BRUSSELS — The military campaign against Islamist extremists in Syria and Iraq is inflicting heavy damage, said officials from a coalition working to uproot the militants from their self-declared caliphate.
Foreign ministers from the coalition of about 60 nations appeared so confident that they are making progress in the fight against the Islamic State that they have begun talking about the need to help Iraq rebuild once the extremists are ousted.
The issue was raised by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi at the Brussels meeting, which was held after a year-end NATO summit. No dollar figure was mentioned, however.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said several nations in the region, both Sunni and Shiite, had offered to help pay for Iraq’s rebuilding once it is rid of the Islamic State, an al-Qaeda offshoot that is also variously known as ISIS, ISIL and Daesh.
“Might we have to contribute to it? Sure,” Kerry said, acknowledging some U.S. cost. “We ought to. It’s part of our foreign policy, and it’s part of our engagement.”
But much of the cost, he added, will be paid by oil-rich countries of the Persian Gulf. Saudi Arabia, he said, had offered to donate $500 million.
Kerry declined to discuss reports that Iran had launched airstrikes on Islamic State targets near its border, using U.S. warplanes purchased before the 1979 Iranian revolution. But he suggested that the attacks, if confirmed, would not be an unwelcome development. Kerry insisted that the United States and Iran are not coordinating attacks.
