Arab States Gather to Fight ISIS
Arab League nations called Monday for combating Islamic State extremists, acting to join forces against the terror threat as President Obama continues to forge his own coalition for battling the extremist group, reported by the AP.
It’s not clear to what extent the Arab League and western allies are coordinating.
The league’s resolution, issued after late-night meetings of Arab foreign ministers a day earlier, doesn’t explicitly back American military action against the group. On a separate track, Obama administration officials met Friday in Wales with mostly European allies to discuss the Islamic State threat, said FOX News.
Obama, though, is seeking an international coalition to challenge the Islamic State group and has urged nations in the region to get involved. Â Recently, Obama has been in talks with King Abdullah of Jordan.
In prior weeks, we have seen Arab nations such as UAE and Qatar, arming themselves with the purchase of new equipment such as missiles, helicopters and ground defense weapons. This move was in response to the growing threat of the Islamic State Caliphate, and their warnings of attacking countries in the region, even a threat against Mecca, the Holiest site revered by Muslims worldwide. Last week prior to PM Cameron’s call for a united effort to take out ISIS, officials from the UAE sent out a message that they would join in the pursuit of taking out the Islamic State Caliphate.
Iran even sent weapons and supplies to the Kurdish fighting forces located in Northern Iraq at the forefront of the ISIS battle. This was an unexpected move by Iran who also vowed to only help in the fight against ISIS and to not set foot into Iraq, which the two have been feuding for over 50 years. Egypt has also heard the call and has sent in troops to Libya to help take back a key airport in Tripoli. They felt urged to do so as Egypt does not want to see another failed state in the region.
So far 10 Western Nations have joined in a coalition to combat ISIS.
