Aside from being briefed by Army Gen. Lloyd Austin, commander of U.S. Central Command, on plans to hit Sunni insurgent group Islamic State targets in Syria, President Barack Obama spent about 20 minutes Wednesday with in a private meeting with Centcom’s international coalition leaders at MacDill Air Force Base.
The meeting highlighted the importance of the coalition as Obama, who has yet to approve the plans he heard at Centcom, seeks to build a broad international consensus for efforts against IS.
During the 20-minute, coalition-only session, Obama “expressed his gratitude to the members of the coalition and highlighted the importance of the coalition for the ongoing effort of countering the ISIL,” Danish Brig. Gen. Frank Lissner, the coalition chairman, told me in an email.
The session, he said, “included a Presidential ‘thank you’ handshake to the individual coalition member present.”
Obama was briefed on plans, that he has yet to approve, to attack the Sunni insurgent group Islamic State with “targeted actions against ISIL safe havens in Syria, including its command and control, logistics capabilities and infrastructure,” Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told the House Armed Services Committee Thursday, using an acronym for IS.
Hagel told the committee that he and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army Gen. Martin Dempsey both approved the Centcom plan, which Army General Lloyd Austin III, Centcom’s commander, briefed to the President at MacDill Air Force Base yesterday.
“The Defense Department’s civilian and military leaders are in complete agreement with every component of the President’s strategy, and we strongly believe it offers the best opportunity to degrade and destroy ISIL,” Hagel said. “The President, Chairman Dempsey, General Austin and I are in full alignment on our objectives, and the military strategy necessary to achieve them.”
Hagel, when questioned, said the President had yet to approve the plan and would do so on his own timetable.
As Obama had during his 15 minute speech to about 1,200 troops at the MacDill fitness center, Hagel also stressed that the President was seeking a broad international coalition in the fight against IS.
“More than 40 nations have already expressed their willingness to participate in this effort and more than 30 nations have indicated their readiness to offer military support,” Hagel told the committee. “As you all know, yesterday I joined President Obama at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, where he received a briefing from the commander of U.S. Central Command on operational plans to implement our ISIL strategy and he met with representatives from more than 40 partner nations.”
Lissner said that Centcom coalition senior national representatives did not time to question Obama about the battle plans.
“On the other hand concerns/issues are dealt directly with Centcom during the ongoing planning process,” he said. “It was a really good ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ experience for the individuals taking part.”