The National quotes Rafik Hariri Center Resident Fellow Faysal Itani on what is needed to help defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham:
Even if regional countries joined the fight against Islamic State, it would still not be enough to defeat the group as they simply do not have the capabilities required, said Faysal Itani, a resident fellow at the Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, in Washington.
“Iran is already struggling to shore up its clients,” Mr Itani said, referring to Baghdad and Damascus, “and everything the GCC countries have tried to do in this conflict has turned into a mess.”
US airstrikes backing peshmerga and Iraqi forces also “will not do it”, he said.
“This requires a Sunni-led military and political effort against [Islamic State] in the areas that it controls – depriving it of the bases of its claim to statehood: population, territory, and resources.”