WASHINGTON D.C.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said Wednesday that a coalition has to be established to fight the self-proclaimed Islamic State militant group "with a sense of urgency."
Speaking to CNN, Hagel said Secretary of State John Kerry will form a coalition to fight against the militants, after the two-day NATO Summit starting in Wales on Thursday, something U.S. President Barack Obama had previously suggested.
"They control half of Iraq today. They control half of Syria today. We better be taking them serious," Hagel said. "They are better organized. They’re better funded. They have more capability. They’re better structured. There is a dangerous ideology of a brutality of barbaric nature that we’ve not seen before."
Hagel emphasized that the U.S. would not have any combat role on the ground in Iraq but, in response to a question about extending operations to Syria, also said air strikes would not be enough to defeat the militants.
The U.S. has been carrying out air strikes against the group's positions in Iraq since early August but the group's ability to transport fighters and equipment across the border with Syria has raised questions about whether destroying their bases in Syria is necessary to defeat them.
Hagel also said that up to 100 U.S. nationals had joined the Islamic State militants.
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