US declares war against Islamic State

The United States has declared that it is at war with the Islamic State group, a day after US President Barack Obama said that American air strikes against IS targets would extend into Syria. 

“The United States is at war with ISIL in the same way that we are at war with al-Qaeda,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.

“We know we are at war with ISIL,” said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.

These comments come a day after US secretary of state John Kerry avoided using the term.

“I think ‘war’ is the wrong terminology and analogy but the fact is that we are engaged in a very significant global effort to curb terrorist activity,” Kerry said.

Kerry visited Turkey on Friday to discuss a broad coalition to counter the Islamic State group in Syria. 10 Arab states have already signed up to this coalition. These are Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. He will also discuss this coalition with Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi on Saturday. However, Kerry has ruled out the possibility of Iran joining this coalition due to its support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Iran has not offered to join the US-led coalition against IS targets in Syria, saying that is ‘shrouded in serious ambiguities’. However, it has sent soldiers to Iraq to combat IS targets there.

Meanwhile, French President Francois Hollande visit Iraqi capital Baghdad on Friday.

“I came here to Baghdad to state France’s availability in providing even more military assistance to Iraq,” he told a press conference. France will host international talks about the campaign on Monday.

The US has already carried out over 150 air strikes in northern Iraq and has sent hundreds of military advisers to assist Iraqi government and Kurdish forces. It has ruled out sending ground troops though. On Friday, the CIA said IS has as many as 30,000 fighters in Syria and Iraq.