The top US diplomat said the Iraqi army would be rebuilt as part of the long-awaited strategy against the Islamic State (IS) to be outlined by Obama in a televised address to the nation on Wednesday night. Iraq's armed forces "will be reconstituted and trained and worked on in terms of a number of different strategies through the help not just of the United States but of other countries also," Kerry said.
His remarks came after talks with Iraq's new leaders on their role in efforts to halt IS since its fighters spearheaded a lightning offensive in June seizing much of the Sunni Arab heartland north and west of Baghdad. Obama is widely expected to announce the expansion of the month-old US air campaign in Iraq to neighbouring Syria, where IS has seized a swathe of the north-east, bordering Iraq.
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