A global coalition of over 60 partners, including five Arab countries, continues to blunt Daesh’s momentum with airstrikes, coordinated logistical support and messaging to expose Daesh’s atrocities, emphasize its hypocrisy, and puncture its façade of invincibility.
President Obama stressed that the global coalition will defeat Daesh.
“This campaign in Iraq will take time,” Obama said in December. “But make no mistake, our coalition isn’t just going to degrade this barbarous terrorist organization, we’re going to destroy it.”
Speaking in Germany on February 8, Secretary of State John Kerry highlighted coalition successes against Daesh.
“We’ve disrupted their command structure, undermined its propaganda, taken out half of their senior leadership, squeezed its financing, damaged its supply networks, dispersed its personnel, and forced them to think twice before they move in an open convoy,” Kerry said.
Until recently, Daesh terrorists controlled nearly 300 villages in Syria along the Turkish border and occupied a large portion of the city of Kobani.
“But thanks to diplomatic cooperation among coalition partners, targeted airstrikes, and on-the-ground support from Iraqi Kurdish forces, together, we drove Daesh out,” Kerry said.
More than 2,300 coalition airstrikes since September have helped retake 700 square kilometers from Daesh control. They’ve also destroyed 200 oil and gas facilities, halting a major source of revenue for the terror group.
Coalition partners, especially those in the region, have launched a campaign to counter Daesh messaging. Leading religious figures in Egypt and Saudi Arabia call Daesh a threat to Islam, and coalition partners are establishing a social media presence to refute Daesh’s propaganda used to fundraise and recruit.
