At the NATO summit in Wales ten states, including Germany, established an alliance against the terrorist Islamic State militia. Angela Merkel explained that the nations had agreed "to stay in contact and discuss further steps with one another".
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The focus of last week’s NATO summit for all participants was the political process in Baghdad and the region, said federal government spokesperson Steffen Seibert on Monday in Berlin. The conditions that spawn IS recruits must be tackled, he said.
Military action against IS is essential at the moment the government spokesperson stressed. In the final analysis though only a political solution can bring the region peace and lasting stability. The first thing to impress on our Iraqi partners is then the need to put in place an inclusive and effective government.
Chancellor Angela Merkel commented on the situation in Iraq and further steps to be taken by NATO last week in Wales. She explained that those nations committed to tackling IS had agreed to stay in contact and discuss further steps with one another.
Federal Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen explained, "These ten nations have discussed the steps that we will be continuing to take at present." Federal Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier also commented on the fight against IS. "What we need above all is large sections of the Arab world if we are to move this process forward with conviction."
At the summit meeting it was decided to establish a "Clearing House Mechanism" to ensure the coordination of bilateral support measures. Within the scope of the existing partnership with Iraq, NATO is also to explore options for enhancing the country’s defence capacities, should the Iraqi government wish to do so.
In the meantime the first planeload of military equipment from Bundeswehr stocks has landed in Iraq. The Antonov cargo plane carried some 4000 helmets and protective vests, 700 radio sets, 680 sets of night vision equipment and equipment for landmine detection and ammunition disposal. These are destined for the Kurds in northern Iraq, who are facing the unbelievable brutality of the IS terror group.
The German government had previously decided to provide military equipment for the Iraqi Kurds in addition to extensive humanitarian aid. Some of the equipment with which the Iraqi Kurds are facing up to the Islamic State terrorists is so old as to be completely obsolete.
In a government statement in the German Bundestag on 1 September, Chancellor Angela Merkel called for the broad approval of parliament. "In recent weeks we have seen acts of unbelievable brutality perpetrated by a terrorist group calling itself Islamic State in Iraq and in Syria," said Angela Merkel. The heavily armed militia has been proceeding with horrific ruthlessness, she added. "Everything that does not fit into their world view is mercilessly exterminated."