SECRETARY POMPEO: Good morning, everyone.
What a glorious group to see assembled, and thank you all for traveling here to Washington
for this important meeting.
Over the course of the last year, five partners have now joined the coalition, which is now
79 nations strong.
To our newest members, Kenya and Fiji: Welcome to the fight.
We also recognize today the new Special Envoy to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, Ambassador
Jim Jeffrey.
Jim, welcome.
Jim is also serving as our special representative for Syria, and we are lucky to have him on
the team.
And finally, I want to also welcome Acting Defense Secretary Shanahan.
Pat, good to see you.
Welcome.
You all know why we’re here.
ISIS remains a menace, one that is our generation’s responsibility to stop.
President Trump has called ISIS, quote, “bloodthirsty killers,” end of quote, because it’s true.
Public lashings, crucifixions, and slavery.
Stoning women and forcing 13-year-old girls to marry.
We’ve heard so many stories.
We’ve almost become numb to how outrageous these stories are.
The good news for all of us, and thanks to all of you, we’ve made real and significant
progress.
Our efforts have liberated more than 110,000 square kilometers of territory, freed more
than 7 million men and women from tyranny, and allowed more than 4 million displaced
people in Iraq to return home.
Those are the numbers.
That’s the good work which we’ve done.
Behind the numbers, behind the data, are real-life stories like that of a Yezidi girl named Yasmeen.
She, along with her parents and eight siblings, fled their village when ISIS came to town.
Her father was killed; his body was never found.
But now, five years later, Yasmeen is safe; she’s back in school.
She can sleep at night.
She can dream.
People like Yasmeen are why we’re here today.
We should never forget that.
We all know – and it’s why we’re here today – we all know that there is more work
ahead of us.
The recent suicide bombing in Manbij incident shows that ISIS remains a dangerous threat
in territory it does not control.
I want to talk about the four main objectives that we all must embrace today, that we outlined
in a joint statement that we put out.
But I want to walk through them with you.
First, we must recommit ourselves to the goal of permanently defeating ISIS.
For our victory to be final and enduring, ISIS must no longer pose a threat to our respective
homelands or function as a global network.
There must be no more safe havens from which it can operate.
And it must be unable to spread its message, and brainwash new generations with their sickening
ideology.
To make sure that happens, we must attack ISIS’s residual networks and operations.
We’re entering an era of “decentralized jihad,” so we must be nimbler in our approach
as well.
The nature of the fight is changing.
We all need to bolster our ability to share intelligence and information with each other.
In this new era, local law enforcement and information sharing will be crucial, and our
fight will not necessarily always be military-led.
That’s why President Trump’s announcement that U.S. troops will be withdrawing from
Syria is not the end of America’s fight.
The fight is one that we will continue to wage alongside of you.
The drawdown of troops is essentially a tactical change – it is not a change in the mission.
It does not change the structure, design, or authorities on which the campaign has been
based.
It simply represents a new stage in an old fight.
The drawdown will be well-coordinated, and our policy priorities in Syria have remain
unchanged.
In addition to this coalition’s laser-like focus on defeating ISIS, we’re committed
to the following series of things.
First, a political solution in line with UN Security Council Resolution 2254.
The removal of all Iranian-led forces from Syria.
Our mission is unwavering, but we need your help to accomplish it, just as we’ve had
over these past months and years.
To that end, we ask that our coalition partners seriously and rapidly consider requests that
will enable our efforts to continue.
And those requests are likely to come very soon.
Our second objective must be to reaffirm our support for the Government of Iraq in its
fight against terrorism.
I would like to personally welcome Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed al-Hakim to our ministerial.
Let’s give him a round of applause.
(Applause.)
Today, this coalition recommits and renews our commitment to Iraq and to the Iraqi Security
Forces, which have made huge progress in their ability to conduct operations against ISIS.
That’s really good news.
The bad news in Iraq is that recent headlines show that ISIS retains a real presence there
and is trying to mount a clandestine insurgency.
Our coalition must continue to support the Government of Iraq in its efforts to secure
the liberated areas of that country.
Mr. Foreign Minister, we’re with you.
Our third objective is to chart a path forward for 2019 and beyond.
As the organizational structure of ISIS continues to evolve, it’s critical we find new ways
– new effective ways – to attack it.
That means implementing the action plans developed by our coalition’s four working groups.
It means supporting humanitarian assistance, the clearance of land mines, and stabilization
efforts inside of Syria.
And in order to assist communities to remove rubble and restore essential services in Iraq,
we must secure stabilization funding there, which is facing a roughly $350 million shortfall.
We’ve all agreed that this is a critical national security and humanitarian priority,
so now is the time for all of us – not just America – to put our money where our mouth
is.
Everyone should contribute.
Members of this coalition must be willing to take back foreign terrorist fighters, prosecute
them, and punish them.
To disrupt the flow of weapons and sensitive materials, we will need to continue building
strategic border security, sharing intelligence, and targeting terrorist financial networks
wherever we find them.
And to counter the spread of a radical Islamist ideology, we need to continue partnering with
organizations like the Middle East Broadcasting Center and the Sawab Center.
Our fourth and final objective is to promote justice for victims, and ensure that ISIS
is held accountable for the atrocities it has committed.
At lunch today we will hear from two people working hard for that goal:
One is Nadia Murad, the recipient of the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize; and the other is U.N. Special
Adviser Karim Khan.
They both have important lessons, important stories, important facts for each of us to
consider.
So those are our four objectives.
Working together, I am very confident that we will accomplish each of them.
Just a few weeks ago in Cairo, I reiterated America’s commitment to stamping out ISIS
and other terrorist groups.
That’s my message again here today in Washington: America will continue to lead in giving those
who would destroy us no quarter.
We ask each of your countries to stand with us.
And through our efforts and God’s help, the day will come when the permanent defeat
of ISIS is a reality.
Thank you.
Thank you [for being with us here today].