Obama's phantom coalition against ISIL

Amir Taheri:

In September, President Obama announced a US-led “broad coalition” assembled to “degrade, and ultimately destroy,” the Islamic State (ISIS). Eight months later, the terrorists are stronger than ever.

This month, when the Islamic State launched a massive attack on the large Iraq provincial capital of Ramadi, the government in Baghdad did what it was supposed to do under Obama’s “strategic plan”: Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi called for a meeting of the US-led coalition to coordinate action against ISIS.

Very soon, however, it became clear that no such meeting would ever take place.

The coalition, supposedly consisting of 50 nations, simply has ceased to exist, if it ever did exist.

According to Iraqi sources, al-Abadi then lowered his expectations by meeting US Ambassador to Baghdad Stuart E. Jones to demand intensified airstrikes on ISIS units advancing on Ramadi.

The ambassador managed to convince Washington to conduct a few strikes, but not enough to tip the balance. The terrorists advanced into the heart of the city as Iraqi security forces and many of the inhabitants simply fled.

Ramadi isn’t the first Iraqi city to fall since Obama unveiled his “coalition” last summer.

The terror group has sustained some losses in Iraq, notably the city of Tikrit, Saddam Hussein’s hometown. It has also lost the hotly contested Kurdish city of Kobane in Syria. In both cases, the so-called coalition was prominent by its absence.

In Tikrit, the bulk of the fighting was conducted by the Shiite militia known as Hashad al-Shaabai (Popular Mobilization) trained and armed by Iran. In Kobane, ISIS was driven out by Kurdish guerrillas led by PKK, a leftist Turkish Kurdish outfit.

Overall, however, since Obama announced his coalition, ISIS has expanded its territory by more than 20 percent, according to Iraqi estimates.
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Like Obama's phantom red lines in Syria, the coalition is one in name only if that much.  One of the reasons is that it is difficult to get people to commit to a war effort if you are unwilling to commit your own forces.  Obama is not even willing to engage in a robust air campaign.  It is beyond comprehension that no air strikes were undertaken against ISIL's victory parade in Ramadi.  It just showed more evidence of Obama's lack of seriousness.  If he is not serious it is unlikely that others will step up with a serious effort.