In a keynote speech to the U.S.-Islamic World Forum in Doha, Qatar on June 3, Allen called ISIL a “global threat” and the fight to defeat the jihadists will “likely take a generation or more.” He added that ISIL has lost territory and that gains have been made in disrupting its funding.
“This will be a long campaign,” he said.
“But we can and we must rise to this challenge in an age when we are more interconnected than at any other time in human history.”
The retired four-star general and past Deputy Commander of U.S. Central Command added that ISIL poses a new type of threat because of its “depravity.”
“As someone who has spent nearly four decades as a United States Marine, I have come closer than many to the reality of inhumanity.
“But I have never seen before the kinds of depravity and brutality in this region that ISIL represents and, in fact, that ISIL celebrates,” he said.
Allen’s speech in Doha came after he attended talks in Paris on June 2 with ministers from around 20 coalition countries. The coalition is still recovering from what is said to be its worst defeat, the loss to ISIL of Iraq’s Anbar province capital city of Ramadi.
U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Iraqi forces were responsible for the fall of Ramadi and that he had “an issue with the will of the Iraqis to fight.”
Iraq on June 2 pleaded for more global support in the fight against ISIL.
Allen said that, prior to the loss of Ramadi, the coalition was gaining ground against ISIL, having defeated the jihadists in many places and that it has “lost over 25 percent” of the populated territory it once held in Iraq.
Allen claimed the coalition had also found success in its ability to disrupt ISIL’s access to funding.
“We are sharing information to block their assets to the global financial system. We are uncovering their points of access in the region and abroad for financial support,” Allen said.
Allen said ISIL “still maintains financial resources” including from extortion, looting, kidnapping for ransom, and human trafficking.
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http://www.worldtribune.com/2015/06/03/gen-allen-failure-to-defeat-isil-depravity-would-wreak-havoc-on-humanity/ Photo: Gen. John Allen. /Massoud Hossaini/AFP/Getty Images