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Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the Islamic
State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorists rampaging through Iraq and Syria
are “an imminent threat” to the United States and it will require a prolonged
struggle to defeat them. The US-led airstrikes in northern Iraq have “stalled”
ISIL’s advance and allowed the Iraqi and Kurdish forces “to regain the
initiative” and retake the crucial Mosul Dam, said Hagel during a press
conference with Joint Chiefs Chairman Army Gen. Martin Dempsey on Thursday.
However, Hagel repeatedly said ISIL will not be beaten by airstrikes alone. Dempsey
said the effect of the 298 “targeted airstrikes” shows that “it is possible to
contain them,” but “not in perpetuity.” Both of the defense leaders stressed
that defeating ISIL in Iraq requires a unifying government in Baghdad that the
Iraqi Sunnis and Kurds will support. ISIL is predominately Sunni and gained
ground rapidly in Sunni-dominated areas because the Iraqis there would not
support the primarily Shia Iraqi Army. Asked if defeating ISIL would require US
strikes against their bases in Syria, Hagel said the Pentagon would continue its
current limited missions, but would “consider all options.” But Dempsey acknowledged
it couldn’t be done with addressing Syria.