Obama: Fight Against ISIL a ’Long-Term’ Campaign

Local Editor

US President Barack Obama attempted to rally allied commanders around his emerging strategy to defeat the so-called "Daesh" [ISIL] extremists on Tuesday, as the US-led air campaign stepped up its raids in Syria.

Meeting with senior commanders from more than 20 Western and Arab allies at the Joint Base Andrews military air base outside Washington, Obama predicted a long-term campaign against the Daesh group.

"One of the things that has emerged from the discussions, both before I came and during my visit here, is that this is going to be a long-term campaign," Obama warned.

"There are not quick fixes involved. We're still at the early stages," he said, explaining that efforts were focused on breaking the siege of Kobane and on halting the Daesh advance in western Iraq.

"As with any military effort, there will be days of progress and there are going to be periods of setback, but our coalition is united behind this long-term effort," he added.

Additionally, while allied warplanes carried out their latest raids, 21 strikes over two days around Kobane, a Kurdish town on Syria's border with Turkey, Obama admitted to deep concern about the Syrian border town's fate.

"At this point we're also focused on the fighting that is taking place in Iraq's Anbar province, and we're deeply concerned about the situation in and around the Syrian town of Kobane," Obama said.

The talks marked the first time high-ranking officers from so many nations have come together since the US-led coalition was formed in September and which now, on paper, includes about 60 countries.

A US military official meanwhile said that the coalition will also need to adapt "by leveraging all elements of power," stressing that military action alone "will not be decisive."

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team