West to stay the course against Islamic State

PARIS — The U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State group is doubling down on its strategy to fight the extremists, insisting on staying the course it set last year despite the radical group’s recent conquests on both sides of the border between Iraq and Syria.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi pressed his case Tuesday for more support from the 25 countries in the coalition at a one-day Paris conference on fighting the militant group, organized within weeks of the fall of the Iraqi city of Ramadi and the Syrian city of Palmyra.

The coalition has mustered a mix of airstrikes, intelligence sharing and assistance for Iraqi ground operations against the extremists. Al-Abadi said more was needed — his country reeling after troops pulled out of Ramadi without a fight and abandoned U.S.-supplied tanks and weapons.

“We will redouble our efforts,” said Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken, who was leading the delegation after Secretary of State John Kerry broke his leg in a cycling accident in eastern France over the weekend.

But Tuesday’s conference offered no strategy beyond that which has yet to bear fruit, and none had been expected.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the coalition is “under no illusion that a victory by military means will be easy, and also we know that winning peace will be difficult.”

Al-Abadi said Iraq’s military needs more intelligence and more action from international allies. More than 4,100 airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition have failed to stem the gains by Islamic State.