White House still molding coalition to fight Islamic State

WASHINGTON — The White House said Sunday it will find countries willing to send combat troops to fight Islamic extremists in Syria and Iraq, but it’s too early to identify them.

White House Chief of Staff, Denis McDonough, signaled that in the coming days the State Department will name allies that will pledge ground troops to fight the Islamic State group, something the United States does not plan to do. Meanwhile, McDonough said that US personnel will train and equip Iraqi forces and Syrian rebels to combat the extremist group, also known as ISIS and ISIL.

President Barack Obama announced Wednesday that the United States will ramp up airstrikes and try to build an international coalition to degrade and eventually destroy the group.

The group released a video late Saturday showing a militant beheading a British aid worker. It was similar to recent beheadings of two American journalists.

Kerry told CBS’s “Face the Nation” that a number of countries had signed on to help fight the Islamic State, including possibly carrying out airstrikes and sending ground troops.

However, he said that the US was not looking for ground troop commitments “at the moment.”

Facing strong public opposition to sending US troops back into the Middle East, Obama said he doesn’t plan to do so. But he added that ground troops of some form are essential, a point that McDonough was asked about on several talk shows on Sunday.

McDonough repeatedly declined to name any nations willing to provide ground forces, and he was cautious in suggesting what might develop.

On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” McDonough said that Secretary of State John Kerry “over the coming days” will discuss whether any allied nation has pledged ground troops. “And what he has said is that others have suggested that they’re willing to do that,” continued McDonough.

Pressed again on possible pledges of combat troops, McDonough seemed slightly less hesitant.

“You will hear from Secretary Kerry that countries are saying that they’re ready to do that,” he said.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Sunday that his nation is preparing to contribute 600 troops and up to 10 military aircraft to the campaign against the Islamic State extremists.

For the past week, Kerry has traveled across the Mideast, to Turkey and finally to Paris, to pin down nations on what kind of support they will give to a global coalition.

But Kerry has refused to detail which countries have committed. He said some nations are still deciding whether their contributions will target foreign fighters or financiers helping the militant group, send more humanitarian aid to Syrian and Iraqi refugees, mount a propaganda campaign to decry the extremists’ brand of radical Islam or join a military mission.

He told “Face the Nation” Sunday that the US would not coordinate airstrikes in Syria with Damascus.

Kerry cited reports that France is prepared to use air power against the Islamic militants. On Monday, Paris will host international talks seeking a strategy against the militants in Iraq, where they have overrun hundreds of miles of land in the country’s north and west.

But the militant group’s safe haven is in Syria among numerous Sunni rebel factions that have fought for more than three years to unseat President Bashar Assad.

Congress plans votes, possibly this week, on Obama’s request for authority to train and equip moderate Syrian rebels to fight the Islamic militants in Syria. Leaders of both parties have generally expressed support for the plan. But some lawmakers worry that US arms given to Syrian rebels might wind up being used against Americans or their allies in that violence-torn nation enduring a three-way war.

Kerry is scheduled to testify to congressional committees Wednesday and Thursday. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel will address the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press.