Levin: Arab support against ISIS ‘historic’

The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee praised the support from Arab nations against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), saying it could be a “historic moment” in the fight against violent extremism.

“This can be a historic moment when the War on Terror is joined by countries that have been the place where terror has emanated from,” Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) told reporters at a Defense Writers Group breakfast on Wednesday.

{mosads}On Monday, the U.S., along with Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia carried out three waves of attacks on ISIS targets inside Syria. Qatar played a supporting role in the operation.

“I am satisfied with the support of the other counties,” Levin said.

“This effort would be significantly weakened and its mission significantly in jeopardy” without their support, he continued.

The administration has been reluctant to share details on the extent of each nation’s involvement, leaving it up to foreign governments to announce their role.

“The significant thing is they’re flying and they’re dropping bombs,” Levin said, stressing that the Arab contributions must be “visible” to the world.

He added that he spoke with Commander of the U.S. Central Command Army Gen. Lloyd Austin earlier in the day but didn’t press for specific numbers of bombs dropped by the other states.

Levin said it was hard to predict if the air campaign against the group would be “steady or intermittent.” He said that strikes against ISIS would likely be “very strong for a while” but expected some “gaps.”

Levin’s comments came as President Obama earlier Wednesday addressed the United Nations General Assembly in hopes of rallying global support for the fight against ISIS. He called on Muslim countries to reject the “cancer” of terrorism promoted by groups such as ISIS.

The chairman said he will watch if regional partners continue to participate in military operations against ISIS, which Defense Department officials on Tuesday suggested could take years.

Levin would not say if he believed the fight could take years, but said that some aspects of the president’s strategy — such as training Syrian rebels groups to battle ISIS — were for the “long term.”