Secretary of State John Kerry has met with Iraq Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and other officials Monday to discuss a plan to reconstruct the central government and put an end the crisis, as time runs out and more territory is lost.
According to Fox News, Kerry held a meeting with al-Maliki, the Iraqi foreign minister, and a few others for a little over an hour and a half; the meeting occurred just hours after the latest terrorist advance captured another city near Baghdad. During the meeting, Kerry urged the Shiite leader to team up with the Sunni and Kurdish leaders that were also elected during the April elections to overcome their differences and establish a central government. Kerry believes that a government that is inclusive may be the country’s best shot at stopping the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria militants.
Iraqi leaders also expressed deep concern at the fact that ISIS is an army of terrorists, while Iraq itself has very limited weapons and machinery to fight back. However, U.S. military advisers have already begun to train their fellow Iraqi peers on how to best defeat ISIS. Kerry also assured that the U.S. will remain highly committed to Iraq at this time of crisis.
ISIS has continued to seize territory, and has control of over 70 percent of the Anbar province after further advances this weekend, according to officials. Earlier Monday militants attacked once more, raiding an Iraqi police convoy that was transporting inmates to another prison. The attack left 71 prisoners dead, along with five police officers and five militants, CNN noted.
Aside from Kerry, the U.S. has already responded to the chaos sending 300 military advisers over a course of time to aid Iraq.
image courtesy of INFphotos