International leaders will meet next week in Washington, D.C. to plan for the final stages of the defeat of Islamic State as territory-controlling terrorist group.
“While many challenges remain, ISIS is cornered in Mosul and increasingly isolated in Raqqa,” a State Department bulletin said, referring to the two ISIS bastions in Iraq and Syria. “This ministerial meeting is a key moment to set ISIS on a lasting and irreversible path to defeat.”
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is hosting the March 22 meeting, which will feature representatives of all 68 countries participating in the war on ISIS. The meeting follows on the heels of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis’ submission of a preliminary plan for defeating ISIS to President Trump.
“We are at an important stage of the fight against ISIS and will use this ministerial to accelerate international efforts to defeat ISIS in the remaining areas it holds in Iraq and Syria and maximize pressure on its branches, affiliates, and networks,” the bulletin said. “The ministerial will include a detailed discussion of priorities for the coalition’s multiple lines of effort, including military, foreign terrorist fighters, counterterrorist financing, counter-messaging, and stabilization of liberated areas, to increase the momentum of the campaign. Additionally, ministers will discuss the ongoing humanitarian crises in Iraq and Syria that are affecting the region.”
As they develop that plan, the ministers must take care that they defeat ISIS in a manner that doesn’t leave a power vacuum for Russia and Iran to exploit, according to congressional leaders. “The day after Raqqa falls is going to be the moment that Iran moves to try to oust the United States from the region,” Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., told the Washington Examiner in February.
