John Kerry invites foreign ministers from the International Coalition against ISIS to a conference in London

Sources:
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/us-led-coalition-meets-british-fm-says-anti-isis-efforts-could-last-years

Key Points:
Foreign ministers from the international coalition against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) gathered for talks in London on Thursday following jihadist attacks in France, as Britain's Foreign Secretary said the coalition's efforts could last at least two years.

"This isn't going to be done in three months or six months. It's going to take a year, two years to push ISIL (ISIS) back out of Iraq but we are doing the things that need to be done in order to turn the tide," Hammond told Sky News.

"In Iraq and Syria, American leadership — including our military power — is stopping ISIS' advance," Obama said.

((But it is not destroying ISIS - it means they are controlling how far ISIS expand and how long they last in Iraq.))

Asked whether the US-led airstrikes had been helpful to him, Assad, whose army has been fighting rebel groups for over three years, told a French magazine in December that the strikes in Syria have made no difference.

"It isn't true that the strikes are helpful. They would of course have helped had they been serious and efficient,” Assad asserted.

According to Paris Match, the Syrian president said that ISIS continues to advance in territories bombed by the coalition.

"You can't end terrorism with aerial strikes. Troops on the ground that know the land and can react are essential. That is why there haven't been any tangible results in the two months of strikes led by the coalition," he said.

Damascus, Iran and other critics opposed to US involvement in the conflict with ISIS have pointed out that Washington in partnership with its Gulf allies, including Saudi Arabia, played a role in the formation and expansion of extremist groups like ISIS by arming, financing and politically empowering armed opposition groups in Syria.

Moreover, the influx in terrorist attacks all over the world, particularly in Iraq, raises questions about the effectiveness of the US "War on Terror" launched by the Bush administration after the 9/11 attacks, which included the US invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.

The campaign failed to eliminate or even reduce terrorism, as a recent report revealed a steady increase in the death toll over the last 14 years, from 3,361 in 2000 to 11,133 in 2012 and 17,958 in 2013.

The countries confirmed to be attending Thursday's conference are Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, the Netherlands, Norway, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.