(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) The United States is not having problems getting countries to commit to the campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power said on Sunday.
"Our strategy is predicated on the Iraqi forces and Kurdish forces on the ground in Iraq leading the effort," Power said in an NBC "Meet the Press" interview.
"They are going to be in the best position to know how to take back territory in their own country, and so too, in Syria, our strategy is predicated on the moderate opposition building out its capabilities over time, professionalizing those forces." "It is us using our unique capabilities," she said. "The other capabilities the coalition partners bring to bear in support of ground operations by local people." The training of the Free Syrian Army, the moderate opposition group opposed to the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, will help these troops in the struggle they have been in since the beginning of the conflict against the Assad regime, Power said.
The Free Syrian Army and other moderate forces have been fighting ISIL since December, and have pushed ISIL out of strategic areas, she said.
The reason the moderate opposition has lost territory over time is that they have been fighting ISIL on the one hand, then also fighting a regime that is backed by Hezbollah, Iran and Russia, Power said.
"So we think with an infusion of support, these fighters, who have actually held their own against this wide array of actors fighting on all fronts, will be in a much stronger position both to go after ISIL and to put pressure on the (Assad) regime so we can get back to the negotiating table for a political solution," she said.
The United Nations has provided a stage to show the overwhelming support for the anti-ISIL effort, Power said, and will do so again this week when President Barack Obama goes to New York and convenes a meeting of the UN Security Council.
The meeting will be "dedicated to the cause of stopping the flow of foreign terrorist fighters, cutting off their financing, and underscoring the multidimensional aspects of the fight against ISIL and the fight against foreign terrorist fighters more specifically," she said.
"In terms of the United Nations, we continue to hear from our partners how grateful they are that we have answered Iraq's appeal to come to their defense and use our unique capabilities in support of them," Power said.
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