German Chancellor to Obama: Don’t ask for more help fighting ISIS
On Monday, President Barack Obama opened a rare meeting of his National Security Council at the Pentagon, in an effort to put “lipstick on the pig” which is his strategy for fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) abroad and its sympathizers at home. During his press briefing he gave few details about his meeting at the Pentagon, and didn’t even mention that Germany’s leader, Chancellor Angela Merkel, on Sunday turned down a request from the United States to provide even more military involvement in the fight against ISIS.
“I believe Germany is fulfilling its part and we don’t need to talk about new issues related to this question at the moment,” Merkel told the German news media about her response to Obama’s request on Saturday.
The German newspaper Der Spiegel reported that U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter sent a letter to Chancellor Merkel asking for an additional military commitment from Germany, just one week after parliament approved a plan to join the anti-terrorism campaign in Syria.
A German Defense Ministry spokesman confirmed a letter had been received from the United States and its content was under consideration, giving no further details. The Der Spiegel reporters claimed the letter did not appear stern or filled with doubts but contained specific demands and was similar to requests sent to other U.S. partners.
The deployment is a direct response to a French appeal for solidarity after militant attacks in Paris killed 130 people. Germany does not plan to carry out air strikes in Syria but has displayed a nation willing to commit troops to foreign missions.
Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said last week that his country may need a larger armed forces to cope with the more assertive role. Last year, Germany also started arming Iraqi Kurds fighting ISIS independently.
More than 3,000 personnel are currently deployed overseas and the Syria mission will raise that by up to 1,200. Von der Leyen also wants to send 650 troops to Mali to help the French campaign against Islamist terrorist groups there.
Meanwhile, Nigeria warned the United States and other nations that the Islamist group Boko Haram has already dispatched the first of hundreds of its fighters to chaotic Libya to help the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in an effort to take control of that Arab country. The terrorist group is also making claims that they and their ISIS comrades may launch attacks on European cities especially the Vatican.
Boko Haram,– translated: “Western education is a sin” — has deployed upwards of 200 troops with advanced weaponry to bolster ISIS forces in Africa proving those who claimed there was a growing alliance between the two merciless groups were right about the alliance. Originally, Boko Haram had sworn allegiance to al-Qaida, especially its Yemeni-based offshoot known as al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. But with the ISIS victories in Iraq, Syria and other locations, it was not surprising to intelligence agents when Boko Haram decided it was time to join up with ISIS, according to Jeff Pierce, a former police department counterterrorism unit commander.
Although during his televised briefing on Monday, Obama again claimed success in his war on terrorim, Nigeria has warned the United States and other nations that the Islamist group Boko Haram has already dispatched the first of hundreds of its fighters to chaotic Libya to help the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in an effort to take control of that Arab country. The terrorist group is also making claims that they and their ISIS comrades may launch attacks on European cities especially the Vatican.
Boko Haram,– translated: “Western education is a sin” — has deployed upwards of 200 troops with advanced weaponry to bolster ISIS forces in Africa proving those who claimed there was a growing alliance between the two merciless groups were right about the alliance. Originally, Boko Haram had sworn allegiance to al-Qaida, especially its Yemeni-based offshoot known as al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. But with the ISIS victories in Iraq, Syria and other locations, it was not surprising to intelligence agents when Boko Haram decided it was time to join up with ISIS, according to Jeff Pierce, a former police department counterterrorism unit commander.
