Kerry ‘extremely encouraged’ by US allies

Secretary of State John Kerry said in an interview that aired Sunday that he’s “extremely encouraged” U.S. allies have expressed a willingness to offer military assistance in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

“I can tell you right here and now, that we have countries in this region, countries outside of this region, in addition to the United States, all of whom are prepared to engage in military assistance, in actual strikes, if that is what it requires,” he said in an interview on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” 

Kerry spoke to CBS on Saturday from Cairo, where he met with Egyptian leaders to continue building a coalition against ISIS.

{mosads}Asked if he received specific commitments for military help, such as deploying ground troops, Kerry said, “Well we’re not looking to put troops on the ground. There are some who have offered to do so, but we are not looking for that at this moment anyway.”

Some countries, Kerry added, have said they are prepared to launch airstrikes in coordination with the U.S., but he said it’s “not appropriate” to start announcing each country’s plan. 

Kerry ruled out coordinating U.S. airstrikes with President Bashar Assad’s regime in Syria.

“No, we’re not going to coordinate it with Syria,” he said. “We’re going to do what they haven’t done, what they had plenty of opportunity to do, which is to take on ISIL and to degrade it and eliminate it as a threat,” using an alternate acronym for the group. 

Republicans criticized Kerry for saying last week the U.S. is not fighting a war, but engaging in a counterterrorism strategy instead. The White House explicitly said later that the U.S. is fighting a war. 

“Originally, this is not a war. This is not combat troops on the ground. It’s not hundreds of thousands of people. It’s not that kind of mobilization,” Kerry told CBS, adding the U.S. is at war with ISIS as it has been with al Qaeda.

Kerry, however, said it’s a “waste of time” to focus on the terminology used to define the new fight.