Washington, DC - Following the recent barbaric attacks claimed by ISIL in Paris, Beirut, Baghdad, and other locations in recent weeks, Vice President Biden today joined senior diplomatic representatives from the 65 members of the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL who gathered for a plenary session at the State Department to review progress made and discuss where we can redouble and expand our efforts as a coalition.
Coalition partners were clear that they stand in solidarity against the recent heinous attacks and in their commitment to work together in defeating ISIL. Vice President Biden also reconfirmed the unwavering commitment of the United States to work with coalition partners to degrade and destroy this unprecedented terrorist threat.
Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL Brett McGurk opened the briefing by outlining the current state of the campaign to push back on ISIL in Iraq and Syria through our strategy of pressuring ISIL across multiple lines of effort. He emphasized that while we will continue to increase pressure on ISIL at its core, we need to do more as a coalition to coordinate our efforts and pressure ISIL across its global network.
Following SPE McGurk, the foreign minister of Bahrain and senior diplomats from France, Iraq, Italy, Lebanon, and Turkey discussed their strong commitment to the coalition and briefed the plenary on coalition efforts, including ongoing support for stabilization operations in Iraq, enhancing humanitarian aid, and increasing information sharing to counter foreign fighter flows and cut off ISIL revenues. This was the fifth Washington plenary session of coalition ambassadors and senior diplomats.
The discussion made clear that every member of the coalition is resolved to face this threat head on and stand as one against it. The coalition is united in our determination to end the scourge that ISIL has brought to the region and the larger global community. We will continue to find strength in our diversity and reject ISIL’s goal of using terror to divide us.
