U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, center, talks with Joseph W. Westphal, right, U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, before boarding his plane at King Abdulaziz International Airport on Friday in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia. Kerry’s visit, on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, was aimed at pinning down how much support regional allies are willing to give to the U.S. plan to beat back the Islamic State group, which has seized large chunks of Iraq and Syria. Nearly 40 nations have agreed to contribute to what Kerry said would be a worldwide fight to defeat the militants.WASHINGTON – As U.S. forces gear up for airstrikes in Syria, the first demonstration of President Barack Obama’s more aggressive military campaign against the Islamic State group is likely to unfold first in Iraq as early as next week, officials said Friday.
In Syria, U.S. planes and drones will be gathering intelligence on targets and air defense threats in preparation for airstrikes there. At the same time, a wider range of targets – perhaps including Islamic State leaders – are expected to come under attack in Iraq.
U.S. warplanes have launched 158 strikes in Iraq over the past five weeks while emphasizing a relatively narrow set of targets. The focus has been Obama’s initial goal of defending U.S. personnel, protecting critical infrastructure such as major dams and enabling humanitarian relief operations.
New strikes Friday destroyed two Islamic State armed vehicles in an effort to support Iraqi troops near the Mosul Dam and in defense of Irbil, the military’s U.S. Central Command said.
More U.S. troops, along with additional intelligence-gathering aircraft, are expected to arrive in northern Iraq next week. That will enable an expanded surveillance effort over Syria by a range of aircraft, including Predator and Reaper drones as well as Navy EA-18G electronic warfare planes that are capable of jamming air defense radars and striking ground targets.