The Kurds are willing. The moderates are entering Turkey and crossing the border to join ISIS.
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel will visit Turkey as the U.S. government tries to build a “coalition of the willing” take on Islamic militants in Syria, the Pentagon announced Friday.
“Turkey is a key NATO ally. And given its border with Syria and Iraq, they share our deep concerns with … the regional threat posed by ISIL,” Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby told reporters.
ISIL is one of the acronyms used to refer to the militant group the Islamic State, which has taken over large swathes of Syria and Iraq in recent months.
The U.S. military has been bombing Islamic State targets in Iraq since Aug. 8, and consideration is being given to expanding the air campaign into neighboring Syria.
“Can [the Islamic State] be defeated without addressing that part of their organization which resides in Syria? The answer is no,” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Martin Dempsey told reporters last week.
The White House has asked the Pentagon to present military options along these lines.