President Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron warned Thursdayagainst isolationism in the face of the barbaric killers of the Islamic State, then tried to use a NATO summit to build an international coalition to confront the terrorist group.
There are some who say that we shouldnt get involved in addressing these threats. There are others who doubt if NATO can adapt to meet the challenges we face, the two leaders wrote in a joint op-ed article published in the Times of London. It is crucial we address these beliefs head on.
The calls for a stronger response to the Islamic State, the extremist Sunni militant group, came as the dozens of leaders gathered in Newport, Wales, for the biennial meeting of the alliance. The summit agenda is officially focused on addressing the conflict in Ukraine and the next steps in Afghanistan, but the Islamic States rapid rise across parts of Iraq and Syria have thrust it into the top of informal conversations.
Obama and Cameron have said they want world leaders to develop a broader strategy for countering the group, and Obama has suggested that could include airstrikes in Syria. Although Britain is not participating in the air campaign against Islamic State targets in northern Iraq, Cameron on Thursday began to lay out a casefor a strike in Syria.
"I certainly don't rule anything out, and I absolutely do think that Islamic State is a direct threat to the United Kingdom, Cameron said in an interview with the BBC before the summit. Cameron said Britain was considering directly arming the Kurdish force battling the Islamic State, in addition to continuing humanitarian aid.
Asked whether he believed that Britain would need permission from Syrian President Bashar Assad before hitting Islamic State targets in his country, Cameron repeated the answer offered by White House officials when asked the same question.
"President Assad is part of the problem, not part of the solution, he said.
Obama and Cameron began the day together with a visit to a local school, where they chatted with a class of elementary school students about the history and purpose of the 65-year-old NATO alliance. The students tried to show their knowledge to the leaders, and Obama used the conversation to send a message hes been pushing all week about the unity and strength of the alliance.
The pact, Obama said to the class, clenching his fist.
However, it was not yet clear whether NATO would unite behind military action to counter the Islamic State. NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters Thursday that the alliance had not yet received a specific request for assistance from the government of Iraq. If such a request were made, "that would be considered seriously by NATO allies, he said.
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Obama, Cameron seek to build coalition to take on Islamic State