Displaced Iraqi children, who fled their home a few weeks ago due to attacks by Islamic State (IS) jihadists in the northern city of Mosul, play at the Bahrka camp where they found shelter, ten kilometres west of Arbil, in the autonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq   AFP
 
Reuters/Washington

The United States is intensifying its push to build an international campaign against Islamic State jihadist fighters in Iraq and Syria, including recruiting partners for potential joint military action, Obama administration officials said on Wednesday.
Britain and Australia are potential candidates, U.S. officials said. Germany said on Wednesday it was in talks with the United States and other international partners about possible military action against Islamic State but made clear it would not participate.
"We are working with our partners and asking how they might be able to contribute. There are a range of ways to contribute: humanitarian, military, intelligence, diplomatic," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters.
It's unclear how many nations will sign up. Some such as trusted ally Britain harbor bitter memories of joining the U.S.-led "coalition of the willing" in the 2003 invasion of Iraq that included troops from 38 nations. Others such as France refused to join the action. The claims of the existence of weapons of mass destruction which spurred the coalition to act were found to be false.
The United States, the officials said, could act alone if necessary against the militants, who have seized a third each of Iraq and Syria, declared open war against the West and want to establish a hub of jihadism in the heart of the Arab world.
Senior White House aides met this week to discuss a strategy for expanding its assault on Islamic State, including the possibility of air strikes on the militants' stronghold in eastern Syria - an escalation that would almost certainly be riskier than the current U.S. campaign in Iraq.
While Iraq's government welcomed the role of U.S. warplanes to attack the militants, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has warned that any strikes conducted without his country's permission would be considered an act of aggression, potentially plunging any U.S.-led coalition into a broader conflict with Syria.

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