Hagel vague on international support for anti-ISIS coalition

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Thursday defended President Obama’s approach to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) but offered no new details during his opening remarks at a Capitol Hill hearing on international commitments to a coalition the administration is forming.

{mosads}The House on Wednesday voted 273-156 to back Obama’s plan to train and arm vetted members of the moderate Syrian opposition, but some lawmakers are skeptical of the military portion of the president’s overall plan, which will rely on U.S. airstrikes in Iraq and possibly Syria and training Iraqi and Syrian rebels to strike ISIS on the ground.

Hagel and other administration officials are selling the approach as part of a broad coalition that hasn’t yet been formally announced, causing some lawmakers to cast doubt on whether there will truly be a coalition that includes Arab countries in order to avoid giving the plan a solely Western face.

“More than 40 nations have already expressed their willingness to participate in this effort, and more than 30 nations have indicated their readiness to offer military support,” Hagel told lawmakers in prepared remarks at a House Armed Services Committee hearing.

“President Obama, Vice President Biden, Secretary Kerry and I and others are working to unite and expand this coalition,” he added.

Hagel listed a number of countries with which U.S. officials have held discussions, and said that some have pledged military support, but most of the contributors and what the contributions could be have not yet been made clear.

U.S. officials have made clear that key Western allies are already on board, including Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Australia, and that they have already been contributing to the effort.

However, U.S. officials are seeking to have Arab partners who are willing to participate militarily in order to avoid ISIS from framing the efforts as anti-Islam.

House Armed Services Committee ranking member Adam Smith (D-Wash.) said without Muslim and Arab partners, ISIS would seek to paint themselves as “protecting Islam against Western aggression.”

“To win this fight, we have got to find partners, Muslim partners, in the case of ISIL, Arab partners,” Smith said, using an alternate acronym for the group.

“This is a complicated dynamic on a good day,” Hagel said of getting Sunni Arab countries on board. “There are many factions and factors that are flowing through this.”

Hagel said Georgia “made clear” they wanted to help, but said that Turkey “will also play an important role” in the effort.

There are questions over whether Turkey, which experts say has aided ISIS by allowing foreign fighters to flow across its border into Syria in order to help unseat Syrian ruler Bashar Assad, will contribute significant support.

Hagel noted that French President François Hollande recently met with U.N. Security Council permanent members, European and Arab leaders and representatives of the European Union, Arab League and the United States, adding that all pledged to help, “including with military support.”

He said that Secretary of State John Kerry met last week in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon.

“All 22 nations of the Arab League adopted a resolution at their summit in Cairo calling for comprehensive measures to combat ISIL,” Hagel said.

The State Department has also been forwarding statements of support from international leaders to members of the press.

Hagel said the U.S. expected more nations would make contributions next week at the U.N. General Assembly and at a meeting Obama would chair.

— This report was updated at 12:18 a.m.