NATO JOINS THE COALITION: As the NATO leaders summit kicked off in Brussels this morning, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that the alliance will formally join the counter-ISIS coalition. NATO’s civilian leader noted that all 28 allies are already individual members of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, and said now NATO as an organization will also be a member. “This will send a strong political message of NATO’s commitment to the fight against terrorism. And improve coordination within the Coalition,” Stoltenberg said. “But it does not mean that NATO will engage in combat operations.” Stoltenberg said NATO will expand support to the coalition by increasing the number of flights by AWACS surveillance planes along with more aerial refueling flights.

The SecGen also said the alliance was ready to approve additional military trainers for Afghanistan, where 13,000 NATO troops, including more than 8,000 Americans, are training Afghan forces. “Training local forces is one of the best weapons in the fight against terrorism. We are already training Iraqi forces,” he said.