Kerry: US ‘on the road’ to defeating ISIS

Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday said in an interview aired on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the U.S.-led coalition was “on the road” to defeating the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

{mosads}Kerry said that worldwide outrage last week of ISIS burning alive a Jordanian pilot held captive has helped underscore anti-ISIS support among the 60-nation coalition, which is now “more committed than ever.”

“Twenty-two percent of the populated areas they [ISIS fighters] have held have been taken back already. And that’s without launching what we would call a major offensive,” Kerry said.

Many have criticized the Obama administration’s strategy to defeat ISIS, claiming the U.S. should do more.

“We need that strategy to be translated into action,” Kurdistan region president Masoud Barzani said in another interview aired on NBC.

“So far, we have not seen any serious action that can quickly defeat ISIS,” Barzani added.

Kerry noted that the U.S. has supplied an “enormous” amount of lethal aid to Peshmerga troops helping fight ISIS in the region.

When pressed in an interview on ABC’s “This Week” if the Iraqi security forces the U.S. has pushed to take over fighting ISIS on the ground can defeat the group within two years, retired Marine Gen. John Allen emphasized continued efforts.

“We work very hard at several levels to prepare the Iraqi security forces to do this,” said Allen, who has coordinated the international effort against ISIS.

“People need to be recognizing the importance of putting in place a strategy that can win,” Kerry said on “Meet the Press.”

“The fight against violent extremists is not going to be decided on the battlefield,” Kerry said earlier Sunday at a security conference in Munich. “It is going to be fought and won in classrooms, in workplaces, in houses of worship, in community centers, urban street corners and halls of government.”

“ISIL is at an entirely different level than al-Qaeda was,” Allen said, using the alternate acronym for the group.

“You don’t see the long convoys now with flags flying in broad daylight, but we have also adapted our targeting process as well,” he added.