US Secretary of State John Kerry called for a “coalition of nations to provide military, humanitarian, economic and diplomatic assistance to stamp out the disease of the Islamic state group,” in an article in the New York Times Saturday. This coalition would seek to strengthen Iraqi forces and the moderate Syrian opposition in fighting the Islamic Sate group, which, he said, has "demonstrated the ability to seize and hold more territory than any other terrorist organization, in a strategic region that borders Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey and is perilously close to Israel." President Barack Obama stirred wide criticism by his admission Thursday, Aug. 28: "We don't have a strategy yet for dealing with Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq.” The strategy under preparation would be ready next month, he said.