Obama plans to rebuild Iraqi Army, says Kerry

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters in Baghdad on Wednesday that the Iraqi army would be rebuilt as part a White House strategy to be outlined by President Barack Obama in the coming hours.

The Iraqi army “will be reconstituted and trained and worked on in terms of a number of different strategies through the help not just of the United States but of other countries also,” he said.

He added that neither the United States nor the rest of the world will stand by and watch the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria militant spread its evil. “This is a fight that the Iraqi people must win, but it’s also a fight that the rest of the world needs them to win,” Kerry told reporters. “It’s a fight the United States and the rest of the world needs to support every step of the way.”

Kerry was in Baghdad to meet with Iraq’s new leaders and pledge U.S. support for eliminating the extremist Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and the threat it poses.

“When the world hears from President Obama this evening, he will lay out with great specificity each component of a broad strategy of how to deal with ISIL,” Kerry said.

Kerry did not reveal Obama’s plans. But he predicted a coalition of at least 40 nations ultimately will eliminate the Islamic State.