Free Republic

<p>Washington -- Foreign ministers from 68 countries meet in Washington on Wednesday to agree on the next steps to defeat Islamic State, the first such gathering of the U.S-led military coalition since the election of President Donald Trump in November.</p>

U.S. envoy in anti-ISIS coalition to step down Karen DeYoung, Washington Post Posted: Wednesday, September 23, 2015, 1:07 AM WASHINGTON - Retired Marine Gen. John Allen has told the White House he will resign later this fall as the Obama administration's envoy to the international coalition against the Islamic State, according to U.S. officials. Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/nation_world/20150923_U_S__envoy_in_anti-ISIS_coalition_to_step_down.html#p8sKBwG6zcVZYQKh.99

German Anti-ISIS Coalition Chief Found Dead in Iraq Hotel by Andy Eckardtand Sarah Burke MAINZ, Germany — A German army chief in the U.S.-led coalition fighting ISIS in Iraq was found dead in his hotel room there Wednesday, officials said. Colonel Stephan Spoettel was found dead at 8:50 a.m. local time (1:50 a.m. ET) in the Cristal Erbil Hotel in the northern Kurdish city of Irbil, the German armed forces said in a statement. Spoettel was the head of the coalition's German training contingent in northern Iraq. There was no information to suggest suicide or "third-party involvement," the statement added....

The UAE “ceased its participation because of concerns over a lack of contingency plans to rescue downed aircrew.” Indeed. The whole enterprise against the Islamic State has been poorly thought out and continues to be hamstrung by the prevailing denial and refusal to examine its guiding ideology. US officials confirmed that the UAE, one of the four Arab states in the anti-Isis coalition, had ceased its participation because of concerns over a lack of contingency plans to rescue downed aircrew…. The UAE, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain joined the coalition when attacks began in September. All have flown sorties against...