Top US military chief arrives in Baghdad

Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrived in Baghdad on Sunday to discuss progress in the ongoing fight against Daesh group, the US Defense Department said in a statement.

US Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey spoke to leaders about the situation on the ground, and he spoke to service members about their experiences in the country.

“The most important thing was to interact with those who are doing the mission,” the chairman told reporters traveling with him. “I didn’t find that to be a challenge. They were actually quite incredible in understanding what we recommend they do.”

The chairman said he had good conversations about the transregional situation concerning ISIL, and about how to build the coalition. Iraqi security forces, Kurdish peshmerga fighters and Sunni tribes are taking up arms against the group. Sixty nations now contribute to the fight against the terror organization. Dempsey said ISIL has ambitions to be a state, but that is not going to happen.

“It is about building partners inside that can continually displace ISIL and who are in a much better place to displace the ideology than we are,” he said.